The Mansfield Little League football program celebrated 6th Grade Appreciation on Saturday, October 5th. The stands were filled as a host of twelve sixth-graders who gave the program their all for years stepped into Tiger Stadium for their last Little League regular-season game. Both Tiger teams gave their sixth-graders the ultimate present by single handily crushing the Lavaca Golden Arrows in both games and pushing the program closer to the WCFL Playoffs.
The Tigers 3rd and 4th grade put their undefeated title on the line in a no holds barred match-up against the Golden Arrows with zero intentions of losing that title. Mansfield jumped off to a quick lead with Hunter Whittaker running like a rocket down the edge of the sideline for a touchdown. Colton Moore then took the ball up the middle untouched for the extra points giving the Tigers an 8-0 kick start to the game. Lavaca then fumbled the ball in Tiger territory allowing Colton Nelson to snatch the recovery giving Mansfield the ball right back. Whittaker would tack on three more touchdowns before sending the Tigers into the half with a hefty 30-0 lead.
The second half of the game was all defense for Mansfield with a slight sprinkle of scoring. Lincoln Allison, Michael Carter, and Clayton Garrison were in the faces of the Arrows running backs all night. Layton Pyles, Deshaun Collins, and Thomas Boyd created chaos for Lavacas offense as well. Lavaca was able to punch one in for a score, but Trevin Hattabaugh got it all back as he screamed past the defense for a 70-yard touchdown. Raihan Islam sealed Lavaca’s fate with a stuffing tackle to end the game with a final of 36-6.
Mansfields 5th and 6th grade team wasn’t going to allow Lavaca to rain on their parade. This was their night. End of Story. On the Tigers’ first snap of the game, Dawson Robinson found a gap in the Arrows defense and exploded for a Tiger touchdown. Keyton Oliver and Cordell Stone kept Lavaca from keying in on just one running back as they split carries for big runs forcing the Golden Arrows to honor all of the Tiger running backs. The perfect balance in the Mansfield backfield created another score for Robinson giving the Tigers a 14-0 lead at the half.
The Tigers defensive line dominated their foes all night. James “Critter” Bausley, Junior Cash, and Alex “Ax-Man” Hecox sent Lavacas offense running for their lives allowing defensive backs Keyton Oliver and Cooper Edwards to get easy open-field tackles. Ethan Martin was able to take a breakaway for a 45-yard touchdown while Dominic Shores knocked out a 70-yard score. In the end, the Tigers balance on both sides of the ball ousted Lavaca 36-0.
