POWELL — Chioke Bradley’s voice cracked as he addressed his team for the final time Friday at Olentangy Liberty High School.
Mansfield Senior’s coach fought back tears as he searched for the right words after the fourth-seeded Tygers fell to No. 1 seed New Albany 26-22 in a Division II, Region 5 semifinal.
New Albany (11-1) will play third-seeded Zanesville (12-0) for a regional championship next week. The Blue Devils pounded No. 2 seed Worthington Kilbourne 36-0.
Senior High finished its storybook season at 11-1.
“Like anything in life, you’ve got to say goodbye,” said Bradley, a 1994 Senior High graduate. “It’s just tough to see it slip away like it did tonight.
“At the same time, I’m extremely proud of this team and extremely proud of this senior class. This is the best football team Senior High has ever had and I feel good about saying that.”
The Tygers had no answer for New Albany’s bruising ground game. The Eagles rushed for 331 yards, 159 of which came in a 16-point second quarter.
“New Albany came out and did a great job. They were the best team today,” Bradley said. “Their offensive line did a great job of coming off the ball and creating opportunities for their running backs. We had them at times and we were just missing tackles. That’s something we normally don’t do.
“We went into the locker room and made an adjustment and it slowed them down, but the damage had already been done in the first half.”
Trailing 19-14 late in the third, the Tygers reclaimed the lead when quarterback Jalen Reese hooked up with All-Ohio candidate Chek Washington on a 17 yard scoring strike. It was Washington’s second TD of the game after hauling in a 40 Reese pass in the first quarter. The senior caught six passes for 134 yards despite playing with a grade three separation of his left shoulder.
“There are six grades of shoulder separation and (grades) four, five and six require surgery. He went to the doctor and the doctors didn’t want to let him to play,” Bradley said. “He told the doctors, ‘I’m going to play. Those are my brothers … and I’m not going to let them guys go out and fight without me.’ ”
Washington’s second TD and Asante’ Wilder’s two-point conversion reception gave Senior High a 22-19 lead late in the third quarter, but New Albany answered when quarterback Tanner Cline plunged in from 1 yard out on the first play of the fourth quarter for a 26-22 lead.
Mansfield Senior’s next possession ended with an interception deep in New Albany territory. The teams then exchanged punts before New Albany mounted what looked like the victory-icing drive. But on third-and-five from the Mansfield Senior 33, wildcat quarterback Jalen Ward fumbled and Senior High safety Malon Samuel came up with the loose ball at his own 29 yard line with 3:02 remaining.
“I thought that was the spark we needed,” Samuel said. “They were more physical than us and were able to run the ball, but our coaches told us all week that they would fumble the ball and they did.”
Mansfield Senior moved the ball into New Albany territory, but on fourth-and-two with just over a minute remaining, Reese’s pass under heavy pressure fell incomplete.
“We got Reese a little bit uncomfortable,” New Albany coach Pat Samanich said. “You’ve got to make sure that he can’t get comfortable so we were mixing our coverages and trying to bring pressure from different spots.
“He didn’t want to be on the move too much because when he sets his feet, he’s dangerous.”
Mansfield Senior’s career passing leader, Reese completed 17 of 28 attempts for 226 yards and three touchdowns. Washington had six catches for 134 yards and two scores while tight end Mitch Nixon had three catches, including a 10 touchdown midway through the second quarter.
The Tygers couldn’t get anything going on the ground, rushing for just 4 yards on 21 carries. Samuel led the way with 12 yards on two carries.
For New Albany, Trey Quillin rushed for 178 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries, while Hayden George added 90 yards on 14 attempts. Cline completed 5 of 10 passes for 56 yards, all to Joe Siegenthaler.
The Tygers will lose a talented 20-man senior class.
“It’s always tough to say goodbye to your friends and your loved ones,” Bradley said. “I love all those guys.”
Follow Curt Conrad on Twitter @curtjconrad.
