After sweeping the non-conference portion of their schedule against 4A schools, and then winning its first two 3A conference games against Greenland and Cedarville, the undefeated Charleston Tigers are in the driver’s seat as they look toward a second consecutive conference championship. Charleston coach Ricky May will tell you like any other coach that a lot can happen and it is very much a week-by-week matter, but Charleston has earned its way into prime position to win a championship and a top seed in next month’s state playoffs.
Tonight’s game is a battle of the Tigers as the proud Mansfield Tigers will visit Alumni Field to take on the undefeated Charleston Tigers. This is a classic game in which records for both teams are thrown out and anything can happen. In fact, that point was clearly illustrated in 2019 when Mansfield last played at Charleston. Charleston was methodically driving late in the fourth quarter of the game, leading by six points and seemed on their way to victory. The Tigers were chewing up the clock and getting three or four yards on every running play. Mansfield was out of time outs, and Charleston had moved the ball inside the Mansfield ten yard line with less than two minutes to play. On third down, Charleston was inside the five….when lightning struck! On third down, anticipating an all-out blitz from the Mansfield defense, Charleston threw a pass that was intercepted three yards deep in the end zone. And as I have dubbed him ever since, “the Immortal Layton Howard” of Mansfield took the interception and ran it back 103 yards for the winning touchdown. Howard’s touchdown run took place down the Mansfield sideline with the crowd erupting, and just like that, Mansfield pulled out a tough victory at Charleston.
Since that season, Mansfield has graduated a very talented class and is now rebuilding. That same year, Charleston coach Ricky May was in his first year as the Tigers’ coach, and was doing a miraculous job keeping a team together that had been devastated by injuries and eventually led them to the playoffs. Since that season, May and Charleston have won an undefeated conference title in 2020 and look to be favored to do the same in 2021.
So, this should be a good one; better than the records may indicate. It will be a tough call for Mansfield to go into Charleston tonight and defeat a Charleston team that is now ranked sixth in Arkansas in Class 3A. But, rest assured, the Mansfield Tigers will show up tonight and they will give it everything they have.
Tonight should be a beautiful night of football weather across Arkansas for high school football, and fans from both communities will not want to miss this one. It’s Tigers versus Tigers! It’s high school football on a perfect night for football!
