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5/6 LL Rattlers Are Coiled Atop The WCFL
Is Magazine Little League Football a perineal powerhouse? Two years ago, the program was marked as an automatic W on many of their opponents’ game schedules. But the Rattlers program is beginning to show that they’re a yearly contender in the WCFL. Last season, Magazines 5th and 6th Grade Rattlers shocked everyone by making it to the Championship game before falling to the Hackett Hornets. That in itself was quite the accomplishment. This season though, they have completed a feat that has not been seen in the snake pit in years….an undefeated regular season.
Magazine hosted the JC Westside Rebels on Saturday, October 12th for their season finale. The game was also the last game for their sixth-graders to play a regular-season game as Little League football players. The Rattlers would not be detoured from their goal that night as they handed the Rebels a 44-0 thumping. Magazine was dominating from the first snap of the ball to the final whistle. Even after pulling their starters, JC Westside couldn’t stop Magazine as the Rattlers were even able to score a couple of touchdowns with their second string.
Rattlers Coach, Charly Moua, explains “On offense, Running back, Keej Vang, finally showed his shiftiness for his first touchdown of the year. Running back, Conner Droemer, had a nice pair of touchdowns also. Defensively, Keaton Corbitt had a great game with form tackles and an interception. JC Westside caught us off guard with a pass that should have been a touchdown, but we still played great. The playoffs are around the corner and hopefully, our kids understand that 6-0 does not mean anything until they win it all!”
The 5th and 6th Grade Rattlers went through the regular season punishing their opponents. Magazine didn’t have a cupcake regular-season schedule either. Their schedule consisted of Lavaca, Hackett, Mansfield, Mountainburg, Cedarville, and JC Westside. But the Rattlers didn’t just win their games, they owned them. With a potent offense and fearless defense, Magazine outscored their opponents 164-20 in only 6 games.
Magazine is scheduled for a bye week in the leagues’ final week of the regular season. By successfully running the table, the 5th and 6th Grade Rattlers have earned the #1 Seed in the WCFL Playoffs and a first-round bye giving them a two-week break before their next game. The Rattlers will host the winner of the #3 and #6 seed Playoff game on November 2nd.
Cruising Down Lavaca’s Main Street
A full Harvest Moon was shining Saturday night, setting the perfect light on dozens of vehicles participating in the annual Lavaca Cruise Night. Sponsored by the Lavaca Area Chamber of Commerce, cars, trucks, motorcycles, vintage automobiles and others met and began the drive down our Main Street, Highway 96. From the junction of Highway 253 on the east end of Main to the junction of 255 on the west, people lined along the street to watch the beautiful cars, many driven by local car enthusiasts. Vendors in the park sold funnel cakes, fried Oreos, cotton candy, popcorn, pizza, and more while local restaurants and drive-ins offered specials for the crowds. Children played in a bounce-around and in the park. It was a safe, fun-filled evening that felt like a Norman Rockwell painting or of times long ago in a small town unscathed by the world around it.
Plans will soon begin for the Cruise Night of 2020. Thank you to the LACC, to the car owners who participated and to the many citizens and friends of Lavaca for making this happen.
Four MHS Students Aid in Locating Missing Boy
On Saturday, October 12, a seven year old boy was reported missing at the
Four Mansfield High School freshmen, Tyler Woolbright, Clint Stovall,
Muskogee County Deputies say the group found the child in the parking lot,
Tyler Woolbright’s mom, Tiffany, said “It was truly a blessing from God that they were in the right place at the right time. The boy was standing next to our vehicle in the pitch dark over 100 yards away from the gate entrance, just shaking and crying. At first he started to walk away but the boys quickly approached him calling him buddy and asking if he needed their help finding his family. Nobody was breaking the barrier they formed around him as they walked him back and they comforted him the whole way. They were proud to return him safely back to his family and it was a positive experience they will probably never forget.”
