‘Proud of my guys’: Mansfield football comes from behind, defeats Mansfield Lake Ridge

MANSFIELD – When Mansfield Coach Greg George said there would be no easy games in District 11-6A regardless of the opposition, he wasn’t kidding.

“They’re all big,” he said last week following his team’s 42-31 win over Mansfield Legacy. “Every game, what I just told the kids, is going to be bigger than the last one. In our district, there aren’t any easy ones regardless of records, regardless of points, regardless of stats.”

Winless Mansfield Lake Ridge (0-5, 0-2) gave the unbeaten (5-0, 2-0) Tigers all they could handle Friday night at Vernon Newsom Stadium. Mansfield, ranked seventh among Class 6A schools in the Star-Telegram’s Fort Worth-area rankings, escaped with a 35-33 come-from-behind victory.

At one point in the second half, the Tigers were down 26-14 with the cross-town visitors threatening to put more points on the scoreboard. The Eagles attempted a 40-yard field goal by Lance Taggart, who was good earlier from 32 yards out and successful on all four of his PAT attempts.

Taggart’s line drive was just under the crossbar, but Hezekiah Womack got enough of a hand on it to deflect his trajectory and keep it to a 12-point difference.

Mansfield took over and, on the first play from scrimmage, Braxton Van Cleave threw to his left near the line of scrimmage on what initially looked like an insignificant play. Jacobe Hayes caught it, broke a tackle and took off down the sideline for a 77-yard catch and run touchdown.

Quinlan Lindley, like his counterpart Taggart, was good on all of his five PATs and converted to draw within five with 1:02 left in the third quarter.

George felt the partially blocked field goal attempt was the “turning point” and “catalyst” for his team.

“That was the spark that we needed,” said George. “That gave the energy that we needed. We desperately needed something good to happen and that was it.”

After forcing a three-and-out, Mansfield was back on the march again. Again Van Cleave went to his favorite target. The two connected from 15 yards out again in the back left-hand corner of the end zone.

It ended a six-play, 70-yard scoring drive and gave Mansfield the lead for good, their first since the games’ opening drive.

The Tigers added an insurance score on their next possession with a one-yard run by James Johnson, his third of the game.

Lake Ridge scored the final touchdown on a 2-yard keeper by quarterback Kamryn Wallace with 40 seconds left. The Eagles were unable to recover the ensuing onsides kick for any last minute heroics.

George admitted his team did not look good in practice this past week leading up to the game.

“We played pretty much as we practiced,” he continued. “Give all the credit to Lake Ridge because they fought hard. We were real fortunate to when we needed to there towards the end to come out on top. I’m proud of my guys. Again, just being resilient. Not throwing in the towel and just keep chipping away.”

He insisted he did not take this game for granted despite Duncanville’s 76-0 win over Lake Ridge the previous week.

“That’s how tough our district is. Everybody has a shot on Friday night,” he said.

“They got good players, good coaches over there,” he added, referring to Lake Ridge. “They’re good enough to beat anybody on any given night. And knowing we’re going to get their best game. We tried to get our kids to understand that.”

Jacobe Hayes finished with six catches for 121 yards and two touchdowns. Teammate Johnson rushed 16 times for 142 yards. Van Cleave completed 14 of 24 passes with no interceptions for 211 yards and two touchdowns, both to Hayes.

For Lake Ridge, Marcus Hayes also ran 16 times for 119 yards and two touchdowns.

“We started the first half real slow,” said Jacobe Hayes. “We came out in the second half and played to the best of our ability.”

At halftime, his coaches told him and his teammates to believe in each other and trust each other. They did just that, and it worked out well.

At first, it looked like it would be a cakewalk for Mansfield. After forcing a punt on the opening drive by Lake Ridge, Mansfield took over at midfield and drove the distance in seven plays. Johnson went off tackle for the final yard and a 7-0 Tiger lead.

Lake Ridge, however, replied with a time-consuming methodical 75-yard scoring drive of its’ own in 17 plays. They converted two fourth downs in which a pair of offside penalties by the Tigers cost them.

The first turned a fourth-and-six into a fourth-and-one at the Mansfield 49. Marcus Hayes ran for three to keep the drive alive. Again the Eagles faced fourth-and-two at the 27, but another offsides cost Mansfield five yards and gave the Eagles a first down at the 22-yard line.

Six plays later, Wallace threw to David Vallejo in the right side of the end zone on a fade route for a 3-yard touchdown. It tied the score at 7 with the game still in the first quarter.

Early in the second quarter, Lake Ridge took the lead 14-7 when Marcus Hayes found a crease in the line and burst through for a 39-yard touchdown run. It came two plays after teammate Hunter Reeves returned a punt 38 yards to the Mansfield 41-yard line.

Mansfield retaliated with a touchdown by Johnson that was similar to that by Marcus Hayes. Johnson broke a tackle at the middle of the line of scrimmage and rushed on for a 64-yard touchdown that knotted it again at 14-14. The five-play, 91-yard drive was kept alive by a holding penalty on a receiver on third-and-11 at the Mansfield 11 that gave the Tigers a first down at their 21-yard line.

Lake Ridge would go on to score on their next two possessions for a 24-14 halftime lead. The first was a 32-yard field goal by Lance Taggart. The 61-yard drive was highlighted by a 36-yard run on a keeper by Wallace from his 36 to the Mansfield 30.

Mansfield’s Teddy Clark caught up with the quarterback and made a touchdown-saving tackle.

Then the Eagles tacked on another touchdown with 1:02 left in the half. Thanks to a big block from his front line near the left tackle, Marcus Hayes went in untouched from 4 yards out. Lake Ridge benefited from a short drive of 40 yards after a shanked 14-yard punt.

The frustration continued in the second half for Mansfield. The Tigers drove from their 38-yard line to the Lake Ridge 8 only to fumble away. Marcus Barnes scooped it up and returned it down the right sideline to his 48-yard line but the Eagles were unable to capitalize.

There was also hike that went over the punter’s head from the Tiger 18-yard line and out of the back of the end zone for a safety. It gave the Eagles a 26-14 lead midway in the third quarter at the 6:51 mark.

Then Mansfield turned the tables with its’ rally.

It marked the second two-point win this season. On Sept. 1 against Mansfield Summit, the Tigers similarly, in no less dramatic fashion, overcame a 23-7 halftime deficit to win 39-37. The Tigers live dangerously.

Both teams will have a bye next weekend. Lake Ridge will be back at Newsom Stadium to host Skyline of Dallas on Thursday, Oct. 5 at 7 p.m. CT.

Mansfield will travel to Cedar Hill Friday, Oct. 6, and kickoff will also be at 7 p.m. CT.

This story was originally published September 23, 2023 at 1:15 AM.