Tyquan Vickers outdid himself Friday at Arlin Field.
Mansfield Senior’s shifty sophomore running back rushed for a career-high 282 yards and three touchdowns on 20 carries as the Tygers rumbled to a 45-0 win Ohio Cardinal Conference win over previously unbeaten Orrville.
The unassuming 5-foot-10, 170-pound Vickers has rushed for 543 yards and five touchdowns in the past two weeks. He raced for 261 yards and two TDs in Senior High’s 40-0 win over Clear Fork in Week 4.
The only blemish during Vickers’ otherwise sensational performance came on his final carry of the evening midway through the fourth quarter. Vickers took a handoff from reserve quarterback Brandon Swindal and, just as he broke into the open field, lost his footing and slipped to the turf without being touched by an Orrville defender. Were it not for the inopportune stumble, he might have scored his fourth TD and topped 300 yards for the night.
“It’s my offensive line. They’re opening all the holes for me and I just hit them hard,” Vickers said. “I just try to pick a hole and hit it as hard as I can and run downhill.”
It didn’t take long for Vickers to get it going against the Red Riders (4-1, 1-1). He rushed for 92 yards in the first quarter as the Tygers (5-0, 2-0) opened a 10-0 lead.
Chek Washington, who picked up a Division I scholarship offer from Ohio University earlier in the week, started the scoring barrage when he hauled in a 38 yard touchdown pass from Jalen Reese on Senior High’s first possession. Hutch Blackstone added a 31 yard field goal later in the period. Vickers scored on runs of 12, 10 and 68 yards in the second quarter as the lead ballooned to 31-0.
“One thing that I like about Tyquan is he has tremendous explosion,” Senior High coach Chioke Bradley said. “He accelerates through the hole and once he gets in the open field … he may go the distance.
“He’s young, so he made a lot of young mistakes early on. As coaches, we’ve done a good job of spending time with him after practice … and coaching him up.”
Mansfield Senior’s rugged defense pitched its second shutout in as many weeks, running its scoreless streak to nine quarters. It look like the streak might come to an end early in the fourth quarter when the Red Riders lined up for a 30 yard field goal attempt. Sophomore linebacker Marvin Parker had other ideas, however, breaking through the line and blocking the try. Asante’ Wilder scooped up the loose ball and raced 84 yards for a touchdown and a 38-0 Mansfield Senior lead.
“It’s getting very expensive because we had to go out and buy wings for the defense last week for the shutout,” Bradley said. “Now we’ve got to turn around and do it again.
“I told them guys (on the field goal attempt) to go get it. They know the significance of getting out of here with a zero on the scoreboard. They went after it and got it blocked.”
The Tygers, who piled up 467 yards of total offense, limited Orrville to just 161 total yards.
“It was very important for us to get another shutout,” said linebacker Jaleel Taylor, who led Senior High with 11 tackles and two sacks. “We want to prove to everybody we’re not playing around.
“We’ve played well the last two weeks, but I think we can still get better.”
Orrville’s Keontae Owens rushed for 130 on 25 carries. Quarterback Luke Smith was limited to 3 of 7 passing for 30 yards.
“They just get after you,” veteran Orrville coach Doug Davault said. “They create negative plays all over the place.
“They have great team speed. We’re not going to see anybody that has got that kind of speed. There’s no way to prepare for it.”
Davault was just as impressed with Senior High’s offense.
“I’ve been coaching at Orrville for 15 years and that’s as good of a Senior High football team as I have seen in all that time.”
Mansfield Senior visits Ashland next week.
Follow Curt Conrad on Twitter @curtjconrad.
“[The Tygers] have great team speed. We’re not going to see anybody that has got that kind of speed. There’s no way to prepare for it.”
Mansfield Senior 45, Orrville 0
