When most 3A football programs around the state hear the name Booneville Bearcats, they tend to chalk up the “L” before the opening kickoff even takes place, and rightfully so. Booneville had hung an astounding 178 points total points in just three games against Hackett, West Fork, and Greenland before taking on Mansfield. The Tigers on the other hand have struggled to stay healthy after beating West Fork and suffered back-to-back losses to Greenland and Charleston. So when the Mansfield Tigers traveled to Bearcat country on Friday, October 14th most people figured the Tigers would merely lay down and submit to defeat. Those people must’ve forgotten to fill in Mansfield’s players on what they were “supposed” to do though.
Mansfield stepped onto the Bearcats field and won the coin toss to receive the ball first in the game. The Tigers offense was already behind the eightball as they were without starting quarterback Cole Kindle and had many starters still banged up from earlier games. Mansfield would make no excuses though as sophomore Jeremy Strozier took over the helm at quarterback and the Tigers offense went to work. The Tigers were able to drive seven plays on Booneville’s defense before having to punt the ball. The powerful and fast-scoring Bearcats offense lined up aiming to make quick work of the smaller Mansfield defense. After a pair of first downs and big runs by Booneville, it seemed as if that quick work would be really quick. But just as soon as the Bearcats got momentum, Mansfield’s players picked theirs up and stuffed Booneville’s offense on fourth down to force a turnover. The Tigers offense couldn’t pull off positive yards on the ensuing possession and had to punt the ball back to Booneville. Mansfield’s punt hit and rolled to the one-yard line pinning the Bearcats offense deep in Tiger territory.
The Tigers defense put Booneville in a pickle as they forced the Bearcats into a couple of third and long situations, but a missed tackle allowed a 70-yard touchdown run for Booneville. Mansfield looked at a 7-0 scoreboard after the extra point kick split the uprights but would hold the Bearcats scoreless for the rest of the first quarter. Although they were down going into the second quarter, the Tigers maintained the focus needed to go toe to toe with the Bearcats. Defensive ends Samuel Burton and Trey Vaughan made sure Booneville knew Mansfield was serious as the duo sniffed out and took down any runners who dared to run a play outside the tackle boxes. Waiting in the tackle boxes though was Braxton Byers, Kindel Noblitt, and Caleb Collier who squared off against much larger offensive linemen yet still stuffed Booneville’s powerful rushing attack. Then there were linebackers Fisher Willsey, Andrew Burton, and Drew Elmore who were the finishers of anything that was missed.
Mansfield’s offense was able to put together a few solid drives with Jeremy Strozier passing the ball to the likes of Daniel Burton, Peyton Martin, and Clint Stovall. Some solid running by Tyler Woolbright and Fisher Willsey kept Booneville’s defense off balance, but the Tigers couldn’t punch the ball into the endzone still. With the defense playing lights out, Booneville began to make mental mistakes which kept their offense struggling to score also. Up until this game, Booneville’s top-notch rushing attack had only been shut down by the 4A’s Harding Academy. The Tigers defense held strong until the very end of the second quarter when the Bearcats punched the ball into the endzone for another touchdown with less than a minute left in the half. Although down 14-0 at the half, the Tigers had definitely garnered the attention of Booneville’s team, coaching staff, and fans on both sides of the field.
Unfortunately for Mansfield, the second half wasn’t as favorable. Booneville was able to use the depth in their roster to wear down the stout Tigers defense as the game went on which led to more Bearcat scores. Mansfield’s offense was still able to make good yards but they couldn’t capitalize on them. Then Mansfield began to be bitten by multiple injury bugs. Three offensive and defensive starters were injured on the bench fourth quarter. Beat up as they were, Mansfield was not broken as they continued to give it all they had with who they had on the roster. Even though the Tigers do have impressive replacements for their starters, Booneville was just too powerful and cruised through the rest of the game defeating Mansfield 35-0.
With the loss to Booneville, the Tigers sit at an overall record of 4-3 and a conference record of 1-3. For some, it may seem as if Mansfield’s season is over, but they are far from correct with that assumption. Although the Tigers lost a tough one to Greenland and followed that up with another loss to Charleston, the heart and determination Mansfield showed against Booneville proved that the Tigers refuse to lay down. As with every season in the 3A-1 conference, the Tigers schedule will not get any easier. Their last three games will be against Lavaca, Cedarville, and Hackett. Lavaca lost their first game of the season Friday against Greenland which gives them a 6-1 overall record and 3-1 conference record but as Mansfield has proven before, records are just numbers on paper. The Tigers are focused on hard work and maximum effort to get to the State Playoffs right now and Lavaca’s win/loss record will not intimidate them.
