Week0 for High School football fans is like Christmas morning for a six year old. There’s all kinds of hype and excitement for months to open a present. After a wild offseason full of twists and turns, the Mansfield SR Tigers finally got their chance to play a full four quarters on Friday, August 25th while fans got to see their long awaited present opened. The Tigers looked like a sharply wrapped present in their different look as they sported numbered helmets and snow white bottoms coupled with their classic red tops as they faced off against a tough and scrappy squad of Magazine Rattlers.
Magazine started the game kicking the ball off to Mansfield hoping to strike first by pinning the Tigers deep in their own territory. Mansfield’s Tyler Turnipseed was the first Tiger to touch the football in 2023 and he made it count as Turnipseed roared downfield for an 81-yard kickoff return for a Tiger touchdown to start the game. Jeremy Strozier tacked on the extra point kick and just like that, Mansfield had a 7-0 lead over the Rattlers. The Tigers defense made quick work of Magazines first drive forcing the Rattlers to punt the ball back to a red hot Tigers team. Mansfield’s first offensive drive started off rough with a fumbled snap, but the Tigers quickly made up for the mistake with big runs by Tyler Turnipseed and Daniel Burton. With the running game showing promise, quarterback Cole Kindle caught the Rattlers pass to Peyton Martin for a 31-yard touchdown. Mansfield shanked the extra point kick but still held a 13-0 lead off the five play drive. Another defensive push by the Tigers resulted in -15 yards and set up another Rattlers punt. It only took two plays for Daniel Burton to take a handoff 52-yards for a Tiger touchdown. Mansfield would go for the two-point conversion to make up for their previous missed extra point and rode the same horse in for two with a quick pitch to Daniel Burton setting the Tigers up with a comfortable 21-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Mansfield started off the second quarter playing Burton Ball as the Tigers leaned on Daniel Burton some more. Burton jumped through with a 26-yard rush then shifted gears by catching a pass from Cole Kindle for a 40-yard touchdown. Jeremy Strozier split the upright for the extra point kick to bump Mansfield’s lead up to 28-0. Head Coach, Whit Overton, proved that he’s a firm believer in the thought process of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. Playing Burton Ball definitely wasn’t broken so the Tigers continued playing it with another Daniel Burton touchdown run, this time for 44-yards. Jeremy Strozier remained on target with the extra point kick to send Mansfield into halftime with a 35-0 lead over Magazine.
With all of the offensive fireworks, the Tigers defense seemed to get jealous. If the offense gets praise for scoring, then the defense figured they’d follow suit. Mansfield’s defensive end, Matthew Burton, flat out robbed the ball away from a Rattler runner and took the rock 52-yards for a defensive Tiger Touchdown. Jeremy Strozier added another plus one kick to light up the score at 42-0. Strozier can use his feet for more than kicking though and showed it on the Tigers next possession with a 31-yard scramble for a Tiger Touchdown. It was then back to kicking after that as Strozier tacked on his own extra point kick. The defense continued to do their job and do it well which allowed the Tigers to feed the rock to even more talent on offense. Trey Powell and Dawson Robinson combined for 59-yards in just three plays before Powell punch the ball in for a touchdown from two yards out. Jeremy Strozier blew out the final light bulb in the scoreboard with the extra point kick as the Tigers closed out the game with a 56-0 victory over Magazine.
The Week0 victory had the fans, players, and coaches feeling good about the Tigers performance. It also gave Mansfield a good idea of things to come as every player on the roster not only played, they played a lot of snaps successfully which proves that the Tigers are extremely deep with talent. That depth will be needed as Mansfield’s season moves into their 3A-1 conference schedule too. Mansfield’s next test will be the Paris Eagles next Friday, September 1st in Mansfield. Paris is a salty team who has already shown their dangerous demeanor with a good scrimmage against Magazine and a 34-16 Week0 victory over the 4A Waldron Bulldogs. With the Eagles dual threat quarterback and wall breaker defense, the Tigers will polish off whatever Week0 mistakes they might have made and get ready for their Week1 3A showdown.
