It was finally football weather with a kick off temperature of a cool 60 degrees, but the Mansfield Senior Tygers were on fire in every aspect of the game. The Tygers racked up 483 total yards of offense to take down the Marion Harding Presidents 45-18 at Arlin Field on Friday night.
Of those 483 yards, it was junior Running back Tyquan Vickers who made the night easier on everybody. Vickers racked up 144 yards on the ground with two scores of 18 and 7 yards.
“Its everything to our offense when we get Vickers going. Our offensive line is improving and it shows, but Vickers is a big time recruit with a lot of schools coming after him and we expect him to have those explosion plays and when he does we will be successful,” said Mansfield Senior’s head coach Chioke Bradley.
The Tygers took a 25-6 lead into the locker room at the half with some excellent clock management by Bradley. The Tygers forced a punt with just over two minutes left in the half mostly because Bradley burned his timeouts to give his defense a chance to make stops.
The Tygers got the ball back and Handed it to Vickers who scampered 40 yards down the field to set up a shorter run which allowed them to put points on the board before the half.
Senior quarterback Mitch Nixon had a rough start, throwing an interception in the end zone in the first quarter. However, the Tygers running attack alleviated pressure and Nixon ended with 193 yards through the air with three scores on 9/19 passing. He also added 90 yards on the ground with a three-yard touchdown run.
“He hasn’t played quarterback since his freshman and sophomore year. He spent all of last season at tight end for us, but he stepped up big and matured a lot tonight,” Coach Bradley added.
The Tygers tallied 290 yards on the ground, 18 first downs, and ran just 49 offensive plays. Marion Harding nearly doubled the time of possession with 31:42 compared to the Tygers 16:18. The Tygers scored early and often while their defense was able to make stops at the right times to avoid scores. They held the Presidents to just 12 first downs and 202 total yards for the game.
Mansfield Senior picked up their first win of the season and will travel to Clear Fork next week to begin conference play. No team has ever three-peated as Ohio Cardinal Conference Champions, the Tygers are making that their goal.
Avoiding Big Plays: The Tygers Defense gave up just two plays of twenty yards or more. Both plays ended in Presidents touchdowns of 59 and 39 yards.
“We talk all the time to our defense about not giving up the big plays, both of those big plays that ended in touchdowns could have been avoided had we not blown our coverage. We can eliminate those mental mistakes and make our defense really good. We have some inexperience on that side of the ball but they are growing every day,” said Mansfield Senior Head Coach Chioke Bradley.
Making It Easy: Vickers was given praise by his quarterback, Nixon, for making his job easier.
“When I can turn around and hand the ball off and get six or seven yards each time, it makes my job a heck of a lot easier. The focus is off of me and I can just concentrate on making the right reads and making the throws. I credit all of that to Tyquan,” Nixon said after the game.
The Future: Sophomore Brian Benson shed his usual no. 23 for a number nine jersey, and he introduced himself to the Tyger faithful. On defense, he contributed a pair of sacks and a couple of tackles where he seemed to come out of nowhere. His emergence as a tailback, however, was especially noteworthy. Benson racked up 56 yards on just five carries that included a 28-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
“He most definitely is our future and he is a big time player. It is nice to be able to use him and have a three headed monster in the back field,” Coach Bradley added.
One punt: The Mansfield Senior Tygers did not have much use for a punter on Friday night. They punted the ball just one time and it was with 2:20 left in the ball game. They did turn the ball over on downs twice but they were out of field goal range and too deep in their own territory to punt.
