LEXINGTON, Ohio — Mansfield Senior’s ground game has run over foes all season. Sophomore wideout Jornell Manns had no doubts about the Tygers’ passing game, either.
On Friday night, in a 45-28 victory at Lexington, Manns (and Senior High’s aerial attack) proved coach Chioke Bradley’s squad could feature a balanced offense. Manns caught three of quarterback Brandon Swindall’s four touchdown passes to send the Tygers into next week’s crosstown showdown against Madison with a conference title share on the line.
“We saw on film that (the Minutemen) like to play man. But I knew they couldn’t stop me man-to-man,” Manns said.
The 6-foot, 175-pound speedster broke loose for five catches and 146 yards, including TD grabs of 45, 10 and 77 yards.
“They were really playing the middle safety up and we threw it right behind him,” Swindall said. “The corners were playing off toward the inside so we threw it outside.”
Swindall completed 10-of-19 passes for 253 yards and four touchdowns. His final score was a 2-yard strike to senior Saquann Johnson with 7:21 remaining, to finally subdue the pesky Minutemen.
“Brandon stepped up and made some phenomenal passes,” Bradley said. “Jornell Manns is an outstanding athlete. You get the ball in his hands and he can make plays.”
The Tygers (7-2 overall, 5-1 in the Ohio Cardinal Conference) roared to a 21-0 lead, with Swindall and Manns hooking up on two scores and Tyquan Vickers dashing 40 yards for a touchdown.
Lexington (6-3, 3-3) finally countered when Hunter Biddle ripped off a 30-yard TD sprint to end the first quarter.
Brian Benson responded with a 1-yard plunge to put the Tygers back on top 27-7, but Biddle posted back-to-back scores of 24 and 2 yards to slice the deficit to 27-21 with 6:23 showing in the half.
Big Night: For the game Biddle had 202 yards and four TDs. But Lexington just couldn’t tame a Tygers’ offense that piled up 312 yards in the first half alone.
Swindall found Manns for a third time in the first half, the 77-yarder, to open a 33-21 halftime bulge.
“We wanted them to throw the ball, but I certainly didn’t want them to throw the ball that well,” Lexington coach Taylor Gerhardt said.
Biddle took the first snap of the second half and rolled 70 yards for a score to pull the Minutemen within 33-28. But Lexington would not score again.
“Hunter is a special kid,” Gerhardt said. “He will do anything we ask of him.”
Ground Control: Mansfield Senior’s ground attack controlled the second half, with Brian Benson going over 1,000 yards for the season, collecting 148 yards on 22 carries.
The Tygers finished it off with a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns to set up next week’s clash for a share of the OCC championship. Ashland and Wooster are also tied atop the league, but none of the three play each other on the final regular-season weekend.
Batltle of Mansfield: Beating the arch-rival was the focus of Bradley’s postgame talk. And with a budding passing game, his squad has given the Rams even more to think about.
“We throw it well in practice, but this is the best we’ve thrown it all season,” Bradley said.
