MANSFIELD — Traevon Dickerson’s unmistakable bleach blonde mohawk stood out over the roiling sea of Orange and Brown that flooded Arlin Field on an unseasonably mild Friday night.
Mansfield Senior had just put the finishing touches on a history-making 45-16 victory over crosstown rival Madison — a win made possible thanks in no small part to Dickerson’s momentum-swinging 68-yard fumble return for a touchdown late in the third quarter — and as the celebration raged, the stoic Dickerson never even broke a smile.
That is until the 6-foot-2, 220-pound senior defensive lineman was asked how it felt to be 10-0 for the first time in school history.
“Amazing,” said Dickerson, a broad grin washing over his face amidst an ocean of well-wishers. “All the hard work and dedication paid off.”
Mansfield Senior (10-0, 7-0 Ohio Cardinal Conference) capped the greatest season in program history with a win for the ages, avenging last year’s 34-0 loss to the Rams (3-7, 2-5) and securing a home playoff game in the process. The Tygers will host a Division II, Region 5 quarterfinal at 7:30 p.m. next Friday against an opponent yet to be determined — not that it mattered much after the win over the Rams.
“I can’t explain it. It’s a wonderful feeling,” said Senior High coach Chioke Bradley, a 1994 Mansfield Senior graduate. “I’m ecstatic for this town, my school and these kids.”
The 48th installment of the Battle of Mansfield (Senior High now leads the all-time series 24-21-3) was not nearly as one-sided as the final score indicated. The Rams trailed 14-10 at halftime and took a 16-14 lead on the first play of the third quarter when Kalvin Gordon raced 74 yards for a touchdown.
“I am very lucky to have coached kids like Kalvin Gordon,” Madison coach Sean Conway said. “Kalvin is such a special back and such a special person.
“You just love these kids. They deserve to win and it breaks my heart that I couldn’t get it for them.”
Madison’s advantage was short-lived, however, as the Tygers reclaimed the lead for good four minutes later when quarterback Jalen Reese hooked up with wideout Chek Washington on an 11 yard touchdown pass. The abbreviated three-play drive was set up by a fumble recovery by Senior High’s Travon Harris inside the Madison 10 yard line after Tygers’ punter Hutch Blackstone pinned the Rams at their own 8 with 8:44 remaining in the third quarter. Blackstone had to chase down an errant snap that sailed over his head before launching a 47-yard punt.
“That was big,” said Washington, who caught eight passes for 169 yards and two scores and became the first player in school history to top 1,000 receiving yards in a season. “I’m not going to say it changed everything, but it was a big play that we needed.”
Madison took the ensuing kickoff and marched to the Senior High 32 before Dickerson’s game-changing fumble recovery and return. The Rams never could rebound.
Madison’s next possession stalled at its own 40 and Mansfield Senior’s Asante’ Wilder returned a punt 78 yards for a score to blow the game open.
“I grabbed it on the first bounce, and it was one move and go,” Wilder said. “It feels great, especially against Madison.”
The Tygers, who managed just 13 total yards in last year’s loss in a quagmire at Madison, had more than five times as many yards on their very first play from scrimmage Friday. Washington took a screen pass from quarterback Reese and, thanks to a bone-rattling block by junior tackle Marshall Levins, raced 69 yards for a touchdown. The first of Blackstone’s six PATs made it 7-0 in favor of the Tygers just 18 seconds into the game.
“If the defensive back was pressing then I was going to run a fade,” Washington said. “He wasn’t, so we threw the screen and it turned out to be something special.”
The Rams responded when quarterback Austin Finley scored on a 5 yard run late in the first quarter to tie the score at 7-7.
A 4-yard TD run by Tyquan Vickers gave the Tygers a 14-7 lead before Adam Day booted a 25 yard field goal for Madison to make it 14-10 midway through the second quarter.
Gordon led Madison with 211 rushing yards.
Reese comleted 13 of 25 passes for 257 yards and three TDs. He has completed 150 of 253 passes for 2,215 yards and 21 touchdowns. He is the first quarterback in school history to top 2,000 yards in a season.
“We made history tonight and it feels good,” Wilder said. “We’re going to enjoy this tonight, but then it’s back to work Monday.”
Follow Curt Conrad on Twitter @curtjconrad.
