Mansfield rallies against Lake Ridge to stay unbeaten

By Bob Kowalski

Mansfield Record

Mansfield overcame a 12-point second-half deficit, then survived a late score by Lake Ridge to hold on for a 35-33 victory Friday night at Vernon Newsom Stadium.

The Tigers (5-0, 2-0 11-6A) took a 7-0 lead on their first possession of the game, but didn’t lead again until 2 ½ minutes into the fourth quarter, when quarterback Braxton Van Cleave connected with Jacobe Hayes on a 16-yard touchdown pass play to put the Tigers up 27-26.

Mansfield extended its advantage to 35-26 about 6 minutes later when James Johnson scored on a 1-yard run. Four plays earlier, Johnson carried several Lake Ridge defenders as he bulled 13 yards to set up the Tigers on the Eagles’ 11-yard line.

Lake Ridge (0-5, 0-1 11-6A) got the ball back with just over 3 minutes left in the game and drove from its own 17-yard line. Running back Marcus Hayes put the Eagles near midfield with a 14-yard run, followed by a dazzling 34-yard burst by quarterback Kamryn Wallace. Running back Tre’Quan Murphy tacked on a pair of 7-yard runs to set up a first-and-goal at Mansfield’s 10-yard line with just over a minute left in the game.

A pass interference call in the end zone put the ball at the 2-yard line, and Wallace scored from there to cut Mansfield’s lead to 35-33 with 40 seconds left, but the Eagles couldn’t regain possession.

In the first quarter, Lake Ridge answered Mansfield’s early TD by driving 75yards, capping it off with a 2-yard TD pass from Wallace to David Vallejo with 8 ½ minutes gone in the quarter. An eye-opening 39-yard run by Marcus Hayes in the first minute of the second quarter gave the Eagles their first lead, 14-7.

Mansfield knotted the score at 14-14 with another big play, a 64-yard dash by Johnson with 8 ½ minutes left in the first half.

Then Lake Ridge took control, getting a 32-yard field goal from Lance Taggart, a 4-yard TD run from Marcus Hayes and a safety when Mansfield snapped the ball out of the end zone on a punt attempt. That put the Eagles up 26-14 midway through the third quarter.

Mansfield answered 5 ½ minutes later with its own big play, with Van Cleave hitting Jacobe Hayes on a 77-yard touchdown pass to cut Lake Ridge’s lead to 5 points, 26-21, to close out the third quarter and set the stage for the two fourth-quarter touchdowns.

‍

Elsewhere in the Mansfield ISD, Legacy (1-4, 0-2 11-6A) fell to Dallas Skyline, 35-16, at Forrester Field; and Timberview (5-0, 3-0 5-5A DI) defeated Carrollton Newman Smith, 55-14, at Standridge Stadium. On Thursday, Summit (3-2, 2-0 5-5A DII) beat Burleson, 49-11.

Next week, Timberview is the only Mansfield ISD school in action, playing host to Birdville at 7 p.m. Friday at Vernon Newsom Stadium for the Wolves’ homecoming.

‍