MANSFIELD — Mansfield Senior standout Jornell Manns was absolutely unstoppable Friday night, and the Tygers needed him to be exactly that.
The Minnesota commitment erupted for 129 yards rushing and five touchdowns and Senior High held off a persistent West Holmes squad for a 41-27 victory on Friday night at Arlin Field.
“I still haven’t had a breakout game,” Manns said. “I’m trying to get better each game until the last game.”
Hard as it was to believe, Manns also had a 48-yard touchdown run and a 55-yard punt return for a score wiped out by penalties. He wound up scoring on one of those possessions anyway, but it was that kind of night.
West Holmes coach Zach Gardner could only shake his head at the Knights’ inability to contain Manns.
“There’s a reason his career is taking the path it is,” Gardner said. “He’s an exceptional athlete and it’s hard to stop him.”
Senior High (3-1) played most of the game without senior quarterback Sid Caudill, who is still nursing a lower leg injury from last week’s loss at Toledo St. John’s. But sophomore Angelo Grose proved a capable fill-in. The 5-foot-8, 170-pounder ran for 94 yards and hit 8 of 13 passes for 59 more.
“I just want to get better,” Grose said. “On our zone plays, I get to read the D and try to make a play.”
Early, the Tygers made a number of plays to build a 20-0 second-quarter bulge. Manns scored on runs of 31, 1 and 35 yards and Senior High coasted to a 20-7 halftime margin.
But winless West Holmes (0-4) didn’t quit.
Junior Gavin Sheldon ran for a pair of scores and hauled in a 49-yard TD pass from junior Bridger Cline as the Knights closed to within 34-20 in the third period.
But Manns cut loose again on a 36-yard touchdown dash in the fourth quarter and a key fourth-down stop in the Tygers’ red zone sealed it.
Cline finished by hitting 13 of 30 passes for 273 yards and a pair of TDs, the last one an 18-yarder to Shane Jones to account for the final score. Brayden Chaney caught 7 passes for 142 yards for West Holmes.
The Tygers counted by rushing for 394 yards and junior Tre’Suan Windham had yet another interception, his 10th in just 14 games.
“We’ve got to get some pressure on the quarterback,” Senior High coach Chioke Bradley noted. “(Early on) our two best coverage guys weren’t covering their best receivers.”
Still, the Tygers hung on to win comfortably.
Senior High is on the road next week at Maple Heights (2-1 heading into last night’s game with University School). West Holmes travels to Madison on Friday night.
