Pictured is Zayne Dugan handing off the ball to Randy Claude
The term “rebuild” has been tossed around since Mansfield’s immaculate class of 2020 ended their football season last year. Gone are most of the Sr High players that contributed to the Tigers acrobatics, top-end speed, and smooth air raid offenses. So what does head coach, Tim Cothran, do now? Simple, change things up and use the talent he has to it’s fullest. Anyone who watched the Tigers scrimmage against Mena on Friday night noticed success in a different manner on the field. Goodbye flashy football. Hello ground and pound.
Friday nights scrimmage against the Bearcats was Mansfield fans first look at the so-called rebuild. The scrimmage consisted of a full half of live regulation football. The Tigers started off slow by allowing Mena to get up on them 13-0 at the end of the first quarter. It looked like Mansfield was a brand new team that couldn’t get their X’s and O’s straight. That must’ve been their plan though as they started the second quarter like their tails were on fire. The Tigers defense stuffed Mena on back to back possessions then the magic started. Logan Cravey read the Bearcats quarterback and flashed in to pick off a pass then darted 21 yards. Not to be outdone, Codi Chick pounced on a Bearcat loose ball to give the Tigers offense another shot.
When Mansfield’s offense hit the field again, they became shock and awe showstoppers. Running backs senior, Randy Claude, and sophomore, Caleb Collier, lowered their shoulders and began to lay down the BOOM on the Bearcats defense. Claude plowed in for the Tiger’s first score of the game. No juking or dodging from either back, just line up and run the defense over. Juking and dodging belonged to the quick feet of sophomore, Tyler Woolbright, and junior, Austin Carlton, who sliced Mena’s defense braking ankles with every move.
Mena started keying on the run game forcing Mansfield to pass. The Tigers offense grinned and said “okay then” and the gun show kicked in. Junior QB, Zayne Dugan, hit passes to both Cravey and Carlton and put the Tigers on the board for a second time with a sweet pass to Chick. “I thought we were slow starting out,” explained Claude. “But, as the game went on, we started to click more.” Continuing his thoughts on how he felt he performed, “I believe I did what I was coached to do and I can improve on keeping the team positive.”
Although the score was not kept in the scrimmage, the Tigers definitely held their own against a 4A powerhouse such as Mena. Any worries about the program being down this season are history. Mansfield is not rebuilding. They’ve merely put a new coat of paint on the Tiger football program. “As a whole team, we learned a lot in our scrimmage with Mena and we know what we have to improve on. I think the team will be ready to take on whoever is next as long as we stick to what we’ve been coached to do,” concluded Claude. The Sr Tigers will next take on the Rattlers at Magazine on August 28th at 7 pm.
