ROCKY RIVER, Ohio — The football field provided a safe haven on Friday night in the form of a Division III, Region 10 high school playoff game.
It was a scenario Mansfield Senior welcomed warmly, authoring an incredible first half scoring explosion to earn a surprisingly easy 55-21 victory at No. 5-seed Rocky River.
Both the Tygers (security concerns) and Pirates (administrator controversy) endured a week awash in issues that had nothing to do with sports. Even this game was originally moved from Mansfield to Rocky River, and then included barring fans just hours before kickoff.
When they finally teed it up, both squads were ready to erupt. But no one was more ready than Senior High quarterback Duke Reese, who accounted for four of his five touchdowns in one of the greatest individual halves for an offensive player in school history.
The lanky 6-foot-4 senior rose above the off-field noise and the stadium’s eery silence from the very beginning.
Rocky River fumbled on its first snap and Tai Pickett recovered at the 31. From there Reese led a six-play surge and capped it with a 1-yard plunge for a 6-0 edge.
The Pirates responded immediately when quarterback Julian Patti tossed a long pass for Ryan Ricketti, who went up among a group of players, caught the ball and raced in for an 80-yard score. The ensuing PAT pushed Rocky River in front 7-6 with 9:19 showing in the first quarter.
It was the Pirates’ lone lead of the night, and it didn’t last long.
Mansfield Senior regained the advantage in one play. Reese took off on a spectacular, 72-yard dash and Quinten DeBolt’s kick propelled the fourth-seeded Tygers back in front 13-7 with just three minutes gone in the game.
Senior High’s defense turned in another big play when Amarr Davis intercepted a Rocky River pass at the 39.
Again coach Chioke Bradley’s bunch wasted no time, with Reese firing a 39-yard TD strike to Nate Dismuke, who threaded his was through the middle of the secondary to make it 20-7 at the 7:18 mark of the first period.
It stayed that way into the second quarter, when Mansfield Senior unleashed yet another long gainer.
Running back Jamier Petty rocketed to a 42-yard touchdown bolt and the PAT expanded the gap to 27-7 with 10:57 showing in the half.
But Rocky River (10-2) flashed its own pyrotechnics as Patti and Ricketti hooked up again from 70 yards out to trim the bulge to 27-14 with 10:00 showing.
The Tygers (10-2) were slightly more deliberate with an answer, but their offense bit back on a 49-yard drive. Zyion Brown concluded it with a 6-yard blast and DeBolt’s kick restored a 34-14 lead halfway through the second period.
Reese finished the stunning first-half show by hitting Davis for a 26-yard TD pass to forge a surreal 41-14 halftime advantage.
In those first two quarters, Reese put together a slew of highlights.
The lefty was 11-of-12 passing for 156 yards and two touchdowns. He added 93 yards rushing and two more scores. In total, Reese racked up 249 yards of offense and four TDs in just a half of football.
Mansfield Senior inflicted 375 yards of offensive damage to the Pirates in those first two quarters.
The onslaught continued on the first possession of the second half.
Senior High rolled 51 yards in eight plays and Reese notched his third touchdown pass on a 1-yard strike to Jermain Bradley. It was Mansfield Senior’s lone aerial of the second half.
That pushed the margin to 48-14, and triggered a running clock.
Another defensive stop and the Tygers were on the prowl again, gouging out 80 yards in eight plays with Ryan Au’s 1-yard dive finishing it for a 55-14 bulge with 9:50 left.
Rocky River’s Nick DeSalvo shook loose for a 70-yard touchdown run to shave it to 55-21 with 6:48 to play, but it was far too little and way too late.
Mansfield Senior dominated the statistics in first downs (21 to 11), time of possession (28:13 to 19:47), rushing yards (360 to 100) and total yards (517 to 330). Rocky River had the edge in passing yards (230 to 157), largely because the Tygers simply ground out the victory in the second half.
Three Senior High players cracked the century mark rushing, with Brown collecting 124 yards and a TD on 15 carries, Reese gaining 121 yards and a touchdown on seven attempts, and Petty going for 103 yards and a score on eight runs.
For the game, Mansfield Senior ran for 360 yards on 37 carries, nearly 10 yards per crack.
Reese finished 12-of-13 passing for 157 yards and three TDs. He accumulated 278 yards of total offense and five touchdowns to spotlight the most efficient performance of his career.
Rocky River’s big scoring plays, each of 70 yards or more, accounted for 220 of its 330 total yards.
DaJohn Corbin’s six tackles paced the Tygers’ defense, while teammate Elias Owens contributed 1.5 sacks.
Rocky River, the Great Lakes West Division champions, had just one loss prior to Friday night, a 59-28 setback on Sept. 1 at Sandusky Perkins.
Mansfield Senior returns to action next week in a Friday night assignment against top-seeded Toledo Central Catholic (12-0). The Fighting Irish blasted Defiance 47-26 in their playoff clash on Friday night.
The site of that matchup will be announced on Sunday afternoon by the Ohio High School Athletics Association.