The Castle of Muskogee issued a statement following the incident:
The Castle of Muskogee would like to thank the Muskogee Sherriff’s Department, Muskogee Police Department, Muskogee Fire and Rescue, Muskogee Emergency Management, Wagoner Emergency Management, Wagoner Police Department, Wagoner County Sherriff’s Department, Mountainview Fire Department and all of the other organizations and individuals who helped us locate a missing child. We apologize for the inconvenience to all our patrons who were present. This is an unprecedented event in the Castle’s history and currently we are relieved to have a young child reunited with his family.
We are working on a plan to rectify this experience to our guests who were here. The decision to evacuate the grounds was issued by SheriffRob Frazier, to further enable rescue efforts .
Thanks to the above-mentioned law enforcement/departments, 7-year old Riley was found safe and reunited with his family. Safety and fun in a family environment is the forefront of the Castle’s mission. We hope you will understand and choose to join us on our upcoming two weekends of the Halloween Festival. Any unused tickets from Saturday are still valid. Please address questions/concerns about your visit, to info@okcastle.com. Be sure to include your name and contact info along with details of your experience and we will respond with a phone call shortly. This is a first for us and we want everyone to be able to have a positive memory of their time here. Thank you for your patience. We look forward to seeing you soon.
Parents of the four boys, their school and community are extremely proud of their efforts as well as the positive outcome in this case.
Pirates Get Big Homecoming Win Over Paris 55-27
Pictured is junior Kelin Mitchell
The Homecoming night belonged to the Cedarville Pirates (5-1, 2-1) who put up some very impressive numbers on their way to winning 55-27 over the Paris Eagles (2-4, 0-3). The win moved the Pirates into a three-way tie for second place in the 3A-1 conference. The Pirates offense scored on eight of their 11 possessions during the contest, gaining over 600 total yards with six rushing touchdowns and two passing touchdowns.
The Eagles soared down the field on their very first drive to take an early lead on the Pirates. That would turn out to be the Eagles’ only offensive score of the night. Their two other scores would come from their defense on a scoop and score to end the first half and a fourth quarter kickoff return by their special teams. The night belonged to Junior Kelin Mitchell who scorched the Eagles for 268 yards on 16 carries with two rushing touchdowns on the night. Mitchell also had two receiving touchdowns on the night, one from senior quarterback Calloway Henslee and the other from sophomore quarterback Cody Dickens. Coming into Friday night’s game, Mitchell had 681 rushing yards in the first five games of the season according to MaxPreps.
The other Pirate running back that was on the loose Friday night was sophomore Darryl Kattich. Kattich punished the Eagles defense for 213 yards on 24 carries for three touchdowns. Coming into Friday night’s game, Kattich had 663 yards in the first five games of the season according to MaxPreps. Sophomore Bruce Turney found the end zone as well Friday night. Turney had seven carries for 50 yards and one touchdown. Junior Max McGill had 63 yards on three carries. And sophomore Tommy Metcalf had 55 yards on seven carries.
The Pirates will next travel up I-49 Friday, October 18th to take on West Fork (0-6, 0-3) at 7:00 p.m.
Car Show Returns to Lavaca
The Lavaca Area Chamber of Commerce brought back the annual Lavaca Car Show this past Saturday (10/12) after a break from a couple of years. This event has been missed by many, both car enthusiasts, dreamers, and looky-loos! Headed by Chamber member Lance “Hoot” Hobbs of Hobbs Ornamental Iron and Steel Corporation, the return of the show was a good success.
It takes more than almost five inches of rain to postpone events in Lavaca! The event was moved from its originally planned location to the graveled parking lot at Stonecrest Monuments in Lavaca. Some potential car show participants got lost by the move but plenty made the move to give everyone a good look at some beautiful newer and vintage cars, trucks, and motorcycles.
Winners in the following classifications were:
Best Car: Dwight Mantooth Best Truck: Michael Champion Best Low Rider: Randall Ruth Best Bike: Fred Copper
Be looking for the show again next year! They plan on putting the annual back in the title Lavaca’s Annual Car Show!
