The visiting Tygers of Mansfield Senior could not get out of their own way, making a slew of mistakes in every facet of the game and the Knights took advantage of most of the miscues in posting a 33-7 triumph over the Tygers in Ohio Cardinal Conference action Friday at West Holmes.
“We’re a young, inexperienced team, man, and we find ways to shoot ourselves in the foot,” Masnsfield coach Chioke Bradley said. “Bad execution, blown coverages, missed assignments in all three phases; there’s nothing else really to say about it.”
After the two teams battled through a scoreless first quarter, a bad snap on a Mansfield punt led to the game’s first score midway through the second quarter. Tygers punter Griffen DeBolt got tackled at the one after the snap sailed high over his head.
Morgan Smith punched it in for he Knights to take a 7-0 lead at the 7:01 mark after Alex Pringle’s conversion kick.
A 3-play and-punt drive resulted in the Knights taking over on their own three-year line with less than four minutes to play in the first half.
Smith engineered a 12-play, 97-yard drive that culminated in a 29-yard scoring strike to Brady Bowman with 21 seconds to play in the first half for a 13-0 lead.
The senior quarterback of the Knights finished the game completing 11-of-17 passes for 165 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed for two scores, leading the Knights on the ground with 15 carries for 73 yards.
Smith found Brock Gallion wide open for a 31-yard touchdown pass with 2:20 remaining in the third quarter and a 19-0 advantage.
After taking over on downs, the Knights went 56 yards in four plays, Smith going the final yard for six and a 26-0 lead at 9:43 of the fourth quarter.
Mansfield finally managed to get on the board in the fourth quarter after freshman quarterback Sean Sey Tanner relieved starter Braylon Patterson and connected with tight end Carter Kessler for a 26-yard touchdown pass.
“We lost 33-7,” Bradley said. “We scored seven points in three weeks offensively. It’s not just the play of the quarterback. There’s a combination of problems on that side of the ball.
“Sean is going to be a really good quarterback,” Bradley said of the freshman Tanner. “He stepped in there and made some really good throws, and our receivers did a nice job of making some plays with the football in their hands. But those types of plays were there all night.
“It was the same plays being called all night long,” he continued. “We just put another player in and he completed some passes. I’m not putting the blame on Braylon (Patterson). There was a lot of people making mistakes. We made mistakes up front, on defense, blown coverages, special teams, bad snaps. It’s hard to win football games when you shoot yourself in the foot constantly in all three phases.”
The Tygers managed 207 yards passing on 25-of-41. Ny Petty and Guy Trader did most of the damage on the receiving end, and Kessler came up big with the touchdown catch.
The Mansfield ground game was limited to minus five yards rushing on 13 carries. Several quarterback sacks by the Knights also negated some of those yards.
West Holmes coach Keaton Leppla was pleased with the way his team rebounded from last week’s loss against Dover.
“I thought we did a pretty darn good job of offensively, defensively and special teams play all complimenting each other,” Leppla said. “One side stepped up when the other needed a little bit of help. It was a complete game. Our kids’ mentality, their attitude and their effort from start to finish is where we want it to be as a team.”
The win evened the Knights record at 2-2 on the season, 1-0 in the OCC, leading players to believe good things are on the horizon.
Senior defensive lineman Hunter McCluggage said he felt the win was a springboard.
“I think we can use this win to lead us to an OCC championship and make the playoffs,” he said. “I think we needed a win like this to help our confidence and help us get back to where we were last year.”
Junior linebacker/receiver Lynn Cline added now that they are in conference play, there is still a chance to play for a championship.
“That’s our goal. We’ve got to play on and play hard,” Cline said. “I think this was a big conference win that will help get our confidence up, and be ready for next week.”
For the Tygers, who dipped to 0-4, 0-1, senior Ny Petty said his teammates have to come together and continue to work hard.
“We ain’t never been this bad before,” he said.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: West Holmes keeps Mansfield Senior winless 33-7
