F9. Miss against Mena. J10. Miss against Waldron. A7. Miss against West Fork. G1. Hit and sink against Greenland! After missing the mark so far this season, the Tigers traveled to Greenland Thursday night to zero in on their first win of the season. The Mansfield Jr Tigers showed guts, determination, and solid teamwork in a back and forth instant classic 28-22 victory as they sunk the Greenland Pirates.
The game started off with the Tigers getting the ball first but Mansfield couldn’t figure out the Pirates defensive map right off the bat. That all changed with 3:47 left in the first quarter when QB, Peyton Martin, dipped and dove his way into the end zone. Jeremy Strozier pounded through the Pirates stiff defense for the two-point conversion to get the Tigers ahead early 8-0. In just a hair over a minute, Greenland would answer the Tigers TD with a score of their own and tacked on the extra points to tie things up 8-8 at the 2:13 mark of the first quarter. Remember the word “thriller” in the title of this article? Here it is. In just ten seconds after Greenland scored, Martin drilled a pass to Tyler Turnipseed who used his “TurnipSPEED” to fly 40-yards downfield for a Tiger touchdown. Mansfield was not able to convert the two-point conversion leaving the score at a 14-8 Mansfield at the end of the first quarter.
Now that the teams had both fired their offensive cannons in the first quarter, the game turned into a defensive chess match. Tackle for tackle and turnover for turnover, both the Tigers and Pirates blasted each other’s offenses. In on those massive blasts were Toby Towe, Turner Wright, Trey Vaughan, and Dakota Langford. It was a game of who wants it more at that point. Who wants it more, Tyler Turnipseed wants it more, more, and way more. With the Tigers quarterback Martin being flushed out of the pocket, he zipped a wild pass into coverage in the end zone. In a one on one matchup, both Turnipseed and a Pirate defender got their hands on the ball. The call of interception or touchdown wasn’t clear until Turnipseed literally ripped the ball away for the big-time score. That show of determination sent the Tigers into halftime with a 20-14 lead and momentum in their favor.
The third quarter was filled with falls and flags as both teams struggled to get things going on either side of the ball. It was the end of the 3rd quarter before points were put up on the board. Unfortunately, it was Greenland who took the high waves to score with 0:32 left in the 3rd quarter giving Greenland a 22-20 lead going into the final quarter of the game. It was sink or swim time for Mansfield. Lifejackets? They don’t need no stinkin’ lifejackets. The team was Mansfield’s floatation device. After a few big runs by the Tigers running backs, Greenland took the bait on some play action and Martin dropped a perfect pass to the one, the only, THE Trey Powell who rolled in for a 40-yard Tiger touchdown.
To make sure the game would either be a win or go into overtime, Mansfield went for the two-point conversion and it was none other than Peyton Martin who rolled in to add the duce bringing the score to 28-22 Mansfield with 5:05 left in the game. The Pirates had to set sail fast and started passing, but their passes only found red and white jerseys. Turnipseed picked off a pass, but it was called off due to a penalty against the Tigers. The next play Greenland tried the same pass play to the other side of the field and the pass found none other than Peyton Martin who intercepted the ball to close out the game with 2:55 left on the clock. Trey Powell and Jeremy Strozier ran the ball a few times to run the time out and Martin took a knee on the final play giving Mansfield the 28-22 final over Greenland.
Peyton Martin finished the game with 7 passes for 128 yards and 3 TD and 8 rushes for 29 yards and 1 TD. Powell rushed 7 times for 52-yards. Strozier earned 7 rushes for 13 yards. And Turnipseed made 8 receptions for 88 yards and 1 TD. The Jr Tigers will hit the road to Charleston on October 8, and attempt to paw down the gold and black felines in what is sure to be a “Clash of the Tigers”.
