Pictured are the senior captains for the seasons final game. Not pictured is Randy Claude.
The Sr High Mansfield Tigers started out the season on a high note by shutting out the Magazine Rattlers 41-0 in the first game of the season. Unfortunately, the Tigers had a downhill roll from there. Facing heavy hitters and adversity week after week, they had dropped every other game leading up to their Sebastian County showdown with the Hackett Hornets for the final game of the season. But this is a rivalry and we all know records mean nothing when it comes to rivalry games. Especially this one.
The Tigers chose to receive the opening kickoff and Austin Carlton made sure he started the Tigers off right with a big-time return. Mansfield’s offense started off slow and turned the ball over on downs. Hackett quickly capitalized on the Tiger’s slow start and sent a rocket pass downfield to put the first points of the night on the scoreboard. Mansfield stiffened up on the two-point conversion to leave the damage at 6-0 Hackett with 9:11 left in the 1st quarter.
Manfield answered the challenge with a couple of runs by Codi Chick and Randy Claude to draw in the Hornets defense tight in run coverage. Just as planned, Zayne Dugan pulled a play-action pass to none other than Chick for a Tiger touchdown. With a good two-point conversion, the Tigers took an 8-6 lead. The Hornets would answer back with another touchdown, but again Mansfield held off their two-point try ending the 1st quarter with the Hornets leading with a score of 12-8. The Tigers found themselves in a rut as Hackett would score two more times in the second quarter as the Tigers walked into halftime down 26-8.
What could the Tigers do in the locker room at halftime that could change the way this game was going? Who could step up? Could they overcome such a deficit? Well when Hackett came out in the 3rd quarter scoring right out of the gate to extend the lead to 34-8, everyone figured they had those questions answered as “nothing”. But if you’re a football fan, you’d know that there’s a very specific term in college football that goes “Not So Fast”! Not so fast because “fast” walked onto the field and it was named Tommy Phang. Phang took the Hornets kickoff and kicked on the afterburners as he screamed downfield for a kick return touchdown. Mansfield was kept from getting the two-point conversion but they closed the gap to 34-14.
The big Tiger touchdown stirred up the Hornet’s nest though as Hackett would come right back again and score. Down 42-16, Mansfield turned on the CC to follow for a touchdown. Not closed captioning. Claude and Chick. A big pass to Chick followed by another to Claude and for a change of pace, a pass to Chick for a Tiger TD cutting the score to 42-22. You know where this is going, but here it is anyhow. Hackett scored again closing out the 3rd quarter with a 48-22 lead.
Playing four quarters means playing a full 60 minutes. Mansfield wasn’t going down without a fight as Shawn Brown took the rock in his hands and pounded his way for a Mansfield touchdown. Adding the extra points to the TD, the Tigers again made the game a game. It was now time for ol reliable to strut his stuff as Claude clobbered the Hornets defense to score putting the Tigers at a two-score game of 48-36. The Hornets would put on the same tune again though bumping ahead with another touchdown giving them a 54-38 lead. Like a bouncing ball, Mansfield would again answer the call when Dugan found a wide-open Fisher Willsey to pass to and Willsey took it all…..the…..way for a Tiger touchdown. Claude added another two-point conversion setting the score at a one-possession game of 54-46. That was as close as it would get for the Tigers though as Hackett would score again giving the Hornets the 60-46 final score and the rivalry win.
To end the 2020 Mansfield football season, the Tigers will be saying goodbye to 9 seniors. Codi Chick, Cody Fudge, Lorenzo Alarid, Bri Sanderson, Renden Emery, Victor Steffen, Jared Schmid, Randy Claude, and manager Jackie Scott. Claude, whose goal is to play college ball and one day become a game warden, had this to say about his final football season as a Tiger. “High school football has taught me more than just football. It’s taught me how to be a leader and how to work with others. I got the chance to be coached by some of the most inspirational coaches and they truly made me who I am. My favorite memories and the ones I’m gonna miss the most is the brotherhood that forms throughout football. High school football is something that’s gonna have its own place in my heart and I will never take for granted.” Randy ends the season with 95 carries for 405 yards and 2 TDs, 23 receptions for 125 yards and 3 TDs, 108 tackles, and 15 kickoffs for 572 yards.
Chick finished with 20 passing yards, 27 carries for 115 yards and 1 TD, 50 receptions for 598 yards and 4 TDs, 7 tackles, 4 punts for 93 yards, and 4 kickoff returns for 52 yards. Fudge earned 9 receiving yards and 23 tackles. Schmid made 34 tackles. Steffen and Emery ended with 5 tackles each. Sanderson finished with 38 tackles and 1 fumble recovery. And Alarid netted 7 tackles and 1 deflected pass.
