Mansfield Timberview unable to withstand Lucas Lovejoy aerial assault in regional

After knocking off No. 1 Ennis last week, the Mansfield Timberview football team knew that the sledding wouldn’t be getting any easier the deeper the Wolves advanced in the Class 5A Division 2 playoffs.

Timberview started strong against No. 8 Lucas Lovejoy, but the Wolves couldn’t solve the passing attack of the Leopards, who rallied then held off Timberview, 64-50, in a regional-round shootout Thursday afternoon at Globe Life Park.

Lovejoy (13-0) advances to the quarterfinals and will face Aledo (10-1) at 11 a.m. on Thursday back at Globe Life Park.

It was a score fest in the first half as Timberview (10-2) traded touchdowns with Lovejoy until running back Ricky Madison scored on a 24-yard run to give the Wolves a 22-15 lead with 2:12 left in the first quarter.

On the ensuing kickoff, Madison recovered a fumble by the Leopards and three plays later, Timberview quarterback Simeon Evans found Mondrai Hogg wide open over the middle for a 14-yard TD to take a 29-15 lead.

Evans accounted for 420 yards of total offense with 224 yards passing, hitting 20 of 38 including four TDs, and 196 rushing yards on 12 carries. Another TD run by Madison, this time from 13 yards out, gave Timberview a 36-22 lead with 4:17 left in the second quarter.

Timberview out-gained Lovejoy 426-290 in total yards in the first half and had 305 rushing yards in the first two quarters behind running back Deuce Jones and Evans.

Jones, who had 141 yards at halftime, finished the game with 159 yards on 19 carries with a 26-yard rushing touchdown and receiving scores of 7 and 5 yards. Timberview out-gained Lovejoy by 100 yards (634-534) in total offense.

But a couple of turnovers by the Wolves before halftime and a couple of punts after the intermission allowed Lovejoy to go on a 35-0 run, mainly on the strength of the right arm of quarterback R.W. Rucker.

“We preached all week about not letting people get behind us and they’re a really good vertical passing team,” said Timberview coach James Brown. “Give all the credit to Lovejoy and Chris [Ross] over there, they schemed us well. We had them in zone coverage most of the night, but for whatever reason we were biting on double moves and inside routes.”

Rucker hit Luke Mayfield with a 38-yard scoring pass before Chief Collins recovered a Timberview fumble on the ensuing kickoff. Rucker ran it in from the 26 on the next snap to tie the game at 36 with 2:52 left in the second quarter. The senior then connected with his favorite target, Reid Westervelt, for three consecutive TDs from 8, 25, and 30 yards.

Westervelt hauled in six of Rucker’s eight touchdown passes on the day. Rucker threw for 366 yards, completing 25 of 32 passes with 11 going to Westervelt for 213 yards.

Timberview cut the lead to 64-50 on a 5-yard scoring pass from Evans to Jones with 6:38 left in the fourth quarter. The Wolves then looked to have recovered a perfectly executed onside kick, but the ball bounced around before Collins grabbed it for the Leopards.

Following a Lovejoy punt, Timberview had another chance to cut the lead to seven points. The Wolves moved from their own 25 to the Leopard 25 in four plays. But four consecutive incomplete passes turned the ball over on downs that ended the rally with 2:29 left.

“The kids played hard,” said Brown. “We have 41 seniors, who have done a great job of building this program. They play for each other and they love playing the game of football.

“They love each other and it’s been fun watching them. I think what they’ve done for this program and how they’ve built it over the four years that they’ve been here has been nothing but phenomenal.”

This story was originally published December 24, 2020 at 5:14 PM.