Cedar Hill pulls away in rematch with Mansfield 56-28

When Cedar Hill defeated Mansfield on Sept. 2, the Longhorns scored 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to complete an improbable comeback.

Mansfield was unable to flip the script Friday, as Cedar Hill carried a 21-point lead into the fourth quarter and pulled away to defeat the Tigers 56-28 in a Class 6A Division II regional playoff at Birdville Fine Arts/Athletics Complex.

Several times Mansfield found itself trailing by three scores but could never get any closer than 14 points. Cedar Hill’s quick-strike offense was simply too potent for Mansfield and the Longhorns counterpunched every charge the Tigers mounted.

After each team was stopped on downs in its first possession, Cedar Hill opened the scoring on a 20-yard run by Marquise Forman.

Mansfield fumbled the ensuing kickoff, allowing Forman to score again three plays later to make it 14-0.

The Tigers answered back immediately, though, taking just one play for Kennedy Brooks to burst 65 yards up the middle to cut the deficit to 14-7.

It was the final high school game for the Tigers’ standout running back, who finished with 204 yards and two touchdowns.

The Longhorns needed five plays to find the end zone again, this time through the air as Avery Davis threaded the needle to Jihad Thomas for a 21-yard TD.

Mansfield turned the ball over again on its next drive. A botched handoff exchange allowed Cedar Hill to extend its lead to 28-7 less than two minutes into the second quarter, this time on a 15-yard run by Kaegun Williams.

The Tigers trailed 28-10 at the intermission and then went textbook Mansfield offense to open the second half, eating up more than half the third quarter on a ball-control drive that covered 47 yards, but yielded only Ben Workman’s second 25-yard field goal.

Cedar Hill countered with a three-play drive that lasted less than a minute and resulted in seven points. Cameron Fleming avoided Tigers defenders for 38 yards to the end zone and Mansfield was again down three scores at 35-13.

Brooks scored on a 7-yard sweep with 10:24 remaining in the game to bring Mansfield within 42-28, but that’s as close as the Tigers would get.

This story was originally published November 25, 2016 at 11:02 PM with the headline "Cedar Hill pulls away in rematch with Mansfield 56-28."