By all accounts, this was going to be the 3A game of the week. Friday night’s state top 5 football matchup of the Mansfield Tigers (#4) against the visiting Charleston Tigers (#3) lived up to the hype. In an epic clash pitting two conflicting styles of football, it was Mansfield’s herculean efforts that pushed past Charleston for the 32-27 victory.
Despite racing out to an early 16-0 lead, Mansfield found themselves in a deficit for the first time this football season. Charleston countered the early onslaught of the home team’s flexbone attack with their own fly and finesse aerial assault. The visitors would score three consecutive touchdowns in the second quarter for a 16-20 halftime lead prompting Mansfield’s comeback bid.
“The atmosphere in the locker room was ‘We shouldn’t be losing’”, said Mansfield senior center Ethan Martin in a post game interview about the first half scoring shift. “In the second half, we talked about wearing them out. We knew we were stronger and could just go at them.”
“Going at them” was exactly what Mansfield did. Leading the charge was Hercules himself, or so it seemed. MHS senior Andrew Burton seemingly put the game on his shoulders and willed his team to victory with a little help from his friends.
“If you’re not the best player in the conference, I don’t know who is,” said a passerby as he tapped Burton on the shoulder in the post game jubilee. “If not in the entire 3A state,” added a different spectator walking by at the same time.
“We were up 16-0 really fast,” explained Burton after the game, “and we let them come back. Our coach was telling us not to get down on ourselves.
“It’s hard for us to come back compared to the other team, but we came back in the second half. We just had to stick with what we do best and run the football - and we won!”
Burton swung all momentum back into Mansfield’s favor with a heroic individual effort in the opening drive of the third quarter. An off-tackle run to the right was not blocked well. Burton was clobbered at the point of attack by a Charleston linebacker. The Mansfield fullback staggered two steps back - got tagged by another Charleston defender before being rerouted around the right end. From there, Burton turned on the jets, caught one extra block and raced through six defenders for a big 45 yard touchdown.
“Really it was the third and seven on that first drive coming out of half,” offered Mansfield head coach Whit Overton of Burton’s big play. “You know we didn’t block it up well at all. Coach (Ricky) May does a tremendous job of how he moves his fronts and stuff.
“We missed a linebacker, and Andrew made a great play! We had a lineman down field - kinda picked up an extra block and sprang him to the endzone.
“I really think that play,” Overton exhaled, “that was a huge turning point. We got the momentum back in our favor, you know, got things going in our favor.”
Burton, who has been averaging nearly 200 yards rushing per game over the first four contests, went for 191 rushing yards. The bruising fullback carried the football on 30 of the 51 Tiger snaps.
“You know, he is not a rah-rah guy,” opened up Mansfield’s head coach about his bell cow back. “He leads by example. He does it every day.”
Per post game remarks, he’s humble as well. When asked about his game, Burton gave well-deserved credit to the team and in particular his offensive linemen. At one point he simply said, “Thank you, but it’s all because of my line.”
A MHS front five including Zander Walters, Cadien Ore, Ethan Martin, James Bausley and Logan Ore did much of the dirty work creating those running lanes. On the edges, Cooper Edwards and Matthew Burton came through with tremendous blocks as well. This was more apparent when the Tiger attack went to a flexed tight-end look.
“Part of our halftime adjustments were to go back to our flex formations,” Overton unfolded. “Cooper (Edwards) and Matthew (Burton) just do a tremendous job down-blocking from there.”
With the adjustment, Mansfield got rolling. Evidence came early with the noted drive to open the second half. It was the series elevated by Andrew Burton’s momentum shifting touchdown at the 8:29 mark of the third period. Adding Jeremiah Burton’s two-point conversion, the hometown Tigers were reenergized with a 24-20 lead.
Mansfield’s defense then forced Charleston into a rare three and out. Mansfield’s offense followed with possession on their own ten yard line following the visitors’ punt. Jeremiah Burton quickly ripped off a 59 yard toss sweep inside the left end to the 50 yard line. Seven plays later big brother Andrew Burton added to his highlight reel with another spectacular individual play.
On first and goal at the Charleston one yard line, Andrew leaped off both feet behind Walters and Cadien Ore. High in the air went #0 in his best imitation of Superman. A Charleston middle linebacker moved hard to fit the gap, cutting Burton at his elevated feet. Mansfield’s ultra-athletic back flipped full body planked landing unfazed into the endzone for the score.
Silas Burton, another Burton brother in the backfield, added the two-point try. Just like that, Mansfield’s lead extended to 32-20 with 3:54 to go in the third.
Mansfield’s defense came up big again ten plays into the next Charleston possession. A fourth and one “tanked up tush push” by the black and gold QB was stopped dead two yards short of the red zone.
That was the first play of the fourth. From there, Mansfield milked nearly seven minutes off the clock before bad penalties and missed assignments backed them up far enough to force their first punt of the year. It was a good one too, pinning Charleston at their own two yard line.
Nine plays later, Charleston moved efficiently and effectively to the Mansfield 25. From there, Andrew Burton pulled off another superhero move with a spectacular one-handed, leaping interception of a Charleston pass.
With 1:46 left in the game, Mansfield was forced to punt for only the second time this season. Charleston responded marching 43 yards in six plays to score on a Carter Little to Maddix Terry pass completion. With Brice Beason’s kicked PAT, the outcome got nervously close at 32-27 with 0:55 to go in the game.
Mansfield recovered the inevitable onside kick attempt by Charleston to calm the nerves. Two kneel downs out of victory formation by Mansfield ended the game leaving the defending 3A-1 conference champions undefeated through the first five games of 2025.
“Beating a good team one time can be a fluke,” Overton said, “two times in a row is the real deal.”
Mansfield’s early success was started by MHS quarterback Jubal Parks. His touchdown was a 14 yard option read with 9:20 showing on the first quarter game clock. Jeremiah Burton added the two-point play making it an opening drive 8-0 lead.
Parks then asserted himself defensively against Charleston’s ensuing possession. The two-way starter broke on a Charleston pass near the Mansfield 7 yard line for an interception to squash a promising CHS touchdown threat.
Andrew Burton would capitalize on this extra possession with a 21 yard touchdown burst with 0:20 remaining in the first quarter. Mansfield’s Cooper Edwards attentively jumped on the mishandled two-point try to surge Mansfield to a sizzling 16-0 start to the game.
Charleston responded. Carter Little scored two second period touchdowns. Both came on QB rushes. A two-point try failed and one PAT kick succeeded making the early score a tedious 16-13 Mansfield advantage.
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