The Farmington Knights spoiled the Poplar Bluff football Mules' homecoming with a 36-33 victory at Mules Stadium Friday night in an entertaining, back-and-forth game.

“The kids kept fighting and we’re making improvements, but we’re not where we want to be yet,” said Mules head coach Jeff Mannon. “We’re not good enough of a football team to make that many mistakes in the game and come out with the win.”

Farmington moved the ball well with the first possession, but a fumble near midfield gave the ball to Poplar Bluff at the 9:30 mark of the first quarter.

The Mules drove the ball to the Knights’ 19-yard line, but they couldn’t convert a fourth down and turned the ball over.

The Knights responded with a 75-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Brett Drye to receiver Tatem Tinsley. They made the two-point conversion to lead 8-0 with 4:32 left in the first quarter.

On Farmington’s next possession, a 42-yard touchdown run was negated by a holding penalty. The Mules ended the Knights’ drive with a fourth-down sack on Drye to regain possession.

Mules' signal-caller Jay Edmundson responded with a 60-yard touchdown pass to Hunter Clifford to cut the Fsrmington lead to 8-7 with 7:37 left in the second quarter.

The first half ended with a burst of offense from both sides.

Farmington drove the ball 64 yards, capped off with a one-yard touchdown run by Kaesen McClain, giving the Knights a 15-7 lead with less than three minutes in the half.

Mules’ kickoff returner Xzavir Jones took the ensuing kickoff to the Farmington 48, and Edmundson took the first snap on a quarterback draw all the way to the end zone. The two-point try failed, making the score 15-13 with 1:56 left.

Farmington wasn’t content to run out the clock, however, scoring on a 51-yard touchdown pass from Drye to Josh McCarthy, giving Farmington a 22-13 lead.

Poplar Bluff started on its own 20 to open the second half after a kickoff touchback. The Mules offense drove to the Farmington 42-yard line, and on third and six, Edmundson ran loose into the end zone. After the PAT, the Mules cut the Knights' lead to 22-20.

After the Mules held the Knights to a three-and-out on their next possession, Edmundson led a ground attack that ate up most of the third quarter clock, capped off by a 16-yard touchdown run by Devin Ferguson. The two-point conversion failed, but the Mules held their first lead of the game, 26-22, with 54 seconds left in the third.

The lead would be short-lived, however, as Farmington's Drye kept the ball on a fourth-and-one play and ran 48 yards for another touchdown. After the kick, the Knights led again 29-26 with 11:13 left to play.

Poplar Bluff responded with a ground-and-pound drive deep into Farmington territory. After penalties gave them a third-and-15, Edmundson hit Hunter Clifford with a deep pass into the end zone, giving the Mules a 33-29 lead.

That lead lasted for one play, as Drye ran 85 yards through several missed tackles to put Farmington back up by three, 36-33, after the PAT with 5:53 remaining.

“When you play a team like Farmington, you know they’re going to execute that triple option,” Mannon said. “If you miss one assignment, it’s a touchdown, and that happened a few times tonight.”

The Mules’ last drive took them into Farmington territory, but two holding penalties and a sack led to a fourth-and-31 play that was too much to overcome, ending Poplar Bluff’s hope for a comeback.

“We’re going to get some stuff cleaned up and keep moving forward,” Mannon said. “The kids are fighting, and we’re going to get stuff fixed.”

The Mules host Cape Central next Friday. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.