Nelson Mandela once said “The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” The Mansfield JR High football team started out their season 5-0 before stumbling against Charleston and Booneville. Many saw the losses as just that, losses. But a select few saw a Tigers team that battled with all they had and even improved during the two-game losing streak. The schedule still didn’t favor Mansfield as on Thursday, October 20th the Tigers traveled to Lavaca to take on another top-notch conference opponent in the Golden Arrows.
Unlike every game the Tigers previously played, Mansfield lost the coin toss and had to open the game by kicking off to Lavaca. The Golden Arrows had a quiver full of bigger players on the field than Mansfield and used that advantage to drive the ball down to the Tigers 32 yard line. Mansfield finally forced a fourth down on the Golden Arrows offense and Lavaca went for the fourth down conversion, but Tiger defensive ends Braxton Bartlett and Matthew Burton cut down the Golden Arrows quarterback for a turnover on downs. Now with the ball in their hands, Mansfield wasted little time getting momentum going. The Tigers started their drive with a pass from Cooper Edwards to Ethan Martin who rumbled 36 yards downfield into Lavaca territory. Zander Walters and Cooper Edwards made a couple of powerful runs to set Mansfield up at the five-yard line, but the Tigers couldn’t capitalize and turned the ball over on downs. Lavaca would gift the ball right back to Mansfield though with a fumble at the two-yard line and defensive lineman Logan Ore was there for the recovery. Again with the ball, the Tigers gave a quick handoff to Zander Walters who popped into the endzone for a Tiger touchdown. Walters tacked on the two-point conversion setting the Tigers up with an 8-0 lead over Lavaca at the end of the first quarter.
The Tigers started off the second quarter much better than the first as Manfield’s defense forced a three-and-out on Lavaca’s offense. It only took two plays by running backs Ethan Martin and Zander Walters for Mansfield to find the endzone again, but unfortunately, a holding penalty negated the score. No matter though, the Tigers pounded their way downfield again and this time capitalized with a score by Zander Walters from nine yards out. The Tigers two-point try came up unsuccessful leaving them with a 14-0 lead over the Golden Arrows. With the lead in their favor, the Tigers seemed to soften up their effort as Lavaca ate up yards and the clock by driving the ball 62 yards on nine plays to score. The Golden Arrows couldn’t add on the two-point conversion but still, put Mansfield on notice by making it a one-possession game. Once Mansfield got the ball back, Cooper Edwards zeroed in a pair of passes to Ethan Martin with racked up 25 yards and 17 yards on his receptions to get the Tigers in scoring position. Unfortunately, the Tigers ran out of time in the half before they could score again as Mansfield entered halftime with a slim 14-6 lead.
Mansfield received the opening kick of the second half and showed that they wouldn’t go down without a fight. Lavaca’s kick went to returner Gunner Williams who played a slide-of-hand trick on Lavaca as Williams ran with the ball in one direction and then handed the ball to Ethan Martin on a reverse. Martin rumbled, bumbled, and stumbled down the field for 54 yards on the return setting Mansfield’s offense up with great field position. The Tigers then used their triple threat in the backfield as they targeted the Golden Arrows with runs by Zander Walters, Ethan Martin, and Dawson Robinson to get down to the one-yard line. Ethan Martin was the one to cross the goal line from one yard out behind the lead blocking of Dawson Robinson for a Tiger Touchdown. Cooper Edwards zipped a pass to Joseph Carter for the two-point conversion to jump the Tigers lead to 22-6.
The Tigers defense finally shook off the rust and started shining in the second half. Lavaca was unable to get past Cadien and Logan Ore, aka the “Brothers of Destruction”, as the Ore’s created chaos in the Golden Arrows backfield on each snap of the ball. Mansfield’s linebacker corps consisting of Ethan Martin, Alex Hecox, and Dawson Robinson also chewed up Lavacas running backs and receivers seemingly at will. Missing in the Tigers linebacker corps though was Mansfield’s star running back and linebacker Zander Walters. Walters was injured on the Tigers previous drive so Tigers head coach, Tim Cothran, plugged up the void with ninth grader Logan Newman. Newman came into the game with a point to prove and boy did he excel in doing so as the freshman tallied up multiple solo and assisted tackles in the second half. Although the Golden Arrows didn’t pass deep much, defensive backs Cooper Edwards and Dominic Shores were on the spot when they did knocking down any passes in their direction.
With the Tigers defense rallying and the Golden Arrows off target, Mansfield’s offense was able to zone in on the endzone again. The Tigers took over possession after a Lavaca turnover on downs and in just one snap of the ball, Cooper Edwards slung a 29-yard touchdown pass to none other than Ethan Martin for another Tiger touchdown. Mansfield couldn’t score the two-point conversion which set the scoreboard at 28-6 in the Tigers favor. The closing touchdown may have been by the hands of the Tigers offenses, but the true game closer came from the defense. Lavaca’s offense worked their way down to the Tigers 20-yard line and set up for a shot at the endzone. As the Golden Arrows quarterback dropped back for a pass, Matthew Burton came in for a big hit which sent the pass sailing into the waiting arms of Mansfield’s Joseph Carter for a Mansfield Tigers interception. The turnover allowed the Tigers offense to chip away at the clock and end the game with a 28-6 final score for the victory.
Mansfield’s win over Lavaca not only broke a two-game losing streak, but it also set the 2022 JR High team to do something that hasn’t been done in almost a decade. The JR Tigers now sit with an overall record of 6-2 on the season and a 4-2 conference record making them one of the winningest Mansfield JR High teams in recent memory. Mansfield will look to solidify their record-setting claim when they host the Cedarville Pirates on Thursday, October 27th for the final game of the season.