Charleston Looks to Get Back on Track at Paris
It is time to move on. The horrific feeling of last Friday night’s loss to Mansfield may not be gone, but there is no time for the Charleston Tigers to dwell on what might have been. It is next game up for the Tigers. For Charleston, that means a trip down Highway 22 to Paris to play the Eagles.
The popular term used by many is “trap game”, but I am not sure anyone at Charleston, with everything this team has had to overcome, can consider any game a trap game. It doesn’t matter who the Tigers will play October 25 or any other week. The only thing the Tigers can afford to do is focus on the Eagles. Coach Ricky May expressed his concern that, “for us, hoping that this game is not a trap game; we had that rough loss Friday and we’ve got Booneville the week after the Paris game, and Paris has got some weapons. So we’ve got to make sure we focus on them (Paris).”
It may be natural after a tough stretch in the schedule to look at a 2-4 team as a chance to relax, but, that could be a huge mistake. Paris will be ready to play, and with Charleston coming to town, the Tigers can bet that they will get Paris’s best shot. In short, Charleston cannot feel sorry for itself. The Tigers have to be ready to play Friday night.
Paris is coached by second year head coach Tyler Clark. Clark was previously the offensive line coach at Class 6A Marion High School in eastern Arkansas before becoming the head coach at Paris. Clark took over for Marc Tucker who coached the Eagles for one year after coach Bryan Hutson departed Paris for Elkins. Clark has been rebuilding the Eagles football program since his arrival in 2018. In his first season, the Eagles did not win a varsity football game. So far, in 2019, the Eagles are 2-4, including a road win at Perryville and a home win against Class 4A Waldron. The Eagles football program is on the upswing under the direction of Clark. A win against Charleston would be a huge boost to the Eagles football program. By defeating their rival in Paris in front of the home fans, the program could take a big step in its rebuilding process. For Paris’s seniors, a win against Charleston would make their entire season.
Paris is a fairly young football team. The Eagles are led by sophomore quarterback Chase Watts. According to Charleston coach Ricky May, “they’ve got a young quarterback, but he is going to be a good one. He throws the ball well, runs the ball well. From the film I have watched, he is getting better on his progressions. They also have a senior running back (Blaise Woods), he’s a big guy, and he runs the ball really hard. They have a receiver (Keller Keen) and he can run. I want to say they had him listed with Hootens as a 4.4 (40 yard dash time). Paris has a lot of tradition and a lot of pride. Coach Clark has added a lot of stability to their program.”
As of the publication date of this story, team statistics for the Eagles were not available by Max Preps. However, according to Max Preps, the Eagles are ranked 30th in Arkansas in Class 3A, and 147th in Arkansas across all classifications. They have scored 99 points on the season and have given up 252.
The game at Paris is extremely important to Charleston for several reasons. First, it is important for the Tigers to get the bad taste out of their mouths following the loss to Mansfield. Secondly, the Tigers still have remaining games against Booneville, Lamar, and West Fork. For Charleston to have a chance to make the playoffs, they need to defeat Paris and win 1-2 of their remaining games. All opponents have to be respected, but the Tigers will play both Booneville, and Lamar at home in the coming weeks. That makes the Paris and West Fork games extremely important to Charleston. With that said, anyone is capable of beating anyone, and Charleston must be ready to play. Finally, Mansfield is at home this week versus Booneville. If the Bearcats defeat Mansfield, Charleston has an opportunity to pass Mansfield in the loss column this week.
This week’s conference schedule is:
Charleston at Paris
Booneville at Mansfield
Cedarville at West Fork
Lamar at Greenland
The key game in conference this week may be the Lamar at Greenland game. Greenland has two conference losses and Lamar has one. The Pirates are a dangerous, talented team and will be playing for their playoff lives. The Pirates are more than capable of defeating the Warriors. If Greenland pulls the mild upset, they are back in the race, and both Charleston and Mansfield will have breathing room. Mansfield would have the opportunity to take sole possession of first place with an upset win over Booneville. In the tough 3A-1 conference, each week feels like a playoff week.
