Sometimes things are out of a teams’ control. With storms pushing in quickly, Mansfield cut the seventh-grade game short to try to beat the radar. Mansfield and Charleston were suited up ready to get the show going early on Thursday, October 10th. Everyone knew that the scoreboard wasn’t the only thing that was going to light up that night.
When the Tiger Titans finally clashed, it was a physical altercation with both teams ferociously crashing into each other on both sides of the ball. Charleston put up the first points with a quick slant pass but couldn’t tack on the extra point kick giving them a 6-0 lead on Mansfield with seven minutes left in the first quarter. When the Tigers got the ball back, Tyler Turnipseed and Tyler Woolbright were able to squeeze through a couple of small gaps to gain yards but were met with black helmets from all directions.
Charleston took control of the ball again, but the Mansfield defense didn’t make the next drive easy for them. The Mansfield defensive line plugged all of the running lanes allowing Branson Carver to string the speedy Charleston running backs out to the perimeter of the field. Charleston used play action to jump out on a speed sweep and slammed their way into the end zone again. This time they were able to add a two-point conversion putting them 14-0 over the Tiger with 4:24 left on the clock.
Unfortunately for Mansfield, once they started their next offensive drive, the game was delayed by lightning. The Tigers went inside during the delay and began master planning on a comeback, but the delay soon changed to the canceling of the game giving the Tigers a 14-0 loss to Charleston.
With the loss, Mansfield fell to 2-2 in conference play but the coaches and players do not see themselves out of the hunt. The Tigers have improved every week and are showing their potential is limitless. Mansfield will study hard and prepare to ace their next test as they travel to Booneville on October 17th to face the Bearcats at 7 p.m.
