MANSFIELD — An exasperated Chioke Bradley sat on a wooden bench in the Arlin Field coaches office after Mansfield Senior’s 31-7 loss to Wooster, eating his postgame meal as players and coaches quietly trickled through the exit.
“Youth will make your hair turn gray,” Senior High’s coach said. “We are Friday night young and our inexperience keeps showing over and over again.”
The Tygers (3-5, 2-3) sputtered offensively and couldn’t get off the field defensively as the Generals (5-3, 4-1) ran 62 offensive plays and controlled the ball for more than 29 minutes, compared to 18:41 for Senior High. Wooster had just two first-half possessions, each resulting in a touchdown.
“We felt like we had a good game plan and we did the best we could to put our guys in position to make plays,” Bradley said. “We showed flashes of being a tough, physical defense but then we would have a breakdown here and there.”
Wooster marched 97 yards in 17 plays and took a 6-0 lead on Colt Morgan’s 13 yard pass from Cam Daugherty on fourth down. The drive chewed up nearly eight minutes of the first-quarter clock.
Mansfield Senior’s ensuing possession stalled at midfield and Mitch Nixon’s wind-aided punt sailed into the end zone for a touchback. Wooster took over at its own 20 yard line and drove 80 yards on 17 plays capped by Tremaine Wilson’s 1 yard plunge for a 12-0 halftime lead.
“That’s the best defense we could play. Keep their athletes off the field,” Wooster coach Doug Haas said. “To be able to control the line of scrimmage, that’s what we need to do. It’s become our identity.”
Signs of Life: Senior High’s dormant offense came to life in the third quarter — albeit briefly.
After forcing a Wooster punt to start the half, the Tygers took control at their own 29 yard line with 10:43 remaining. Aided by a 15 yard Wooster face mask penalty, Senior High went 71 yards and trimmed the deficit to 12-7 on Brian Benson’s 9 yard run with 7:16 to play in the third. Benson had a 20 yard reception during the drive in limited offensive action.
“(Starting running back) Tyquan Vickers was finally healthy again and Brian is so valuable to us defensively,” Bradley said. “The kid never comes off the field.”
Special Teams?: Mansfield Senior’s special teams unit suffered another breakdown after Wooster had taken an 18-4 lead on Daugherty’s 4 yard run with 1:51 left in the third quarter. On the ensuing kickoff, the Tygers failed to cover a pooch kick and Wooster’s Leon Griffith covered the loose ball at the Senior High 40. The Generals, aided by a pass interference call against Senior High, needed just five plays to take a 24-7 lead on fullback Mason Woods’ 9 yard run with just two seconds left in the third quarter.
“We’ve had problems on special teams all year,” Bradley said. “When you are playing a quality opponent, you can’t have plays like that.”
Back Breaker: The Tygers marched deep into Wooster territory midway through the fourth quarter, but on fourth and 1 from the 21 Benson was thrown for a 1 yard loss. On the next play, Wilson busted loose on a 78 yard scoring run to put it away.
“We played all four quarters,” said Wilson, who torched the Tygers for 212 yards and two scores on 33 carries. “We used to have problems with that. These last three games (all Wooster wins), we’ve played well as a team.”
Castle Wall Honorees: Before the game four new honorees were announced. Rod Bogner, Lowell Smith, the Mansfield Police Dept. and the Mansfield Fire Dept. were recognized in a pregame ceremony.
