Mansfield football survives Mansfield Legacy’s surge to claim victory in rivalry game
MANSFIELD – Mansfield let cross-town rival Mansfield Legacy back into the game in the second half.
The Tigers held on to win, 42-31, and remain unbeaten after the District 11-6A opener Friday night at Vernon Newsom Stadium.
It was a quarterback duel as both teams went to the air frequently. Braxton Van Cleave, a junior for Mansfield, completed 16 of 22 with no interceptions for 234 yards and four touchdowns.
His counterpart Roman Steele, a sophomore, finished 23-32-1 for 243 yards and a touchdown.
Both teams spread the wealth around. Zion Robinson for Mansfield along with Jaden Manning and Kaidan Johnson for Legacy were the only players with multiple touchdowns with two apiece. Robinson caught two, Johnson rushed for two, and teammate Manning ran for one and received for the other.
At one point in the second half, Mansfield, ranked sixth among Class 6A schools in the Star-Telegram’s rankings, led 35-10. Just when it appeared a rout was in the making, Legacy scored the next two touchdowns to make it 35-24 early in the fourth quarter.
Mansfield then scored again, and the game’s last touchdown by Legacy came with 45 seconds left.
“It looked like that and a lot of our kids probably thought that,” said Mansfield Coach Greg George of possible complacency by his team after intermission. “They didn’t do what they needed to do to put the game away. . . We let one or two things get to us. And one thing I’ve been telling the kids all week. We’re going to get their best game. It’s our rivalry. And you can throw out the record. You can throw out the stats. . . all that stuff. Nothing else matters. Credit to them. They kept playing hard all four quarters and they did well with their momentum. They definitely made it a game. I feel a little relief it’s finally over.”
After intermission, James Johnson scored on a 15-yard run for Mansfield midway in the third quarter for a 35-10 lead. It came three plays after an incomplete pass that was nearly caught in the end zone on fourth-and-two from Mansfield 38-yard line. After, Mansfield took over from there, and on the first play from scrimmage, Johnson rushed 47 yards to the Legacy 15 to set up his touchdown run.
Legacy replied with a touchdown drive of its’ own. Another Johnson, Kaidan Johnson, ran 44 yards for the score to make it 35-17 with 2:19 left in the third quarter. After the previous play, one of Mansfield’s leading tacklers, Andrew Vasquez, had to leave the game temporarily due to injury.
On the next series, the Legacy defense forced a punt from the Mansfield 43-yard line. But Kyree Robertson blocked it after a low snap that bounced off of the ground. The senior also recovered at the 2-yard line.
On the ensuing play, Johnson scored his second touchdown to make it 35-24 with left 11:32 left in the game.
That was the wakeup call. Mansfield responded with an eight-play, 80-yard drive capped off with a 28-yard pass from Van Cleave to Robinson. It made the score, 42-24 with 3:36 left.
Manning caught a 16-yard pass from Steele to finish the scoring.
In the first half, Mansfield scored on its’ first two possessions to take a 14-3 lead. Marquise Hubbard rushed from seven yards out for the first touchdown to end an eight-play, 70-yard drive. The Tigers mixed it up with three passes and four runs.
The second touchdown was a 53-yard pass to Jacobe Hayes from quarterback Van Cleave still in the first quarter. Hayes got behind the secondary, caught it at the post on third-and-four at about the Legacy 18, and ran the rest of the way untouched.
In the meantime, Legacy got on the scoreboard in their initial drive with a 31-yard field goal by Jeremiah Kieffer. It came at the end of a time-consuming 15-play, 68-yard drive.
Most of the plays were short passes by Steele in the flats or swing passes in the backfield to various players. Steele threw to eight players in the first half alone. The drive was kept alive by a left screen to Johnson for 16 yards to the Mansfield 18 on third-and-12.
Legacy looked like it would pull to within four points on its’ second drive. Manning, for the Broncos, ran 51 yards up the middle to the Mansfield 13 before he was pulled down. However, two plays later, there was a fumble at the same spot recovered by Corey Wilson of Mansfield that killed the drive.
Nevertheless, after Mansfield was unable to move the ball, a shanked punt of 27 yards allowed Legacy to take over at the Mansfield 40-yard line. It was a chance for redemption with which the Broncos this time were able to take advantage. Seven plays later, Manning ran up the 7 yards for the score to make it 14-10, Mansfield.
Mansfield replied with its’ third touchdown drive, in fact two more before halftime. The first was an 18-yard pass from Van Cleave to Robinson that was caught inside the front right side of the end zone just behind the pylon. Robinson turned around and out-leapt his defender for the score.
Then less than two clock minutes later, Tim Abraham made a diving catch in the end zone for a 29-yard scoring reception and a 28-10 lead the Tigers took into halftime. It came shortly after Vasquez tackled the Legacy running back in the backfield for a five-yard loss on third-and-four forcing a punt from the Legacy 8-yard line.
Mansfield will return to Newsom Stadium next Friday, Sept. 22, to host Lake Ridge starting at 7 p.m. CT.
Legacy will travel to Dallas the same day to take on Skyline at Forester Field. Kickoff is also at 7 p.m. CT