Charleston has a lot to play for if they can keep their focus and not suffer a hang over effect from last Friday’s game. It is time for the upperclassmen on this team to assert their leadership and not allow the team to lose their focus of the goal of making the playoffs. After the emotional loss to Mansfield, the seniors on the team spoke up in the locker room, showing the leadership that will be necessary this week and for the remainder of the season. This team has been through a lot already this season, and the upperclassmen on this team have been great leaders.
Charleston’s entire season could be in the balance this Friday at Paris. A big positive for Charleston is that they once again played a game without getting anyone hurt or losing personnel for the next week’s game. The Tigers will need everyone healthy this week. Paris will bring everything they have, if for no other reason because it is Charleston on the other side of the field. It is time for the Tigers to stand up and let everyone know they are here and ready to play. If Charleston wins out the remainder of their schedule they will be conference champions. If the Tigers can defeat Paris, West Fork, and Lamar, Charleston should be in good shape for the playoffs. Either way, the Tigers must take care of business at Paris Friday night. It is that simple. Charleston must have a good week in practice, focusing solely on the Eagles. A loss Friday night to Paris would put Charleston in desperation mode to make the playoffs.
Sr Tigers Mangle Charleston In Final Second Knockout
Last season the Mansfield Sr High team set out against Charleston with the quote of “To be The Man, you gotta beat The Man.” Many may have thought that the Tigers victory last season was pure luck or merely a fluke. The Tigers had everything against them going into the game. Charleston was the favorite to win in many polls. They were on Charleston’s home field. Charleston beat Greenland and Mansfield lost to Greenland. But on Friday, October 11th Mansfield put all questions at rest over who “The Man” really is by defeating Charleston 28-24 in an epic battle all the way until the end.
Mansfield started off going back and forth with Charleston in the first quarter in a scoreless defensive war. The Tigers created a few turnovers and stuffed every attempt Charleston made. Charleston’s defense, in turn, did the same to the Tigers ending the first quarter in a stalemate 0-0. Mansfields second-quarter performance could be summed up in one word….Ouch. The Charleston offense got their claws churning with a ground game that slowly wore the Tigers down as Charleston racked up 21 points in the second quarter. The Tigers offense did find a kink in the Charleston defense when Ethan Stovall squeezed his way into the endzone with a quarterback keeper. But Charleston shut down every other aspect of Mansfield’s high octane offense in the first half as the Tigers went into halftime down 21-7. The critics of Mansfield were right, right? WRONG.
No one really knows what Head Coach Tim Cothran, Keith Stovall, Layton Robinson, and Mark Tolton said during halftime, but whatever it was had the Tigers coming out of the locker room seeing nothing but RED. Charleston received the second-half kickoff and the Tiger kickoff squad set the tone for the rest of the game by pummeling Charleston’s returner. The Tigers defense who was shredded in the first half of the game had had enough as Clay James, Jaicy Griffin, and Blayne Bryant viciously laid out every player in black who dared to catch a pass. Bri Sanderson, Zach Lowe, Jacob Brown, and Isaac Cothran brought a freight train of pain as they dominated the Charleston offensive line to create chaos for Charlestons quarterback and running backs. The Tigers defense was officially in it to win it as all in Red and White slashed through Charleston.
The defense was great, but the Tigers needed their offense to put points on the board. That need was met and met with style. Isaac Cothran scored the second Tiger touchdown on the first drive of the third quarter and Layton Howard earned his first touchdown of the game with a 75-yard kick-off return.
Everyone knows the recipe for an epic game is an epic closing. Charleston attempted to eat up the clock in the 4th quarter to keep their victory hopes alive burning up 3 minutes driving the ball downfield all the way inside their own 10-yard line. The Mansfield defense attempted to keep Charleston at bay, but Charleston was able to get a first down at their 3-yard line. All seemed to be lost for the Tigers as time was closing out. But wait, did Charleston just get a penalty? Why yes, yes they did and that penalty made it harder to simply run the ball in for a go-ahead touchdown. Wanting to put the game away, Charleston took the next snap and darted a pass into the end zone directly to……Layton Howard! Howard picked off Charleston and he…could…go…all…the…way…102 yards back for a pick 6 putting the Tigers in the lead with only 38 seconds left in the game.
