In 1981, a southern gospel group named The Kinsmen released a catchy tune called “Excuses”. The song poked fun at flimsy reasons people give for skipping church—things such as the weather, hard pews, and complaints about the preachers’ sermons. Even though listeners get a laugh at these excuses, there is a serious message in the song. After Tuesday night’s scrimmage against Lamar, one might think that there would be a slew of excuses for Mansfield’s performance. Things like the heat, missing players, or the ever-present missed holding call that fans cry out about at every game. While surely fans are dishing out some of those excuses, the Tigers themselves are not. Lamar outperformed them in the final two live quarters of play, and they own that.
The scrimmage was laid out into two different sections. Both teams sent out their second string to run ten continuous plays on offense to start things off, then follow that up with two game like quarters with the first string. Being a scrimmage, no official scores would be recorded, and both teams would still leave the field with a 0-0 record. Get it? Got it? Good. Even though there is no statistical winner or loser, if you ask the players before the scrimmage, someone was going to walk away with a mental W or L.
The Tigers started things off by sending out their second-string defense for the ten-play part of the scrimmage, but they didn’t play like second stringers. Lamar’s offense did well on their first few plays as they pushed their way through the Tigers’ defense to quickly get down to the ten-yard line. Even with the end zone at their backs, Mansfield didn’t give up and stopped the Warriors dead in their tracks with an interception by Kim Rodgers. The interception gave the Tigers momentum, but due to this being in the ten-play section of the scrimmage, Lamar kept the ball. Lamar still had a few plays in the bag, but the Tigers’ defense was able to tie that bag shut and forced the Warriors’ offense to go scoreless for all ten plays.
Now with the opportunity to run their ten plays, Mansfield’s offense quickly showed that they only needed to run one to get the job done. Kim Rodgers took the first handoff of Mansfield’s possession and ran right through the Warriors’ defensive wall for a Tiger Touchdown. Just like that, Mansfield’s offense was rolling. Unfortunately, so was the ball as the Tigers fumbled on the next two of the next three plays, allowing Lamar to recover each dropped ball. A one and two touchdown to fumble ratio isn’t something that would normally get a team fired up, but these boys were far from normal. The Tigers came back swinging to close out their series of ten plays with a pass from Isaac Carson to Seth Burton for a 30-yard gain, followed up with another connection, this time to Silas Burton connection for a touchdown. Mansfield would score one more time with a quick pitch to Silas Burton for yet another Tiger touchdown. It was an impressive performance on both sides of the ball for the Mansfield subs.
After a slight break in action, both teams sent out their starters for two quarters of game like action. The Tigers went right to work on offense, but Lamar’s defense clocked them out just as soon as they started by forcing a quick three and out. The Tigers’ defense didn’t start out very well either as Lamar connected with back-to-back big pass plays to get into scoring position. Mansfield’s defense had dug themselves into a hole, but luckily, they were aided by a Lamar penalty that brought the ball back to the 30-yard line. Finally, Mansfield was able to hit a positive as the Tigers’ defense stepped up and forced a turnover on downs against the Warriors. With possession of the ball and the clock winding down, Mansfield quickly got a first down, then ran the clock down to close out the opening quarter with a 0-0 score. Neither team played particularly well in the first quarter, and the score reflected it, but offseason jitters are expected in scrimmages.
The second and final quarter of the scrimmage was the polar opposite of the first as both teams went from lackadaisical to must-see TV. Mansfield started their offensive drive at the 35-yard line, but Lamar’s defense pressured the Tigers into punting on fourth down. Now Lamar had a chance to put the Tigers on their heels early, or did they? The Tigers’ defense figured out that it’s much easier to put someone in a hole rather than dig themselves out of it, and that’s just what they did as Mansfield forced a fumble and recovered the ball in Warrior territory. Mansfield’s offensive struggles continued as they ran the ball for no gain, got a penalty, and fell into back-to-back third and long situations. Somehow, the Tigers were still gaining just enough yards to stay alive, which soon put them in the Red Zone.
With the goal line in sight, Mansfield caught the attention of every old school former football player in the stadium by lining up in the infamous I formation. With a snap of the ball, the Tigers plowed into Lamars defensive line but instead of handing the ball off, Jubal Parks rolled out and passed to a wide open Treven Hattabaugh who barely got his fingers on the ball before being decleated by a Lamar defender for his efforts. The brutal hit didn’t stop the next play call, though, as Mansfield scored on a Parks to Silas Burton pass for a Tiger touchdown. The two-point conversion was no good, leaving the score with Mansfield ahead of Lamar 6-0 with 5:09 left in the scrimmage. But in two short plays, Lamar came right back with a touchdown of their own. The Warriors’ extra point kick was good, setting the score with Lamar leading Mansfield 7-6. The Tigers roared right back again with a Jubal Parks to Isaac Carson pass on third and long for another Tiger touchdown. Again though, the two-point conversion was no good, setting the score at Mansfield 12, Lamar 6. With just 2:03 left on the clock, Lamar ate up yards and clock to score again to leave the Tigers down 14-12 with just 0:36 left for a comeback. The comeback attempt left the Tigers on their backs though, as Lamar walked away with a 14-12 final over Mansfield.
The wild and crazy final five minutes of the scrimmage showed that both Mansfield and Lamar have what it takes to compete in their respective conferences. Even though the Tigers drew the short end of the straw against Lamar, they learned and for a young team, a lesson like Tuesday night’s scrimmage is crucial for future games. The difference is that the Tigers’ future games will be on the record. Up first for Mansfield will be the Dardanelle Sand Lizards on Friday, August 28th. Mansfield will have to come together and buckle down on their lessons learned and do it fast because going to the home of the 2025 4A State Runner-ups will not be for the faint of heart. There will be no lies told and no excuses made that can hold up when they step onto the field next Friday because their actions throughout four quarters will tell everything. Kickoff will be at 7:00 pm at Dardanelle.
