Many high school football players have a special inspiration for why they suit up and play the game every weekend.

For Poplar Bluff Mules senior Connor Stevens, it's his late father, Jeremy.

Stevens lost his father to esophageal cancer in April 2021, when Stevens was in eighth grade.

“I remember when he had chemo, (my dad) would always ask my mom, 'Am I going to get to see Connor play high school sports? Am I going to get to football season?'” Stevens said. “And she'd always say, 'Yes, hold on, hold on.' And I always read (those) text messages before games of my mom and him talking about how they're going to see me my senior year and how he's going to walk my my sister down the aisle. And I just think that even though I'm out there, it's bigger than me.”

Stevens is one of the Mules leaders this season, both on and off the field. The senior linebacker entered Friday's game against Cape Central tied for the team lead in tackles with 24 and leading the team with 12 solo tackles. But more than that, he's the leader of Poplar Bluff's defensive unit and an inspiration to his teammates.

“Connor is one of those great kids,” Poplar Bluff coach Jeff Mannon said. “He's a really intelligent kid on the football field. He's been playing varsity ever since he was a sophomore. He's the captain of that defense. He gets us lined up and gets the play calls in from the sideline. He had to miss a little bit because his knee — and then it gets a little complicated on who's making calls and things like that, so he's a really valuable asset to the team.

“As far as working, he's put the work in the summer. He's done a great job setting that culture that we're looking to reset from those seniors and letting them take over. He's part of that group that's led that, so he's just invaluable to us.”

Stevens has an especially close bond with Mules' quarterback Jay Edmundson and Jay's father, Matt Edmundson.

\“My dad and Jay's dad were pee-wee (football) coaches in third fourth grade, all the way up to fifth and sixth grade,” Stevens said. “And a lot of good guys — they touched a lot of lives. Even our teammates will talk about it to this day, how our dads were together and as a team and (how) that was one of our best times playing football.”

And when times got tough for Stevens with his father's illness and death, Jay Edmundson and other members of the Class of 2025 were there for Stevens.

“During (my) time of need, when stuff was going downhill and (my father) was on his last couple of legs, I really leaned on Jay, I really leaned on Spencer (Nunn), Lincoln Warren and Hunter Clifford,” Stevens said. “Those are my guys. I could go over to their houses anytime. I could just stay, I could sleep there, I'd always have a hot meal waiting for me and I'd always have support from my friends and their families. That brought us together. We'd sit there and (talk) about football or about what's going on, who likes who — and just making me feel at home.”

That adversity arguably has been part of what has forged the bond the Mules football seniors have now.

“Those kids have been playing football together since they were little,” Mannon said. “And it shows — they all think the same. They'll bounce plays off us or something that they like. They watch film, they're dedicated, and they spend so much time together that they've just created this brotherhood.

“And we're just trying to get that to attach to the other classes too, so that they can kind of see how football should be, with the family orientation … and how everybody believes in each other. And these seniors have done a great job with that to where the young guys know what the expectation is moving forward.”

It is little surprise Stevens still finds inspiration from his father's words — and also the help of a few others.

“I've been dealt a bad hand, but he really taught me a lot on and off the field,” Stevens said of his father. “I still miss him, but a lot of guys have stepped up. Coach Mannon has stepped up and Jay's dad, Matt Edmundson, have stepped up and into that role and helped me in times of need. And I really just try to play for him and remember his rules and how he taught me what to do and how to do it — play hard and play fast.”