Pictured is Zander Walters. Photos courtesy of Raine Hecox
In the 2004 movie Friday Night Lights, one of the coaches asked a player “Tell me what you are seeing out there?” to which the player replied, “They’re fast coach. They’re big coach…..plus, they’re fast”. That quote was the common thread for the Jr High Tigers game Thursday night against the Mena Bearcats as they were outmatched in size and speed in route to a 35-0 loss.
The Jr Tigers took to the field surrounded by blistering heat and thick humidity with every intent to give it their all to upset the 4A Bearcats in their first game of the season. They knew what they were up against too as they had already faced off against Mena the previous week in a too close to call scrimmage. It didn’t matter that the Jr Tiger shad the odds stacked against them and that they were already short starters Jeremy Strozier, James Bausley, and Dominic Shores, the Tigers were there to play ball.
Mansfield started off kicking the ball to Mena and covered the return very well. The Tiger defense started off strong with solid tackles by Toby Towe, Boston Elmore, and Dawson Robinson. Mena was able to drive the ball a little way downfield, but although the Tigers bent, they didn’t break. The Bearcats found no favors with attempts to run straight into the teeth of the Tigers, so they tried bouncing the ball to the outside. Again, Mansfield didn’t break and held their own as Leland Powell superglued himself to the Bearcats receiver to force a turnover on downs. The Tigers took over on offense and began to do what Mena couldn’t as Zander “Warrior” Walters walloped the Bearcats driving the ball up the gut on multiple plays. Dawson Robinson got in the mix with an explosive 33-yard run to close the first quarter out with an even 0-0 score.
Unfortunately for the Tigers, the second quarter gave Mansfield a heaping double dose of exhaustion. With already having low numbers and short a few starters, many Tigers played both offense and defense with little rest in between while Mena had the numbers to rotate players in and out often. The Tiger’s defense held Mena’s potent offense up for half of the 2nd quarter, but the Bearcats finally broke the goal line plain with 4:38 left in the half. Mansfield successfully blocked Mena’s extra point to leave the score sitting at 6-0. Shortly after, Tiger Running Back Dawson Robinson was injured leaving Cooper Edwards, Zander Walters, and Trey Powell with a full workload. The Tiger’s offense held the ball well and drove a ways before punting the ball back to the Bearcats. Mena would again drive downfield and score with 0:34 seconds left in the half and add on the two-point conversion to set the score at 14-0. Trey Powell gave the Tigers a spark of life with the ensuing kickoff returning the ball 29 yards as the clock ran out on the half.
The game was all Mena after the half as they rolled up two more scores in the third quarter to drive the score up 28-0. Going into the fourth quarter, the Tigers were on their heels and out of gas. Mena struck again early in the fourth quarter and tacked on the extra point for a 35-0 lead and that was when disaster struck the Tigers. Once back on offense, Robinson went back in after recovering from his second-quarter injury and took a quick handoff from Edwards. As he rounded the corner, Robinson was caught from behind and slammed to the ground. As players took a knee, Robinson was taken off-field and the game ended with a final score of 35-0.
The Jr Tigers lost this battle, but the war is far from over. As this young team watches film, studies their plays, and rests up, they know they must endeavor to persevere. The next game on their schedule is none other than the Waldron Bulldogs. Although Waldron is another 4A team for the 3A Tigers, this is the Battle of Scott County, and all bets are off when the Tigers and Bulldogs clash. Mansfield will travel to Waldron next Thursday with a kickoff at 7:00 pm.
