Jerry Jarrell photo Dexter's Nick Hessling (No. 40) runs hard for some of his 110 rushing yards during Friday's 38-13 loss at home to the Poplar Bluff Mules. Attempting to bring Hessling down are Mule defenders Eric Hicks (No. 47) and Hunter White (No. 17). [Click to enlarge]

Daily Statesman Sports Editor

Zach Ferguson rushed for 179 yards and scored four touchdowns as the Poplar Bluff Mules used a punishing ground attack to churn out a, 38-13, win over the Dexter Bearcats at Charles Bland Stadium on a rainy Friday night.

Ferguson carried the ball 25 times on a soggy field and scored on three short runs in the first half before the junior broke loose on a momentum-changing 55-yard dash early in the third quarter to make it a 26-6 game.

Poplar Bluff quarterback Todd Bullington only threw five passes, completing one for negative yardage, but the Mules chewed up 269 total yards on the ground to control the game and wear down the Bearcats' defensively.

Dexter managed 228 yards of total offense, with senior Nick Hessling toting the ball 30 times for 110 yards and a touchdown. Quarterback Ben Mills was 10-of-18 for 129 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Mills connected with five different receivers, Brent Stidham hauling in a 10-yard strike in the second quarter for Dexter's first TD of the game.

Dexter's ineffectiveness was fueled by the same mistakes that have led to the team's first three losses. Dexter has been unable to stop opponents on third-and-long situations and has been unable to convert on its own third down attempts, going 0-for-11 against the Mules. Dexter also had four fumbles, losing two that included one inside the Mules' 20 yard line.

"We're not good in third and long (defensively), and we can't get in third and long situations (offensively)," Dexter coach Aaron Pixley said after the game. " We didn't convert a third down all night long. The bobbled snap, we did that twice, but that wasn't the story of the game.

" The story of the game was their running game," Pixley continued. "They did a great job with it. The first half I felt like we were starting to get to be the physical football team I've been trying to get out here the whole time. The second half we played hard, but we got sucked up on that one long run there on the fullback. The whole left side of my defense was tackling the fullback and they gave it to the next back (Ferguson) through and he was gone.

"We had no one staying at home," Pixley explained. "Even my cornerback was up tackling the fullback and you can't have that. You've got to stay home. That's just one play. But Poplar Bluff was a little more physical than us, obviously, and it showed. On this surface (wet field) right here, your most physical team is going to win."

Poplar Bluff scored on its first two possessions, taking the opening kickoff and marching 60 yards on 11 rushing plays, the last a 4-yard push up the middle by Ferguson. After holding Dexter on its opening drive, Poplar Bluff again used the ground game to march 48 yards on nine rushing plays, the last again by Ferguson from 5-yards out.

Dexter's next drive ended when Hessling fumbled and Caleb Conover recovered at the Bearcats' 24. It only took the Mules three plays for Ferguson to punch it over from the 5-yard line early in the second quarter.

Dexter put together an 8-play drive on its next possession, but the threat again ended with a fumble as Mills turned it over at the Mules' 20-yard line.

Poplar Bluff returned the favor two plays later as Caleb Stanley recovered a Bullington fumble at the Mules' 15. After three Hessling runs netted just five yards, Mills found Stidham in the end zone for a 10-yard strike and the eventual 20-6 halftime lead for the Mules.

"We're not real good throwing the football in the rain," Pixley said of his team's move to the ground game in the second quarter. "We felt like if we get in there, try to get some of our bigs on there bigs, we could try to rut some tough yards out, and we did that. We scrapped pretty hard there in the second quarter on offense and wound up getting a touchdown.

"We didn't feel great at halftime, but we felt like we were still in the football game," Pixley pointed out. "We felt like we had some momentum. Our kids were bright eyed. They were focused in there (locker room), it's just we came out in the second half and bad things started happening, Bluff scores on us quick and we don't convert again on third down on our first drive, and Bluff scores on I think their second play, the 55-yard run, and it kind of takes the air out of us again. We can't let that happen. It's very difficult to stay up, but you have to stay up in that situation. Those are some of the things we have to get better at."

Dexter took the second half kick off, but was forced to punt after three plays. Poplar Bluff took control of the ball at there own 42 where Ferguson ran right for 3-yards, then the Mules used a good fake to the fullback to suck the Dexter defenders before handing the ball to Ferguson, the second man through the line, who found clear sailing down the right side for a 55-yard TD.

The ensuing kickoff set Dexter up on offense at their own 32, but a holding penalty on third-and-nine made it third-and-23 from the Bearcats' 19. A swing pass to Hessling resulted in a 4-yard loss, and punting from the 15, the Mules made a push up the middle to block the attempt and recover the ball at the Dexter 4-yard line.

In only took one play, a 4-yard run by Pete Bryant, to convert the turnover into six points and a 32-6 Mules' advantage.

Dexter's next possession started on its own 30, but on the second play, Mills was intercepted by Ben Knuckles at the Dexter 48. Eight running plays later, Conover scored from the 1-yard line for a 38-6 Mules lead.

Dexter's next drive started at its own 36 and moved into Mules' territory before it was stopped when the 'Cats couldn't convert on a fourth-and-one from the 34, and the ball went to Poplar Bluff on downs.

Two plays later, Dexter's Austin Mace ripped the ball out of the hands of Kerey Smith for a turnover as the third period of ending. Dexter used six plays to score at the 10:07 mark of the fourth, the last covering 10-yards by Hessling to set the final score at 38-13.

"The main thing is we've got to start playing with confidence," Pixley stated. "We've got to believe we can do things. We have to put them (four losses) behind us. We don't have a choice. If we continue to stick out our lip at these four games, then we will not get better as a football team. We are being tested. We've got to come out, suck it up and get mentally tough and get prepared to go play better football and hopefully win some games.

"Bottom line is this," he added. "We've got to go to Malden (Dexter's next opponent) as a physical football team. The same mentality we were in the first half. I felt like we were a lot more physical in the first half of this game than we've been all year. And we've got to do that the whole game. If we do that the whole game, then we'll have a chance."