Mansfield Senior displays too many weapons in 42-0 rout of Lexington

LEXINGTON — Lexington coach Tim Scheid just shook his head when talking about trying to stop the Mansfield Senior offense.

His Minutemen held Angelo Grose, headed to Michigan State next season, to 12 yards on two receptions and 37 yards on four carries.

But the senior sensation’s teammates went off in a 42-0 win Friday night, keeping Mansfield Senior perfect at 6-0 overall and 2-0 in the Ohio Cardinal Conference.

“You gotta pick who you wanna stop,” Scheid said after the game. “We sat down at the beginning of the week and we made a list of a couple of things we were willing to accept them doing to beat us. One was the quarterback running the ball and the other was making him find someone else (other than Grose) to throw to.

“They did it. They found ways of getting balls to other playmakers. Hats off to them,” said Scheid, whose team fell to 1-5/0-3.

While the Minutemen focused on Grose, senior running back Terrance Flickinger and senior wide receiver Cyrus Ellerbe made Lexington pay.

Flickinger, back this season after missing last year with a knee injury, rushed for 149 yards and two TDs on just 13 carries, scoring on runs of 32 and 25 yards.

In six games, the 5-8, 170-pound Flickinger has 538 yards on just 70 attempts, averaging 7.6 per carry.

Ellerbe, in his first season for the Tygers, showed off his blazing speed by catching three balls for 85 yards, including an 84-yard bomb from senior quarterback Cameron Todd to open the scoring in the first quarter.

With reported 4.3 speed in the 40, the 5-8, 185-pound Ellerbe now has 262 yards on 11 catches this season, averaging 23.8 per reception.

Mansfield Senior finished with 467 yards of offense, rushing for 319 yards on 44 carries and adding 148 in the air.

“We are loaded with talent on the offensive side of the ball,” Mansfield Senior coach Chioke Bradkey said. “(And) we are blessed to have a great offensive line that does a phenomenal job for us. It makes coaching easy when you got that kind of talent on that side of the ball.

“We were excited about our offensive line dominating the line of scrimmage and our backs ran downhill,” he said. “(Flickinger) is amazing. We really missed him last year. He has come back this year better than ever. He is a great kid and it’s a blessing to have him.”

Other Tygers scoring were Todd (5-yard run), fullback Amajeon Robertson (2-yard run) and Grose, who closed the night with a 27-yard TD run.

Scheid said his team wanted to control the time of possession. But the Tygers had the ball for 30:28, compared to just 17:32 for his Minutemen.

“Against a team that is that good, you can’t give them too many chances and opportunities. You give them so many chances to drive the ball, they’re gonna get it. They’re going to find their playmakers, find the weaknesses and exploit it,” Scheid said.

SHUTDOWN DEFENSE: As impressive as the Mansfield Senior offense was Friday night, the Tygers’ defense was even better, recording another stifling evening.

Pitching its third shutout in six games, Mansfield Senior allowed just three first downs and 62 yards in total offense, limiting Lexington to 22 yards on 20 carries and 40 yards passing on five completions in 15 attempts.

Lexington managed just 35 offensive players (compared to 58 for the Tygers) and were just two of 10 on third-down conversions.

“We couldn’t get any movement up front,” Scheid said. “That defensive line is huge, well coached and disciplined. Those linebackers are fast and react to the ball quickly. At halftime, our kids were saying they couldn’t get to the linebackers, they were too fast. We couldn’t get off the double-team blocks fast enough to reach them.”

Bradley, whose Tygers avenged an upset loss to Lexington last season when the Minutemen came in 1-4, pointed to his team’s physicality.

“We imposed our will on them upfront. It starts with both lines. We had a great rotation in the defensive line. The linebackers read their keys and are very disciplined. We have two amazing safeties on the back end who help with the run and the pass.

“And when you have 4.3 speed (at one corner) and 4.5 on the other, it’s a tough defense to run or pass against,” Bradley said.

PLAYOFF PICTURE: The win keeps Mansfield Senior atop the computer poll in Division III, Region 10, ahead of Norwalk (5-1), Sandusky (5-1) and Medina Buckeye (5-1).

The Tygers have beaten the Truckers (21-10) and the Blue Streaks (21-14) already this season. Sandusky knocked off previously unbeaten Tiffin Columbian, 33-26, on Friday night.

The top eight teams in each region qualify for the post-season. The Tygers are the only 6-0 team in the 27-team region.

Mansfield Senior was ranked eighth this past week in a statewide poll of Division III teams.

UP NEXT: Mansfield Senior returns to Arlin Field next Friday to host a resurgent Ashland team, which won its second straight game with a 49-7 win over Madison this week. The Arrows are 2-4 overall, but 2-0 in the OCC, tied in the standings with the Tygers

Lexington travels to West Holmes in another OCC game next Friday. The Knights fell to 2-4/1-2 with a 33-21 loss to Wooster in week six.