JUNIOR HIGH FOOTBALL PREVIEW
Like their senior high teammates, who will be playing for a title on Friday, the 2026 junior high 3A-1 Charleston Tigers (8-0, 5-0) will travel to Mansfield (8-1, 4-1) with the 3A-1 Conference Championship on the line. Mansfield had won 17 straight games dating back to 2025, but fell on the road at Greenland last week 30-28.
Even though Mansfield isn’t coming into the contest undefeated as many expected, Charleston head coach Matt Stewart is confident his team will not take Mansfield for granted.
“Rest assured that the junior Tigers will not think less of a Mansfield team that just got upset at the end of the game last week,” said Stewart. “The Red Tigers were on a double-digit win streak dating back to the 2025 season. Our sights are set.”
The young Tigers understand what is at stake here, with a chance to win the conference championship. This can give them confidence as they move up into the senior high years. But Coach Stewart wants his squad to understand the value of this hard work off the field as well.
“The ultimate goal is to teach these kids how to be young men that are going to provide for a family one day,” said Stewart. “What better game to relay that message than the game of football? Coaches have a responsibility to model that and we don’t take that lightly.”
One challenge when it comes to football is how quickly the season starts compared to when school starts. Charleston’s first scrimmage against Elkins came exactly one week after school started. Obviously this is the same at other schools, but success is often defined by how you are able to get your team to buy in during summer workouts at 7 a.m., when some of their friends are staying up late playing video games and sleeping in.
“Lessons that these kids have gone through this season include showing up to early summer workouts, committing themselves to the weight room, and being loyal teammates,” said Stewart. “We’ve had hard lessons to learn and it’s a continuum, but this has been a good group overall.”
These workouts and lessons have paid dividends on the field. The 2026 Charleston junior high Tigers have been a team on a mission since the season began with a scrimmage at Elkins, and have marked each game on the schedule so far with a “W” in the win column for a perfect season to this point. Charleston has outscored their opponents 255-58, with only 20 of those 58 coming in the first half.
“In the football aspect, it’s been about showing up to continue to get better, to hone our craft, and compete regardless of what we see on film,” said Stewart. “Mansfield poses a great challenge, and for our kids to have an opportunity to compete against the defending conference champion is not one that we will take for granted.”
Mansfield recently sent up two players to senior high due to injury, including quarterback Elijah Burton. This role has been filled by Peyton James.
“Peyton has stepped right into that quarterback role for us,” said Mansfield junior high head coach Trevon Moore. “He’s played quarterback for us in the past, so he came in comfortable with what we want to do. He does a fantastic job running our offense, making great decisions.”
“Both of those kids are great athletes, but Mansfield is a team,” said Stewart. “They have seemingly plugged in a player at every position and continued to be dominant.”
One thing you can always expect from Mansfield is physical o-line play and the ability to pound the rock.
“Their offensive line play is good,” said Stewart. “They have a big side that will maul you, and they have a smaller side they fire to that can get to the second level in a hurry. The fullback runs with vision and has a burst we haven’t seen this year, and is a home run threat every time he touches the ball.”
Mansfield will have to go up against a Charleston defense that has been pretty salty this season. They haven’t allowed a first-half rushing touchdown since the Ozark game week three.
Offensively, Charleston has been effective with a wide-open aerial attack, complemented by a power run game and a dominant offensive line. The Tigers are led by freshman quarterback Daeton Stewart, who has thrown for 965 yards on the season with 20 touchdowns, completing 43 out of his 59 attempts for a 73% completion percentage.
“We haven’t played a team this year that likes to wing it around as much as Charleston does,” said Moore. “The Stewart kid has a great arm and can really make plays when he gets going. With the deep threats they have out wide our secondary knows they have to bring their absolute A-game.”
Stewart has had a variety of receivers in his arsenal this season, led by Tanner Schilling with seven touchdown receptions. Jaxson Todd (6) and Cooper Carruth (5) follow, along with Carson Lensing with two touchdowns.
On the ground, power running back Grant Little has five touchdowns on the season, with Cooper Carruth adding four rushing touchdowns.
The action starts on Thursday at Mansfield with the seventh grade game at 5:30 p.m., followed by junior high at 7 p.m.
All photo credits go to Sharon Baumgartner Dewitt.
