Every dynasty has a chink in the armor, and sooner or later, somebody finds it. One minute crack that leaves an opening to leave a scar on perfection. For 17 straight games and 421 days, the Mansfield JR High Tigers stacked up blood, sweat, and tears to build a wall of winning that nobody could climb. Blowouts, comebacks, close calls — it didn’t matter. Opponent after opponent ran into that wall and bounced right off. Then the inevitable happened on Thursday night, Oct. 22. The Tigers rolled into Greenland with their streak on the line, and brick by brick, they watched their impenetrable wall come crashing down as the Pirates defeated Mansfield, 30-28.
Mansfield took the opening kickoff and sent its offense out to lay the mortar for another brick in the wall — and it set fast like quick Quikrete. On just the third snap of the night, Ryder Pennington found a crease and was gone, racing 57 yards to the house for the Tigers’ first touchdown of the game. Keaton Welch punched in the two-point conversion, and just like that, Mansfield led 8-0 with 6:24 left in the first quarter. Then the Tigers defense took the field and swung a wrecking ball straight into the Pirates’ hull. Cung Bawi and Keaton Welch teamed up to drop Greenland for a loss on the Pirates’ very snap, and Issac Rogers followed that up with another tackle for loss of his own, shoving the Pirates back to third down and a mile to go.
Greenland was forced to punt soon after, and the Tigers wasted no time keeping the momentum rolling. Kannon Copeland bobbed and weaved his way through the Pirates’ special teams unit, setting Mansfield up at its own 34-yard line. A quick pitch to Pennington ripped off a big gain down to the 20-yard line. Welch and Pennington went to work from there, pounding the Tigers all the way to the 3-yard line. Josh Bascue finished the job, strolling across the goal line for another Tiger touchdown. The two-point try came up short, but Mansfield looked to be typical Mansfield as the Tigers closed out the first quarter with a 14-0 lead over Greenland.
The second quarter should have been all about the fundamentals. Play clean, keep the chains moving, and cruise to the finish line. It didn’t play out that way. Mansfield is usually the physical, aggressive team on the field, but on this night, Greenland stole the Tigers’ identity and brought that same nasty edge into the second quarter. The problem? Mansfield didn’t match it. The Tigers’ defense held strong and forced Greenland to turn the ball over on downs, only to watch a fumble on Mansfield’s very first offensive snap hand the Pirates the ball right back. Greenland then fired a laser of a pass straight into the arms of Josh Bascue, who gladly snagged it for an interception. But once again, instead of laying another brick in the wall, Mansfield coughed up the rock and handed the Pirates another shot at a comeback. This time Greenland cashed in on the Tigers’ gift, punching in a score to send both teams to the locker room with Mansfield clinging to a 14-8 halftime lead.
Greenland got the ball to open the second half and wasted no time punching the gritty Tigers defense square in the mouth. The momentum the Pirates built late in the second quarter came right back onto the field with them as play by play, they chipped away at the Mansfield defense. It took some time, but the Pirates grounded out a 10-play march that ended with a trip into the end zone. The extra point attempt was no good, but the damage was done as the game was now knotted at 14-14 with 2:32 left in the third quarter. With the winds back in their sails, Greenland rolled the dice on an onside kick to keep the momentum rolling. The Tigers weren’t having it though as Mansfield pounced on the grounder and sent its offense back out with one job: start building that scoreboard back up.
That building was a tall task, but it only took three plays to complete. Ryder Pennington busted free, looked up and saw nothing but “green land” in front of him, racing 58 yards for a Tiger touchdown. Pennington then took care of the two-point conversion himself, putting Mansfield back on top 22-14. The lead didn’t last long. Greenland quickly answered with points of their own to tie the ballgame again at 22-22. Then the Tigers fumbled the first snap of their next possession, handing the Pirates yet another swing at busting down the wall. When the third quarter ended, the scoreboard read 22-22, and Greenland’s offense sat at the Tigers’ 41-yard line, ready to take its first lead of the night.
The 22-22 score in the fourth quarter might as well have been 0-0. Mansfield had battled back in games like this before, but Greenland wasn’t going to stop swinging until they had the Tigers’ tail nailed on the wall. That wasn’t going to happen so long as the Tigers defense had something to say about it, though. On the first snap of the fourth quarter, Cung Bawi and Noah Bascue sacked the Pirates quarterback for a huge loss of yards. Greenland completed a pass on their next play, but Josh Bascue, Gabe Haysmer, and Kannon Copeland sank the receiver quickly. Mansfield had the Pirates pinned deep on fourth down, but Greenland’s quarterback slipped free and kept the drive alive with a slick scramble. That was all for “naut” though as Kannon Copeland picked off a pass on Greenland’s next play and returned the ball at the 17-yard line, taking the Tigers down to the 1-yard line. The 84-yard pick led to a Keaton Welch Tiger touchdown giving Mansfield the lead again with just 4:14 left in the game. Every brick counts when building a wall and the Tigers left one out by not converting the two-point attempt.
While the lead was legit, so was Greenland. The Pirates offense put all hands on deck and began firing at will. Mansfield’s defense thwarted every shot and forced the Pirates to run out of cannonballs thus turning the ball over on downs. With a lead and time running out fast, the Tigers had the game in the bag. The problem was that the bag had a hole in it as Mansfield turned the ball back over on downs. With just 1:30 left on the clock, Greenland aimed and lit the fuse one more time. With a loud BOOM, the Pirates connected on a 68-yard pass for a touchdown. The game would come down to an extra point attempt. Mansfield didn’t convert theirs on their last score, but Greenland did. The Pirates took the lead and the 30-28 win from there, handing Mansfield their first loss in nearly two seasons.
At the beginning of the season, Coach Trevon Moore was asked if he thought the Tigers could repeat their 10-0 season from last season. The Tigers had just snuffed out Lamar in a convincing fashion, so the question was legit, but Moore’s response was beyond his years. “We play in a very tough conference”, said Moore. “Anyone can win at any time”. The JR Tigers head coach’s words could’ve been truer as Mansfield has battled the good, the bad, and the ugly all season but in Greenland, came up short. Although the winning wall was clearly damaged, the bricks can be added back and patches can be made. The repairs will have to come quickly though as the Mansfield Tigers are set to face the undefeated Charleston Tigers in The Jungle next week for the 3A-1 Conference Championship.
