Chek Washington staggered Ashland and Malon Samuel delivered the knockout blow on Homecoming night at Community Stadium.
Washington’s nifty 63-yard touchdown reception from Jalen Reese, followed by Samuel’s fumble recovery in the end zone on the ensuing kickoff propelled Mansfield Senior to a 30-14 win over the Arrows on a rainy Friday night.
The Tygers (6-0, 3-0) took over sole possession of first place in the chase for the Ohio Cardinal Conference championship. Ashland dipped to 3-3, 2-1.
Clinging to a precarious 17-7 lead, Senior High was faced with a third-and-14 from its own 37 yard line with less than five minutes remaining in the third quarter when Washington struck. Reese took the shotgun snap and lofted a pass for his speedy receiver, who split a pair of Ashland defenders and raced to the end zone for a 24-7 lead.
“I was trying to get Jalen to throw me the ball the entire game,” said Washington, who had six receptions for 133 yards. “It was a heck of a throw by Jalen and a heck of a catch.
“It was a big play because the offense was struggling to move the ball and it gave us back some momentum. Then the fumble recovery really swung it in our favor.”
On the ensuing kickoff, Senior High kicker Hutch Blackstone pooched a kick inside the Ashland 10 yard line. By the time Ashland return man Lee Burley picked up the ball, Senior High’s Jaleel Taylor was on top of him. Taylor jarred the ball loose and Samuel pounced on it in the end zone for a 30-7 Mansfield Senior advantage.
“It was a designed to come to our side of the field. Jaleel got down there and stripped it and I fell on it in the end zone,” said Samuel, who had 10 tackles and intercepted a pass. “We needed it because the momentum was starting to get away from us.”
Friday’s showdown between OCC unbeatens looked like another laugher as Senior High opened a 17-0 halftime lead. Tyquan Vickers scored on a 7 yard run and Blackstone booted a 29 yard field goal in the first quarter and tight end Antonio Sanderfer, filling in for an ailing Mitch Nixon, caught a 3 yard TD pass from Reese just 15 seconds before halftime.
Meanwhile, Mansfield Senior’s stingy defense ran its scoreless streak to 11 quarters dating back to the third quarter of a Week 3 win at Marion Harding.
“Defensively, we’ve got some kids on that side of the ball who refuse to lose,” said Senior High coach Chioke Bradley, a former All-Ohio defensive back for the Tygers. “They’ve got an unbelievable amount of grit and mental and physical toughness.
“We were on the field all night long and those guys just kept fighting. That just goes to show you what type of unity we have as a team. Those guys knew our offense was struggling a little bit and those guys sold out for the team.”
Ashland took advantage of a Mansfield Senior fumble and a pass interference penalty early in the third quarter to get back into the game. Max Stringer caught a 10 yard TD pass from Nick Zurcher.
The score remained 17-7 until Washington and Samuel turned the tide.
“That’s a big swing, there’s no doubt,” Ashland coach Scott Valentine said. “They made a couple big plays there just as we started to get some of the momentum back there in the second half.”
The Arrows, who surrendered 245 yards in the first half, limited Mansfield Senior to 127 second-half yards.
“Our guys made a few adjustments at halftime and the kids came out in the second half and did a great job,” Valentine said. “Our defense got some stops and we moved the ball down there a few times, but we just couldn’t punch it in.”
Ashland cut Mansfield Senior’s lead to 30-14 when Jacob Allton caught a 20 yard TD pass from Zurcher with 5:29 to play in the fourth. The Arrows recovered an onside kick, but Mansfield Senior sealed the victory when Asante’ Wilder picked off a Zurcher pass.
Zurcher completed 16 of 36 passes for 169 yards.
“We knew they had a great passing attack, but we wanted to shut them down,” said Washington, an All-Ohio candidate at safety. “We wanted to make a statement.”
Follow Curt Conrad on Twitter @curtjconrad.