The environment was electrifying as the Tigers were now in the driver’s seat and Charleston is still wondering what happened. The shoe was now on the other foot as it was Charleston who seemed to have everything against them. With little time left in the game and a hyped up Tiger team in their face, the Mansfield Tigers took down the mighty Charleston Tigers 28-24.  The Mansfield Tigers will stay home and host the Booneville Bearcats on October 18th at 7 p.m.
Sr Hornets Send Rose Bud Rambling Home
Photos courtesy of Mandy Foster
In an almost complete blow out of a football game, the Hackett Hornets dominated the Rose Bud Ramblers in a 44-8 in your face non-conference match. The Hornets now sit 4-2 on the season with plans on keeping the first column moving upwards. Hackett held Rose Bud to zero scores until the fourth quarter when the Ramblers earned their only points of the night.
The Hornet defense kept the Ramblers offense shut down with every breath they took. Fischer Shipman was a force to be reckoned with earning seven solo tackles, three assists, two tackles for a loss, and one fumble recovery. Weston Winters followed suit in the bulldozer department also achieving seven solo tackles, five assisted tackles, and one fumble recovery. Peyton Hester and Jesse Esparaza each accumulated five solo tackles with Hester also earning two assists and one tackle for a loss and Esparaza gaining one assist, one sack, and one fumble recovery. Dylan Kats was quick on his feet with one solo tackle and one interception. And Ethan “Superman” Slavens was faster than lightning with one assisted tackle and one interception.
The Hornets offense was no match for Rose Bud’s defense as the Ramblers just couldn’t find a way to keep Hackett from scoring allowing touchdown after touchdown. Avery Hester completed seven passes for 207 yards, three touchdowns, and two rushes for 40-yards. “Superman” Slavens completed two for two passes for a total of 46-yards and one TD. Kats was on fire with three receptions for 54-yards. Peyton Hester was uncatchable with three receptions totaling 126-yards and two touchdowns. Cogan Hester earned 37-yards with two receptions and secured one TD. Shipman slammed out one reception for a TD. And Winters was the man of the hour with 17 carries for 83-yards and two Hornet touchdowns.
Hackett will hit the road for their next conference game on Friday, October 18 against the 1-1 Hector Wildcats. The battle will start at 7 p.m.
Sr Lady Tigers Rally In Big Win During “Pink Out”
The Mansfield Sr High Lady Tigers were successful in two different ways on Thursday, October 10. Not only did they see a 3-0 success in their “Pink Out” match against the West Fork Lady Tigers but they also were victorious in bringing awareness to breast cancer through their school and town support. This win upgrades Mansfield to a 13-11 overall record and 6-6 in conference play.Â
The Lady Tigers are really starting to leave their mark on the volleyball world with no signs of slowing down. Mansfield briskly ended their night against West Fork with sets ending 25-8, 25-15, and 25-11. Coach Kaylie Pyles has led her team in this productive season through sheer tenacity and a commonsense of whats going on around her.Â
In their match against West Fork, the Lady Tigers were unbeaten in their final tallies. With more kills than Jason Voorhees was Brooke Wright with 15, Danielle Lillie with 11, Sadie Roberts with eight, and combining for six was Vanessa Noblitt, Kiara Thomas, and Maggie Strunk. In the aces department, Wright secured three, Haylee Helms brought in two, and Noblitt and Thomas each earned one. With more blocks than New York City was Roberts and Wright with four apiece, and with one each was Noblitt, Thomas, and Lillie. And digging for a purpose was Helms with 12, Strunk and Lillie with six each, and with eight total was Noblitt, Thomas, and Wright.
The Mansfield Sr High Lady Tigers have one week of play left until they gear up for District Tournaments starting October 21. This year District is being held at West Fork.