The ups and downs of sports are an inevitable part of the game. Players work their tails off down to the bone for a goal of success that may or may not come on Friday nights. From little league to senior high, the highs of winning can be brought crashing down by a simple miscue in the game. It seems like the battle of giving it your all to win never ends, but rest assured, it does.
Every senior going into the 2025 football season has and will be doing everything for the very last time. The question is, will it be worth it? If you ask Mansfield seniors Cooper Edwards, Joseph Carter, and Pacen Strozier, you’ll hear the same word of “absolutely,” come from their mouths.
Senior, Cooper Edwards (5’10 / 175lbs) has been a Mansfield Tiger sports junky since day one. The multi-sport superstar has encountered every high and low that any sport can bring. But when it comes to football, he has been one of the most patient players the Tigers have seen.
Edwards started as a quarterback in Little League and quickly became a smooth game manager. His quarterback skills led the Tigers to a WCFL Runner-Up in the sixth grade and JR High Runner-Up in the ninth grade. Once he hit senior high, though, he sat behind future All-Conference quarterback Jeremey Strozier as the Tiger backup quarterback.
While he was second string at quarterback, Edwards was too valuable to sit anywhere. Therefore, he was moved to wide receiver on offense and rotated back and forth at safety and corner on defense, where his do-it-all skillset helped the Tigers make it to the State Semifinals in 2023 and 2024.
Photo courtesy of Joey Bolin
The time has now come for Cooper Edwards to plant his stake in the lore of Mansfield Tiger football. After a grueling summer of battling back and forth with fellow quarterback, Jubal Parks, Edwards is expected to earn the starting position going into the Tigers’ scrimmage against Mena on Thursday, August 21st.
While Edwards is looking forward to making his senior season epic, his most memorable game to date was one of the biggest in Mansfield history. “Beating Booneville last season was the biggest game ever for me,” said Edwards. Beating the Bearcats for the first time in over forty years was a great win, but Cooper also has another memorable game that didn’t turn out so well and that he is looking forward to redeeming.
As with most of the players on the Tigers roster, Edwards wants another shot at the Salem Greyhounds. “We are one and one with them,” he exclaimed. “There’s always unfinished business when your last loss to a team creates a tie in the series”.
As for the final goal of his career, Cooper Edwards made the same bold goal as every other player in the state of Arkansas, but one that he intends to see through. “We want to win the State Championship, and I believe we have the team to do it,” stated Edwards.
For senior, Joseph Carter (6’1 / 165lbs), football has been hit and miss. Carter has played a total of seven seasons from little league up to his senior year, but a couple of those years he skipped out so that he could focus on excelling in other sports like track and basketball.
The extra focus paid off, too, as Joseph became a force on the basketball court with his increased vertical jump and a speedster on the track circuit. Although he did not play his tenth or eleventh grade seasons, Carter did not lose any of his football skills, and he even added his basketball and track improvement to his gridiron game. In this spring’s practices, camps, and 7-on-7s, Carter was a go-to wide receiver for quarterback Cooper Edwards.
With his tall stature and yard-eating strides, Joseph found a weakness in every defensive secondary the Tigers faced. And if a pass went up and was contested, you could be sure that it was Carter who would come down with the ball.
Photo courtesy of Megan Hecox
Carter will be mixing it up on defense by shuffling around at corner and safety this season to help the young Tigers’ secondary. Every piece of talent that he uses on offense at wide receiver will be on display on the reverse side of the ball as he can jump and catch Mansfield’s opponents’ passes just as easily as he can his own quarterback’s throws.
In fact, Joseph’s favorite memory of playing football was an interception against Lavaca in the ninth grade. Carter was a true highlight reel on defense his freshman year with multiple picks in the season, and the way it looks, he very well could keep that reel rolling his senior year.
One game Joseph has circled on the schedule is Mansfield’s rivals, the Hackett Hornets. “I’ve always enjoyed playing Hackett,” said Carter. “They bring it, we bring it, and it always turns into a slug fest of a game. It’s really fun”.
Beating Hackett is one thing, but a 3A State Championship is a whole different animal. “The team has clicked pretty well throughout the offseason,” exclaimed Carter. “I think we can make a good run through the playoffs and not only make the state Championship, but we can win it”.
Photo courtesy of Joey Bolin
The name Strozier is one that has been synonymous with Mansfield football over the past few years. Across the state, 3A offenses took a breath of relief when the former linebacker graduated in the spring of 2025.
What they didn’t know, was that his little brother, Pacen Strozier (5’9 / 165lbs), was a threat moving in to fill the void. Pacen has played for the Tigers for four years as a linebacker and special teams’ headhunter.
While his name isn’t called on a play-by-play basis, Strozier’s contribution to the Tigers team cannot be taken lightly. When he straps on his helmet for the opening kickoff, Strozier is a zoned-in animal. He lines up on kickoff with no mouthing or bouncing around; rather, he stands there like he couldn’t care less.
Once the ball is kicked, though, he could care less who has the ball; he’s out to run people over. The same mentality rolls into his linebacker position where Pacen is an effective rotation for the corps to build even more depth to an already talented squad.
Every player wants to become a State Champion, even Pacen. But when asked what his expectations are for the 2025 season, Pacen took it one step further and gave a deep answer to such a generic question. “I want to be the best version of me every chance I get,” said Strozier.
That kind of desire for continuous self-improvement is what makes Pacen an important key to the Tigers’ success. Pacen is very cut and dry with how he sees things, too. Pacen’s personal rival is the Waldron Bulldogs, but not because they’re Mansfield’s Scott County Rivals; instead, Pacen claimed his dislike of the Bulldogs is “I just don’t like orange”.
Whether he is practicing on scout defense, preparing for special teams, or rotating in at linebacker, fans can guarantee that Pacen Strozier will be giving his all when he steps on the field.
