MANSFIELD — Wooster’s rugged line play and opportunistic defense dealt Mansfield Senior’s playoff hopes a crippling blow on Friday night, with a 35-21 decision at Arlin Field.

Still, coach Chioke Bradley’s team controls its own destiny in its quest for an Ohio Cardinal Conference championship. The Tygers host first-place Lexington, unbeaten in league play, next week in a game that pits the top two teams in the conference.

“We’ve still got a lot to play for,” Bradley said. “We’re going to watch the film, fix the mistakes and get better.”

Mansfield Senior’s biggest problem was a series of turnovers, two of them on the goal-line.

“We always talk about taking care of the football and tonight we had four turnovers,” Bradley said.

The first turnover was an interception at the goal line on the opening drive. The second was a pick-six by Wooster’s Dylan Dagley.

When junior Trey Mathis followed with a pair of short TD jaunts, the Generals (6-2 overall, 3-2 in the OCC) had a 21-0 third-quarter lead and complete control.

“We challenged our offensive line (at halftime) and they took control of the line of scrimmage,” Wooster coach Doug Haas said. “That allowed us to get our running game going.”

Mansfield Senior (5-3, 3-1) tried to rally. Brian Benson scored on a 4-yard touchdown blast midway through the third period, but Mathis returned the ensuing kickoff 85 yards for a score.

Tygers’ quarterback Sid Caudill tossed a 60-yard TD bomb to Davis Chapman, but Peyton Bennington countered with a 15-yard scoring strike to Dagley.

Mansfield Senior’s Christian Haney scooped and scored on a 30-yard fumble return off a botched punt snap with 9:16 showing, but that was the final score of the game.

Wooster’s stingy defense limited Benson to 139 yards rushing, a strong total but 200 less than each of his past two outings.

“He’s a very special player and I’m really proud of how we were able to keep him under control,” Haas said.

Meanwhile, Mathis ripped off 156 yards, in addition to his kickoff return, and scored three times in total.

“Football is about blocking and tackling and we just made too many mistakes,” Bradley said.