Timberview slays state-ranked Ennis for the second straight season to advance

For the second consecutive season the Mansfield Timberview football team has had to face state-ranked Ennis in the second round of the Class 5A Division 2 state playoffs.

And for the second consecutive season the Wolves came away as giant killers.

Timberview dominated play on both sides of the ball as the Wolves drubbed No. 3 Ennis 42-21 in an area-round game on Friday night at Lumpkins Stadium.

Ennis (11-1) came into the game a year ago undefeated, just like this season, and No. 1 in the state when Timberview knocked off the Lions 42-28.

Timberview (8-4) will move on to the Regional round and meet No. 9 Lucas Lovejoy (11-1) on Friday at a time to be determined at The Ford Center in Frisco. Lovejoy, who defeated Burleson 28-23 to advance, won a shootout with Timberview 64-50 last year in the third round.

Despite Timberview dominating play in the first half, Ennis was able to go into the half trailing 21-14.

The Wolves were forced to punt on their first series and the Lions took over at their own 36 yard line. Quarterback Jackson Gilkey took Ennis’ first offensive snap and found a wide-open T. T. Cox in the flat. Cox followed one blocker before out racing the Timberview secondary 64 yards for a 7-0 lead with 10:39 left in the first quarter.

Timberview responded by scoring touchdowns on six of its next seven possessions. Ennis had no answer for the hard-nosed running of Jarvis Reed and the game management by quarterback Jaeden Marshall.

Marshall tied the game at 7 with a 16-yard scoring run off a perfectly run zone read with 6:53 left in the first quarter. Reed started the drive with a 43-yard romp to the Lions’ 45.

Following an Ennis punt, Reed pushed the lead to 14-7 with a 17-yard scoring run off right tackle at the 1:35 mark of the opening quarter.

“Run all over them. That’s always what the plan is,” said Reed, who carried 32 times for 178 yards and two scores. “That’s Timberview football. We’re on a mission and it’s not complete.”

Ennis did get a 53-yard return from Jace Berry on the ensuing kickoff, down to the Wolves 20, that led to a 2-yard Dee Johnson scoring run on the first play of the second quarter that knotted the game at 14.

But it was all Timberview after that. If not for the 64-yard scoring pass on the first snap of the game for Ennis, the Lions would have had 20 yards of total offense in the first half against Timberview’s fast, hard-hitting defense.

“Flying around playing disciplined, smash-mouth football like coach (Defensive Coordinator Ricardo) Rendon always says,” said Timberview defensive end Micah Sanders. “We’re playing as a team and it’s all about us getting better every day. Play fast, play physical and be disciplined.”

The only drive the Wolves didn’t score on during the run was after marching from their own 12 to the Ennis 16 where Berry picked off a pass in the end zone.

While the Wolves were scoring TDs on their next four possessions, the Lions next five times to have the ball went punt, halftime, loss on downs, loss on downs, and loss on downs.

Marshall added a 5-yard TD run to close out the first half and tossed a 15-yard scoring pass to Titus Evans to open the fourth quarter. Marshall rushed for 66 yards on nine carries and was 7 of 12 passing for 140 yards.

Ennis got the ball to start the second half and was looking to tie the game at 21, but Timberview linebacker Kye Nash dropped Gilkey for a 6-yard loss on third down and Sanders sacked Gilkey for a 9-yard loss on fourth down at the Timberview 44.

Reed answered with a 1-yard scoring run with 5:52 left in the third quarter that made it 28-14 Timberview.

Backup quarterback Cameron Bates closed out the scoring for the Wolves with a 16-yard run with 8:59 left in the game.

“I really didn’t expect it to be like this, I really thought it would be a 48-minute game,” said Timberview coach James Brown. “We’re young and still trying to figure out who we are as a team.

“This team started out 1-3 and, whether it be big or small, they’ve taken good steps every week. A looking back at the Aledo game and playing them as tight as we did it gave us confidence and they’ve been on a pretty good roll since then.”

This story was originally published November 20, 2021 at 12:55 AM.