Mansfield Senior starts fast, holds off Lexington in OCC clash

LEXINGTON — Chioke Bradley plans to have his Mansfield Senior football team’s attention next week in practice, despite a 23-14 win Friday night at Lexington.

If he can’t get their minds, he will have their legs.

Simply put, the veteran coach was not pleased with his team’s performance in the second half after the Tygers built a 23-0 lead midway through the third quarter to snap a two-game losing streak.

“It’s a combination of a lack of focus and not executing,” said Bradley, in his 12th season of leading his alma mater. “It starts in practice, during your week of preparation. For the last two or three weeks, we have had really bad practices during the week and that’s on me.

“Those guys understand now the expectation going forward,” Bradley said. “I am not allowing any more bad practices. So if we come out and we are not focused and we’re not being disciplined in practice, we’re gonna run. We’re gonna run for a very long time. And that’s just the expectation going forward.”

The win improves Mansfield Senior to 4-2 overall and 1-1 in the Ohio Cardinal Conference. Lexington fell to 2-4 overall and 1-2 in the league.

BIGGER GOALS

Bradley said his team will enjoy the win, but larger goals lie ahead for a Tygers’ program that was in the state title game in 2019 and has playoff aspirations again in 2021. The top 16 teams in each region qualify for the postseason this year.

“We’re not satisfied,” he said. “That’s no disrespect to (Lexington). They came out and fought hard and they stayed in it and they played for their community. They played for their coaching staff. Coach (Taylor) Gerhardt does a great job of preparing them and having them ready to go.

“But for us, that’s just not good enough. We were up 20-something to nothing. We have got to have a killer mindset. We have got to understand how to put teams away,” said Bradley, whose squad likely remains among the top four teams in their Division III region.

Lexington actually controlled the time of possession, holding the ball five minutes more than Mansfield Senior. The Tygers outgained the Minutemen by just 42 yards, 254-212.

Senior quarterback Brock Hill certainly did his part for the Tygers, rushing for 78 yards on 16 carries, scoring his team’s first two TDs on runs of 1 and 9 yards. He completed 14-of-25 passes for 104 yards and also averaged 38.8 yards on six punts.

Junior running back Ricky Mills added 53 yards on just seven carries, putting Mansfield Senior ahead 23-0 with 5:11 left in the third quarter on a 1-yard run.

Sophomore Amarr Davis led Mansfield Senior with seven catches for 56 yards. Junior linebacker Leo Hess had one of the most unusual defensive stat lines. He snagged an interception and then made a tackle on the same play after Lexington senior Karson Berry ripped it from his hands as Hess was returning the pick.

Senior Aveon Gross and junior Mekhi Bradley each had 12 tackles for the Tygers, who picked off three Lexington passes, giving Mansfield Senior 14 takeaways in six games. Senior Myles Bradley had his second straight two-interception game, but agreed with his coach/father that more is expected.

“We can’t be satisfied … definitely,” he said afterward. “We have just to do better. We have to think of a killer mentality and put them out the game.”

Coach Bradley was pleased with his defensive back/son.

“He plays the game the right way and has been around it for a long time,” Chioke Bradley said. “He is an ultra-competitive athlete. He hates to lose, just like his dad. And he is a tremendous leader.

“This is his football team and he understands that as a captain, he needs to come out and do everything he can to get this team a win whether it be on offense or defense.”

NO LACK OF EFFORT

Gerhardt said his squad’s effort and talent is not the issue.

“Our issues are our discipline and execution. And those issues rest on the head coach’s shoulders,” Gerhardt said.

“We beat ourselves. Senior High played a good game. They were mentally disciplined. They did the right things. But you can’t win a football game when you play against the other opponent and yourself.”

Berry propelled the Lexington second-half rally, scoring on runs of 6 and 11 yards in about a two-minute span of the fourth quarter. The 5-foot-10, 185-pound senior finished the game with 113 yards on 26 carries.

Senior quarterback Cole Pauley completed 12-of-28 passes for 105 yards, but had the three interceptions. He was also the victim of several dropped passes. Senior Caden Eichler led the Minutemen with five receptions totaling 50 yards.

“We can run the ball,” Gerhardt said. “We have got kids that are moving people up front. We have got a hard-nose, downhill runner in Karson Berry. That’s what we hang our hat on. We have got to find a way to consistently complement that with the pass. We haven’t been consistent enough to balance (run and pass).

“Until we do, we’re going to continue to have the (defensive) box loaded on us and it will be difficult. We have to find a way to loosen people up so we can that big one,” Gerhardt said.

UP NEXT

Mansfield Senior is home next Friday night, taking on Ashland (2-4, 2-0) in another OCC game. The Arrows have won two in a row after an 0-4 start, including a 20-7 win at home in week six against Madison.

Lexington travels to unbeaten West Holmes (6-0, 3-0). The Knights knocked off Wooster, 41-37, on Friday night.

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