Big, Wet, Wonderful Win Screams Tige Tenacity

Posted Date: 10/30/2025

“The road to Little Rock comes through Mansfield, Arkansas! You got me?” 

So shouted Mansfield head football coach Whit Overton after a wet and wild slobberknocker win against the always imposing Booneville Bearcats. 

“Yes sir!” rained a collective response - one as thick as the constant downpour that soaked, for all practical purposes, the 3A-1 conference championship game - coming from Overton’s battle tested football boys. This extra loud, unison reply from Overton’s mud stained players, in their once clean, away white uniforms, put a cherry on top of a mighty tasty Tiger treat. 

Saturated theatrics oozed from the opening coin toss to the final snap. This was as true a spellbinder as you could imagine with Mansfield taking the 16-14 road victory on October 24. 

“Hey man, worse conditions we could ever have played a football game in,” exhaled an exhausted Mansfield head coach - his passion obvious for the program he played for 21 years ago and the one he returned to coach less than three seasons ago. 

“You guys frickin’ battled! That’s what we talked about - warrior mentality. Every single day we talked about that. You guys warriored-up tonight and did exactly what you had to do to win the game!

“I’m so proud of you man - so proud of you guys! Hey, but we’re not finished. You understand me?”

Again, the united response of “Yes sir!” could be heard all the way back in Tiger Town. The uniform answer seemed louder than the early evening thunder cracks and the now forgotten cannon fires from two irrelevant Bearcat touchdowns.

“We’re on a mission to Little Rock!” said the Tiger head coach, “and, it starts right now! Hey baby, call it up! Let them hear you across the state!”

The horrific weather conditions surrounding this budding conference rivalry, set the faithful fandom from both sides on the edge of their seats. 

Just as the atmosphere was about to explode at the anticipated start, a thunderous bolt of lightning caused a power surge. Stadium lights went dead. Fans for opposing sides reacted as if Booneville engineers were about to put on a stunning LED light show for kickoff. That was not the case. 

Breakers for the field lights had flipped. Ninety percent of the stadium was put in the dark as it would take 10 to 15 minutes to reset. Only the scoreboard, and the press boxes lights on opposing sidelines were left as exterior illumination.

Uniquely enough, the coin toss proceeded under the shine of cell phone flashlights before the public address announcer cleared the premises with a mandatory 30-minute lighting delay. That initial 30 minute delay would stretch to nearly 50 minutes as additional sparks filled the sky.

“It was harsh,” expressed senior James “Critter” Bausley, a Mansfield two-way starter on the line, of the odd circumstances delaying the kickoff for almost an hour. That’s including the extra 10 minute period to warm up upon the return to the field. “It was hard to keep the morale up, but we got morale back up there going back out there to stretch.”

Cooper Edwards, another senior two-way starter for the Tigers who plays end and cornerback, echoed Bausley’s take. 

“It was tough,” Edwards said. “It was tough for both teams, but we persevered better than they did.”

On the contrary, it didn’t look like Booneville was going to have much trouble in the beginning. Hunter Warren, the Bearcats’ All-State fullback with over 1,500 yards rushing to his credit from last season, carried seven straight times on the opening drive to draw first blood.

Warren went all 49 yards for the game’s first score. His was a 1-yard plunge going towards the scoreboard. Bearcat kicker Oliver Loaeza added the PAT to put Mansfield in an early 0-7 hole with 8:59 to go in the first period.

Coach Overton was asked after the game about Booneville opting to kick their conversion attempts knowing Mansfield’s proclivity to go for two.

“A little surprised, yeah,” the coach began, “but, I think they were going to put their trust in their kicker and hope they were going to get a stop on one of our two point conversions.”

A couple of series later, that Booneville strategy got tested.

Mansfield’s Andrew Burton, the Tiger’s leading rusher with over 1,200 yards so far this season, carried in for a 3-yard touchdown at the 4:50 mark of the first quarter. As predicted, the Tigers did indeed go for two. Sophomore Jeremiah Burton got the call, and it was good. 

The home team suddenly, and more importantly to Mansfield, found themselves behind in the score. A Bearcat deficit would haunt for the remainder of the game.

Andrew Burton’s touchdown burst showed why he is considered one of the best backs in the league. The senior fullback started left on his TD run only to meet a brigade of Bearcat defenders with bad intentions. The wily runner reversed course and scampered untouched around the right end for Mansfield’s impressive answer.

