MANSFIELD — Symirr Phillips terrorized West Holmes on Friday.
Mansfield Senior’s junior defensive lineman recorded 3.5 sacks and the Tygers held on for a wild 38-28 win over the Knights in the Ohio Cardinal Conference opener at Arlin Field.
“Symirr Phillips is the alpha dog on our defense,” Senior High coach Chioke Bradley said. “We knew wherever we put him, he was going to demand some attention or he was going to cause a lot of chaos.”
The 6-foot-1, 240-pound Phillips set up shop in the West Holmes backfield. He registered 4.5 tackles for loss among his six stops, hounding West Holmes quarterback Morgan Smith virtually every time he dropped back to pass.
“I was just out there playing football,” said Phillips, who had just 1.5 tackles for loss in Senior High’s first three games. “We thought I could cause some problems.”
Phillips’ first sack came during a crazy sequence early in the first quarter.
The Tygers (2-2 overall, 1-0 in the OCC) recovered a pooch kick to start the game, but couldn’t cash in on the short field when quarterback Duke Reese’s second-down pass was tipped and intercepted by West Holmes’ Logan Zollars near his own goal line.
On the Knights’ ensuing possession, Phillips threw Smith for a 6-yard loss on third-and-three to force a punt. The boot never got off, however, as the snap eluded punter Kyle Maltarich and scooted out of the back of the end zone for a safety.
Senior High’s lead grew to 8-0 on the next play when Amarr Davis returned the free kick 71 yards for a touchdown.
West Holmes (2-2, 0-1) tied the game at 8-8 when Smith hooked up with Yale-bound receiver Kyle Maltarich on a 25-yard touchdown pass early in the second quarter. The score remained tied until late in the first half when Reese found a streaking Ja’ontay O’Bryant for a 22-yard touchdown and a 15-8 lead.
West Holmes drove deep into Senior High territory in the waning moments of the second quarter, but Senior High’s Nate Dismuke picked off a pass in the end zone to end the threat.
The Tygers extended their lead to 17-8 early in the third when Smith was flagged for intentional grounding in his own end zone for the second safety of the game.
Senior High took the ensuing free kick and marched 60 yards on nine plays for a 24-8 lead. Reese capped the march when he fired a 22-yard TD strike to Jermain Bradley.
Mansfield Senior kicker Quinten DeBolt was roughed on the successful PAT attempt and the Tygers elected to enforce the 15-yard penalty on the kickoff. Kicking from the West Holmes 45 yard line, DeBolt executed a perfect squib kick that was recovered by Senior High at the West Holmes 18-yard line.
Mansfield Senior immediately cashed in when Reese tossed an 18-yard TD to Dismuke on first down to extend the lead to 31-8.
West Holmes made things interesting in the fourth, scoring a pair of touchdowns to slice the gap to 31-21.
But the Tygers put it away when linebacker Maurice Bradley II intercepted a Smith pass and returned it 33 yards for a touchdown to make it 38-21 with 4:12 remaining.
“I had to go make a play for my team,” said Maurice Bradley II, who had a team-high 11 tackles and 1.5 sacks. “I was reading the quarterback and our defensive line got pressure on him. He threw it right to me.”
West Holmes scored a touchdown in the final minute, but the Tygers recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock to preserve the win.
Mansfield Senior rushed for a season-high 139 yards. Jamir Petty led the way with 101 yards on 21 carries.
“All week coach was saying we wanted to establish the running game,” said senior tackle and Division I recruit Ahmaan Thomas. “That is an offensive lineman’s dream.
“We always want to come out and run the ball.”
Reese completed 8-of-12 passes for 116 yards and three touchdowns. Davis caught three passes for 18 yards, passing former great Angelo Grose to become the program’s career leader in receptions. Davis became the career leader in receiving yards earlier this season.
Smith completed 22-of-34 passes for 289 yards and four touchdowns, but was intercepted three times. Zollars had 10 catches for 97 yards, while Maltarich caught a pair of TD passes among his five receptions.
Mansfield Senior, which beat West Holmes for the first time since 2019, will host New Philadelphia next week in a game rife with Ohio Cardinal Conference championship implications. The Quakers (3-1, 2-0) shut out Ashland 28-0 Friday.
“They are a good team,” Thomas said of New Philadelphia. “We have high expectations, so we’re going to have to be at our best.”