In the mid to late nineties, Mansfield and Hackett football traditionally played in week 10 with a playoff berth seemingly always on the line. Those woebegone battles brewed with bad blood typically came down to the final possession to decide the winner.
Now, some 30 years later the wars between the football conference schools still have bad blood brewing between combatants. The difference now, in the Whit Overton coaching era of Mansfield football, is the Tigers haven’t let the outcome get anywhere close in three consecutive contests. Mansfield has outscored Hackett 120 points to 25 over the last three seasons including Friday night’s 52-6 bludgeoning of the Hornets.
Simply stated Mansfield looked to be bigger, faster and stronger than their 3A-1 conference opponent at Hackett’s own hive. Not to mention, the conditioning of the mostly two-way Tiger players looked to be a step above the competition as well.
“You want to pick up the intensity in this second season,” remarked Mansfield’s head coach Whit Overton. He was referring to this conference opener versus Hackett as the start of the team’s second phase to the season. The Mansfield mentor, who became the fastest Tiger coach to reach 26 wins against only 32 tries, explained how he dissected the schedule into three segments - non-conference, conference and playoff seasons. Hackett, in week 4, represented the start of this second season - a seven game stretch of all 3A-1 conference games.
“Yeah, I was a little fired up for this one,” admitted the coach who felt this game had a little extra incentive based upon the teams’ shared histories. “To hang a 50 piece on this team and prove our conditioning and level of play was where it should be to start the conference schedule feels good. We probably could have gotten there in the first half with a little more focus, but pretty excited for the outcome.”
If the Tiger’s focus was off, it wasn't by much. The visitors, who were styling in all white road uniforms with red helmets and white tiger stripes, scored on 7 of 9 total possessions. The team did not punt and hasn’t done so all season. Their only two unrealized possessions on Friday night ended on a failed fourth down conversion and with time running out just before half as a caught pass in the endzone was narrowly out of bounds.
Mansfield fullback Andrew Burton was again the team’s leading rusher and its most productive offensive player. The senior went 170 yards on 9 carries for 3 touchdowns. His high end yield pushed his season totals to 798 total yards on 65 attempts.
The Tiger’s big “B-back” crossed into the endzone twice in the opening quarter and once in the third. A 2-yard dive at 9:48 and a 93-yard race off left tackle at 5:14 opened all scoring. His 5-yard plunge with 5:32 remaining in the third quarter was enough to put the All-State runner on reserve for the rest of the night.
Hackett’s Matthew Garner got busy three plays deep into the second period. The Hornet quarterback found receiver Evan Griffin for a 15 yard catch and run for Hackett’s only score. That Hackett highlight came on a short field possession as Mansfield could not convert on a fourth and six situation near midfield. Hackett’s two point play failed leaving the margin temporarily at 16-6.
Hackett had some production in the first half. Mostly off scrambles by the pass happy Garner, the Hornets buzzed the air with drives of 8, 3, 8, 5 and 5 plays in length.
“We had a hard time getting off the field defensively in the first half,” noted Overton. “In the second half, we made some defensive adjustments - got where we were getting off the field.
“They looked like they may have gotten tired,” the coach added. “I think we proved our conditioning was good against some shifty receivers and with rushing the passer. I didn’t see a dip in our play through the second half.”
As many of Mansfield's players played both ways, their conditioning seemed a large factor. This was evident in the first half alone as the Tigers rolled out 35 offensive plays and four scores for a 32-6 halftime lead.
Senior wide receiver Joseph Carter of Mansfield tacked on a touchdown reception with 9:36 remaining in the second quarter. The 36-yard scoring strike was delivered by airmail from sophomore quarterback Jubal Parks right into Carter’s hands two steps deep into the endzone. Parks added the 2-point conversion with a QB power run off the left side for a 24-6 Tiger extension. His conversion was the first of two such successful PAT plays by the MHS signal caller.
The Parks to Carter connection was good on the previous possession as well. On a first and ten from their own 4-yard line, Parks dropped back into his own endzone and found Carter beating coverage down the right hash for a 46-yard bomb into Hornet territory. That possession was the only stalled series for the Tigers a few plays later.
Sophomore Burton brothers Silas and Jeremiah each had touchdown runs and accounted for three 2-point conversions between them. Jeremiah, the Tiger’s right halfback, took a toss left and cut against the grain for an untouched 25-yard TD burst at 4:56 in the second period. Silas, the Tiger’s left halfback, shifted to dot an I-formation and convert an off-tackle isolation for an unscathed 15-yard goal line crosser on Mansfield’s second play of the second half.
Mansfield backup quarterback Cooper Edwards completed the Tiger scoring frenzy with a third quarter keeper around the right end. Mansfield missed the extra point kick leaving the final tally at 52-6.
Mansfield returns home this Friday for what could be the 3A-1 conference game of the year. Charleston, the state’s number one ranked class 3A team, rolls into town still stinging from Mansfield’s thrilling 42-39 victory from 2024.
Pack a lunch and bring a hardhat. This one could get nasty good.
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