Mansfield and Charleston. These two programs have been the dominant pair over the past few years. Charleston has a history of success to back it, but the Mansfield Tigers have quickly made their presence known by running roughshod over the competition with their powerful, old-school football tactics. So, when Mansfield’s undefeated junior high went to Charleston on Thursday, October 2nd, they knew that this was going to be more than a game; it was going to be a fight for respect.
The Tigers started the game kicking off to Charleston, which gave their defense a chance to see what they were made of against a spread offense. On Charleston’s first offensive snap, defensive linemen Easton Foley and Thomas Boyd breezed past the line and took down Charleston’s quarterback. It was a big play for the Tigers defense, but Charleston came right back with a 43-yard pass to get the Black Tigers into scoring territory. Charleston’s big play capabilities were shut down in the short field though as Mansfield forced a turnover on downs soon after.
Mansfield ushered their physical offense onto the field with 93 yards in front of them. Just as soon as the snap was made, a flag was thrown. Fortunately for Mansfield, the penalty was against Charleston which gave the Tigers offense a little more breathing room. The next five plays went to four different Tigers as Layton Pyles, Colton Moore, Seth Burton, Isaac Carson, and Elijah Burton plowed ahead to get Mansfield to the 34-yard line. With Charleston’s defences head spinning trying to figure out who had the ball, Layton Pyles broke loose and gained 16 yards and a Tiger first down at midfield. With only a handful of seconds left in the opening quarter, Elijah Burton pitched the ball to Isaac Carson, who screamed 50 yards downfield for a Mansfield Tiger touchdown. The two-point conversion was no good, leaving the Tigers with a 6-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Charleston put together a pretty good drive on the Tigers defense, but again Mansfield bowed up when it counted most. On fourth down and seven to go, the Tigers secondary covered Charleston’s wide receivers like glue to force an incomplete pass and another turnover on downs against Charleston. The Tigers defense did their job, but Charleston’s drive ran the clock down to 2:08 left in the half leaving little time for the Tigers to drive 74-yards ahead to score again. Colton Moore ran up the gut for 6-yards to start Mansfield’s new possession and was followed up by Isaac Carson, who took to the edge of the field and darted for a 29-yard gain. Just like that the Tigers were in Charleston territory and knocking on the scoreboard’s door. But the Tigers fumbled after a time out which set them back to face a fourth and fifteen with 0:42 seconds left in the second quarter. Mansfield couldn’t convert and turned the ball back over on downs to Charleston at the 34-yard line. The Tigers defense kept Charleston in check for the remainder of the half as Mansfield headed into halftime with a 6-0 lead.
Each team only had two offensive drives in the first half as both of the Tigers ate up the clock to make up what seemed to be the fastest first half on record. Mansfield’s offense started the second half and aimed to slow the game down a little bit to their tempo. Colton Moore took back-to-back handoffs to get Mansfield their first first down of the half and the Tigers were rolling early. Quarterback, Elijah Burton, baited Charleston’s defense with a third handoff but pulled the ball and flew downfield for a big 27-yard gain. Isaac Carson put the cherry on top with a 32-yard Tiger touchdown. The two-point conversion was no good, but the Tigers still extended their lead 12-0 over Charleston with 5:43 left in the third quarter.
Manfield’s defense continued to punish Charleston in the backfield which caused Charleston to begin hearing footsteps. Those footsteps were from the big feet of Keaton Welch as Charleston’s quarterback fumbled the ball and Welch pulled off a 25-yard scoop and score for the Tigers defense. Layton Pyles added on the two-point conversion to give Mansfield a 20-0 lead. The scoop and score was awesome, but it put the Tigers defense right back on the field with a minimal break. Break? They don’t need no stinkin’ break and just like that, the Tigers had Charleston with their backs to the wall on fourth down again. An odd yellow object found its way onto the field, which awarded Charleston a first down. Easton Foley batted down Charleston’s first pass which brought those booming footsteps back. Charleston jumped the gun and snapped the ball high to push Charleston even further back. Payton James shut down a third down attempt which forced Charleston to punt the ball. The third quarter ended with that punt as Mansfield held a commanding lead on Charleston with a 20-0 score going into the fourth quarter.
The fourth and final quarter saw Elijah Burton, Layton Pyles and Colton Moore chewing their way past Charleston’s defense to the 39-yard line on the first drive, but Charleston caught a break by intercepting a Mansfield pass. Charleston’s offense made some decent yardage to get down to the Tigers 25-yard line with a couple of passes. Mansfield’s defense again stepped up as Colton Moore picked off Charleston on a fourth down pass. Moore made his was down inside Charleston’s 30-yard line, but a penalty brought the ball back to the opposite 12-yard line. Colton Moore would not be denied though as he took the ensuing handoff for 57-yards back to the 31-yard line again. Layton Pyles broke five tackles on the next play and capped off the run for a 31-yard Tiger touchdown. The two-point conversion was no good, but the Tigers boosted their lead to 26-0 with 2:24 left in the game.
With 2:24 left in the game, Mansfield wasn’t going to lose, but they wanted to do more than merely win, they wanted to shut out Charleston on their home field. Charleston assisted the Tigers with that as they fumbled the ball on their next possession. Ryder Pennington picked up the fumble and went 45-yards for another defensive Tiger touchdown. Mansfield’s two-point conversion was good to set the score at 34-0. The Tigers left Charleston’s high-powered offense with a goose egg on the scoreboard as Mansfield was victorious over Charleston with a 34-0 final score. The Tigers will keep their undefeated record at home next week as they host the Lavaca Golden Arrows on Thursday, October 9th.
