Central reaches district semis

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- It was that the ball was going to get through a maze of players and into the net when Central senior Myles Edwards let loose on a free kick from far outside the box.

But it did. And it was a tone-setter for the rest of the night.

Edwards' goal gave Central the lead for good in the Class 3 District 1 opening-round game at Whitelely Park as the Tigers advanced to the semifinals with a 3-1 victory Monday night.

Central (7-16-3) will battle top-seed Jackson (16-6) in the semifinals at 5 p.m. today in Poplar Bluff.

"I don't even know how far that was out," Poplar Bluff coach Derek Reasons said about Edwards' goal. "It felt like [it was a mile]. It just bounced and bounced and skipped and kind of went in. I don't know what happened there. It was just like a lapse where everyone was surprised that it was shot in."

The goal happened in the eighth minute of play.

"I thought we were very fortunate to get the one goal in the first half," Central coach Dan Martin said. "That was a very lucky break."

Poplar Bluff (8-12) opened with immediate pressure on the Tigers, who were 2-0 against the Mules during the regular season.

The Tigers held and responded with Edwards' goal, then made it 2-0 in the 19th minute when senior Jesse Hurt deposited a cross from junior Vance Toole.

Even with the lead, Martin said he felt like Poplar Bluff outplayed his team in some aspects.

"That's kind of the night it was," Martin said. "I thought our second goal was fortunate. I thought we played a little sloppy and felt Bluff really took it to us."

Central inserted the dagger 11 minutes into the second half.

Toole took a pass from Ethan Groshong and made it 3-0.

Poplar Bluff finally broke through with 8 minutes left as Luis Rivera squirted one through goalkeeper Austin Bagley for his 13th goal of the season.

Cape will have a quick turnaround against Jackson today. The Indians beat the Tigers 3-1 and 6-0 this season.

"Jackson has beat us twice -- at there place and at our place," Martin said. "They're strong this year. They take it to us. We'll try to prepare -- it's a little hard without a training session in between though."