MANSFIELD — Welcome back, Robert Jones.
Quarterback Jalen Reese and offensive coordinator Jeff Soliday couldn’t be any happier to have you back.
Mansfield Senior’s 6-foot-7 wideout caught three touchdown passes and the fourth-seeded Tygers flexed their defensive muscle with a 24-0 whitewashing of No. 5 seed Pataskala Licking Heights in a Division II, Region 5 quarterfinal at Arlin Field.
Senior High (11-0) advances to play No. 1 seed New Albany in a regional semifinal game next Friday at a site to be determined. New Albany beat No. 8 seed Columbus Northland 35-21 on Friday.
Jones had been sidelined since Week 4, when he finally had surgery on a left wrist injury suffered during the basketball season last winter. He had his cast removed Monday and was cleared to play in the first home playoff game for the Tygers since a 21-13 victory over Canton GlenOak in 2000.
“I broke the wrist last year, but they just now did surgery,” said Jones, who had five catches for 53 yards. “I thought I would be a little rusty, but I just wanted to do what I could to help the team win. I just came out here and had fun.”
Matched up against 5-foot-11 cornerback Adrian Myrthil, Jones put the Tygers on the board just seven seconds before halftime with a 2 yard TD reception in the corner of the end zone. The catch triggered a wide sequence that saw Senior High score 10 points in the final seven seconds of the half.
“Having Rob out there definitely makes my job a lot easier,” said Reese, who completed 18 of 24 passes for 177 yards and three TDs. “Ask any quarterback who has a 6-7 receiver on the edge and he will tell you he feels pretty comfortable throwing the ball that way, and I feel comfortable throwing him the ball.
“We saw they were putting their best corner on (1,000-yard receiver) Chek Washington and when they do that, Rob we know Rob is going to have a mismatch and we were able to exploit it.”
So what is going through Jones’ mind when he sees a player almost a foot shorter than him lined up across the line of scrimmage?
“I get excited,” Jones said, through a broad smile. “That’s what I tell (Reese), just throw it up and I’ll make a play.”
The return of Jones made Soliday’s red-zone play selection a little easier.
“We’re so thankful to have Rob back,” Soliday said. “He came back at the right time.”
On the ensuing kickoff after Jones’ TD, Hutch Blackstone pooched the ball over the first line of Hornets’ defenders. The ball checked up on the turf and speedy linebacker and special teams ace Jaleel Taylor covered the it at the Licking Heights 26 yard line with six seconds remaining in the half. Senior High coach Chioke Bradley sent Blackstone out for a season-long 43 yard field goal attempt. Blackstone’s kick easily cleared the crossbar as time expired in the first half and the Tygers led 10-0.
“Turnovers can be a huge factor,” Licking Heights coach Darren Waters said. “We talked to them about the importance of holding on to the football and taking care of the football.
“We didn’t manage that real well at the end of the half.”
Mansfield Senior dodged a bullet late in the third quarter when a snap sailed over the head of punter Blackstone. Licking Heights had the ball at Senior High’s 24 yard line, but three plays netted two yards and on fourth-and-eight, Hornets quarterback Martell Davis was sacked by senior linebacker and All-Ohio candidate Antonio Sanderfer.
“We’ve got some great athletes on the defensive side of the ball and they decided enough is enough,” Senior High coach Chioke Bradley said. “It was especially great because we had a sophomore, Quajon Harris, out there who played JV for us all year and he came out in a playoff game and made some plays. I don’t want that to go unnoticed.
“Getting a shutout in the playoffs was big for us, especially against a double-tight, three-back, all-run type of offense. Everybody in the area thought we couldn’t stop that style of offense and I think they went and proved they could.”
Senior High took over at its own 22 yard line and, eight plays later, Reese hooked up with Jones on a 16 yard TD for a 17-0 lead.
“It doesn’t matter what I do, whether he’s 6-2, 6-3 or 6-7, my defensive back is still 5-9,” Waters said. “It was good coverage, but there is no way to spot him an extra foot. It was just a great play made by their kid.”
Licking Heights (9-2) drove deep into Senior High territory on its next possession, but on third-and-10, cornerback Asante’ Wilder broke up pass in the end zone and on fourth-and-10, linebacker Taylor forced an incomplete pass and a turnover on downs.
“We knew they wanted to try to pound it down our throats with three running backs,” said Taylor, who had a team-high seven tackles, including 2.5 tackles for loss. “We weren’t going to let them do that.
“Even though the offense didn’t score until late in the first half, we knew the defense could hold down the fort until they got it going.”
The Tygers iced it when Jones hauled in a 15-yard scoring strike from Reese with 5;11 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Fittingly, Licking Heights’ final drive ended when quarterback Davis was thrown for a 5 yard loss by Sanderfer, Taylor and linebackers Travon Harris and Marvin Parker. Davis was hounded all night, completing just 1 of 8 passes for 10 yards and rushing 12 times for just 16 yards.
“My hat is off to Mansfield and what they did against our run game,” Waters said. “For three quarters our defense did a pretty darn good job against an explosive Mansfield offense.”
Ron Carruthers-Kimball led Licking Heights with 58 rushing yards. Robbie Moore had 36 yards on nine attempts.
Tyquan Vickers had 92 yards on 17 carries to lead the Tygers. Malon Samuel had 56 yards on six rushes.
Follow Curt Conrad on Twitter @curtjconrad.