The Tiger scoring sequence was set up after Booneville muffed a bad snap on a punt attempt from deep inside their own territory. Point of fact, the Tigers took over on downs at the Bearcat 6-yard line. They would need only a Bearcat penalty and one snap to reach the endzone.

Mansfield would score one more time before the quarter ended. Courtesy of an Ethan Martin fumble recovery of a Bearcat center-quarterback exchange, Mansfield started their second scoring drive from their own 40-yard line.

Jeremiah Burton, for the Tigers, took a pitch moving right to left. He found a seam, cut it all the way back to the far right side for a hefty 50 yard gain. 

Andrew Burton carried twice advancing the football to the 3-yard line. Brother Silas Burton got in on the action taking it the rest of the way for the Tiger’s second touchdown. Andrew Burton had no problem crossing in for the 2-point try. The Tigers now sat on a 16-7 lead with 0:05 remaining in the first period.

Defense was the story for both teams throughout the second stanza as the corresponding offenses mired in the mud. Cautious straight ahead running plays became predictable by both teams giving the defenses distinctive edges.

“Defense played fantastic,” announced Overton of his team’s efforts to stop a very familiar Bearcat attack. “Coach (Layton) Robinson, as I told another reporter, he’s a stud. Great game plan - we executed it really well.

“Defensively, we really only had two bad drives. We had a bad stand on the first drive of the first half, and the first drive of the second half.”

Case in point, Booneville came out of intermission with renewed authority. After stopping the Tiger offense with three consecutive negative outcomes, the Bearcats went on a time consuming 72 yard scoring drive. 

The BHS sequence was laced with another heavy dose of Warren runs then polished off by a Brody Chambers 3-yard smash. Loaeza once again kicked the PAT leaving the tally at a tenuous 16-14 margin. 

Despite the score, Overton still praised the Tiger defense. 

“James (Bausley),” the coach applauded, “an absolute stud tonight! James, Ethan Martin - those two absolutely dominated the front - absolutely dominated!”

Bausley offered his take on his and his team’s efforts.

“First of all, we were just trying to figure out what they were doing,” Bausley would say in the locker room after the game. “They pretty much run the same plays as we do. One of the plays, Ethan (Martin) literally called out the play they were running.

“I was getting cut a lot of the game,” described Mansfield’s 285 pound defensive tackle playing in the quagmire trenches. “Footing was slick. Half the time I just fell down”.

When the wars between the lines were over, Bausley was justifiably excited for the team win. Notably, according to the record books, it was only the second such victory over a Booneville squad since 1980. The first of those two victories occurred last year when Bausley and company captured the 2024 conference championship and a 33-20 home victory over the Bearcats.

“It’s amazing honestly,” said Bausley. “Just being able to come together as a team, come out with a win - big win, harsh weather today - just amazing.”

Mansfield’s Edwards expressed a similar delight in taking down the Bearcats for the second consecutive season. He said, “I’m proud of us. I’m proud of the seniors for working hard, and I’m proud of the rest of the team for following in our footsteps.

“We just want to win every game we can. The goal is to go undefeated and win a state championship.”

Zander Walters, a Tiger warrior that rarely leaves the field, soaked it all in as one of the last players off the field.

“Well, it was a challenge, I tell you that,” admitted a tired but elated Walters. “It was challenging, but we pushed. It was great… We knew we had to step up and defend, so we could win - go eight and 0.”

Booneville battled until the end. They held Mansfield to 15 total yards of offense in the second half behind a stout defensive effort of their own. Yet, BHS could not find the endzone. They played the punt game in hopes of pinning the Tigers back and perhaps forcing a turnover. That never happened. Mansfield got just enough offense to punt their way back to a safe defensive distance before taking the victory formation on the game’s last possession. 

“Coach Overton got us ready,” said Walters, Mansfield’s senior linebacker and offensive tackle who never left Friday’s field except for kickoff and kickoff returns. “We were ready as soon as football ended last year. He (Overton) was having us go.

“We want to go all the way,” emphasized the 3-year starter as he discussed the team’s ultimate goal. “We want to go to Little Rock!”

Officially, Mansfield did not secure the 3A-1 champion’s crown with the Booneville win. It just felt that way with the Bearcats being the last realistic contender standing in their way. 

On paper, Mansfield still needs one more win. With district cellar dwellers Greenland and West Fork up next in that order, that shouldn’t be a problem for the motivated mob. Then, hopefully, it’s an extended playoff run at home before that alluring trip to Little Rock to fulfill the dream.