Sometimes in football, trying the same thing can work.

Mexico vs Kirksville Photo Gallery

That was the case for Class 4 No. 3 Kirksville as Mexico wasn’t able to stop Jace Kent as he ran for 289 yards and four touchdowns on 33 attempts in a 28-13 loss for the Bulldogs. Mexico trailed 21-13 going into the fourth quarter but lost its fourth straight game to Kirksville – all by one or two possessions.

Head coach Steve Haag said the Mexico defense is going to see the same play over and over again until it stops it at a good rate. He said longtime and championship coach Gregg Nesbitt and Kirksville (7-0) are obviously going to run counter plays after Mexico (3-4) has struggled all year against them.

“They’re running counter so they’re pulling guard-tackle,” Haag said. “They’re going to say, ‘They can’t stop counter, and they’re going to run counter at us. I told the guys after the game, ‘You’ve got to understand. The M.O. on Mexico is run counter because we can’t stop it.’ We’ve got to be able to stop that to get off the field.”

Two of Kent’s touchdowns were not straight shots through an open lane rather they involved him weaving through the defense and breaking tackles. Kent ran the ball in from 12 yards for a 14-6 Kirksville lead in the second quarter and then broke away for 34 yards for a 28-13 lead with almost seven minutes left in the game.

Oftentimes, the Bulldogs had him and other Kirksville runners at arm’s length but couldn’t bring them down. Haag said close contact isn’t typically acceptable in daily life but is encouraged on the football field.

“You can’t tackle with your arms,” Haag said. “We were sticking our arms out thinking we can tackle that guy, and he’s too good to do that. As I told them, you’ve got to tell him you love him. If you don’t tell him you love him, you’re too far away.”

Haag said wrestling is another sport where being close is encouraged, and the wrestlers on his team demonstrate this. Grant Van Horn is a multiple-time state medalist and picked up some tackles on Friday. Peyton Hoover and Kyler Benne also do a good job with this, Haag said, and resemble how they are on the wrestling mat.

“It’s human nature not to like people in your space,” Haag said. “You’ve got to like people in your space if you want to be a good tackler. You have to like people in your proximity to wrestle. It’s the same thing with tackling.”

With a tough matchup expected and delivered by Kirksville, Mexico did strike first when the Bulldogs came away with one of three turnovers to outnumber the Tigers’ two takeaways. Drew DeMint intercepted a pass on the left side and ran it back 53 yards for a touchdown for 6-0 lead in the first quarter.

Mexico didn’t score on offense until a two-yard run by Hunter Cuno in the third quarter, which was set up by a 55-yard pass from Kaden Benne to DeMint. Haag said having that early defensive touchdown snatched away momentum from Kirksville following a failed fourth-down conversion and was a matter of time given DeMint’s ability.

“I thought a while back Drew should be playing corner,” Haag said. “He played outside backer and did a good job for us. His athletic ability outside does a good job at corner. He has quick feet. I was thinking the last couple weeks, he’s probably eventually going to get a pick.”

Haag said Mexico didn’t take advantage of Kirksville’s mistakes enough like when Van Horn came away with a fumble in the second quarter only for Carter Pinkerton to intercept a pass to take the ball right back for Kirksville. The Tigers turned that Mexico mistake into a touchdown.

Peyton Hoover’s interception late in the third quarter did precede Cuno’s touchdown, and Haag said Mexico’s game did flow better than last week’s win against Fulton. If the Bulldogs do see Kirksville again in districts, he said he believes his team is capable of a better performance because now Mexico knows it can play with Kirksville.

“Anytime you want to win a football game, you’ve got to do things right, especially when you play good teams like a Hannibal, Kirksville or Odessa,” Haag said. “As a team, we’ve got to grow in that aspect. We’ve got to block, we can’t have missed assignments and we’ve got to get off the field on third down.”

Mexico plays at conference foe Moberly (2-5) at 7 p.m. Friday.