Opportunity is a set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something. Hundreds of sayings and quotes help people see how important an opportunity can be. Things like “America is the land of opportunity”, “when opportunity knocks, you open the door”, and “every challenge is an opportunity to grow”. The Mansfield Tigers had the opportunity to make a big statement Friday night against a rough-and-tumble Lamar Warriors team. In fact, they had as many opportunities as there are sayings and quotes for such. Unfortunately, capitalizing on those opportunities fell flat for the Tigers as they fell to Lamar 13-12 in a nail-biter of a game.
Both teams started the game with their strengths on the field as Mansfield kicked the ball off to Lamar which sent out the Tiger’s stiff defense against the Warriors’ high-flying offense. Lamar’s offense mixed in passing and running plays to keep the Tigers’ defense on their heels and drove downfield to the ten-yard line in nine plays. That is where Mansfield bowed up and forced a turnover on downs. Unfortunately, the Tiger’s offense was stuffed in just three plays on their opening offense drive, and was forced to punt the ball right back to Lamar. A shot punt and good return gave Lamar the ball at their own 30-yard line but after just two plays, Mansfield forced a fumble to get the ball right back. The Tiger’s offense went back to work as Daniel Burton rolled for a quick ten yards and a first down on a wide run. Samuel Burton popped a big run to the opposite side of the field for 16 yards putting the Tigers near midfield. With momentum on their side, the Tigers dropped the ball on the following play which slammed the door on their drive. Lamar took advantage of the opportunity and scored in just six plays downfield. The Warriors added on the extra point kick which put the Tigers down early with a 7-0 score in Lamar’s favor at the end of the first quarter.
The Tiger’s offense started the second quarter with a good drive that put them at midfield again but failed to convert on fourth and short which turned the ball over to Lamar again. The Warriors jumped on the opportunity and powered their way past Mansfield’s defense for another touchdown. The extra point kick by the Warriors was blocked by Trey Powell which denied the extra points for Lamar giving the Warriors a 13-0 lead. While the Warriors held the lead midway through the second quarter, it was clear after the blocked kick the Tigers were ready to play ball. A couple of big runs gave quarterback Jeremy Strozier a chance to sling the ball to Daniel Burton who made his way to midfield for Mansfield. But the midfield curse reared its head against the Tigers again as Lamar’s defense and a costly penalty forced the Tigers to punt. Mansfield returned the favor shortly after making Larmar punt from deep in their own territory. Now with a favorable field position, the Tigers began to look more like the Mansfield football team from last week as they pounded the ball into Lamar’s defense for four plays before Samuel Burton busted one loose for a 26-yard touchdown. The Tigers extra point attempt went wide but they were still on the board and only down by a score, 13-6. Both teams continue to battle it out all the way down to the closing seconds of the half. Lamar lost a big chunk of yards after Ethan Martin sniffed out a quarterback run leaving the Warriors with no choice but to try to gain points with a field goal attempt. The kick went up and wide right sending both teams into halftime with the Lamar Warriors leading the Tigers, 13-6.
Mansfield started the second half with the ball at the 35-yard line but quickly crossed over into Lamar territory with a Daniel Burton 25-yard sprint for a first down. Mansfield plowed their way down to the three-yard line with runs from Andrew Burton and Daniel Burton. With just three yards left to score, linemen James Baulsey, Cadien Ore, Logan Ore, Ethan Martin, and Zander Walters gave it one more big push which allowed Daniel Burton to stroll into the endzone. Mansfield missed the extra point which left the Tigers down by a single point to Lamar with a 13-12 score in the third quarter. Opportunity had left the door wide open for either team to win this game at that point, but both the Tigers and the Warriors tied their shoelaces together before running towards that door. For the remainder of the game, both teams failed to convert fourth down attempts, threw interceptions, fumbled the ball, and obtained costly penalties. While it wasn’t pretty, the Tigers did stay in the fight down to the final buzzer but couldn’t pull off the upset as Lamar closed and locked all doors of opportunity in the game defeating Mansfield with a final score of 13-12.
The loss closes Mansfield’s nonconference schedule out with a 1-2 record. While the losses in nonconference play aren’t what the desired outcome was intended to be, the challenge of facing premier teams was exactly what the Tigers needed. Mansfield faced a Top10 3A team at Bismarck, a 4A rival against Waldron, and a salty 4A-4 Lamar program that is on the rise with two losses being at a combined total of merely five points. A loss is a loss and in the end, that is all that matters on the spreadsheet, but the grit that the Tigers showed in all three games is something to be commended. Mansfield will roll into a bye week this upcoming week which will give them time to finish polishing off their fundamentals and give players time to heal up before moving into their ever-tough 3A-1 conference schedule. The week of rest may prove to be pivotal too as Mansfield’s first conference game will be against their Sebastian County rivals, the Hackett Hornets. Mansfield versus Hackett is one of those old-school smashmouth rivalry games where there is no bluffing and both teams lay it all on the line for not only the win but also for bragging rights. The Tigers will host Hackett on Friday, September 9th at 7:00 pm.
