Mansfield senior lineman Ethan Martin brought home an extra trophy at the class 3A state finals this past Saturday. Martin, who plays center on offense and rush end on defense, was awarded the Brandon Burlsworth Award as Mansfield's outstanding lineman.
Martin was part of a starting Mansfield line that played 42 games together over the last three seasons. He and his teammates helped set a state finals rushing record by rolling out 489 yards on the ground to eclipse the Barton Bears’ 1987 record of 485 yards.
Mansfield totaled 537 yards when the 48 yards passing were included in Saturday's championship win over Fordyce. For the entire 2025 season, the Tigers produced 5,135 total yards by way of the ground game and scored a team record 659 points in an undefeated 14-0 season to be perfect champions.
“I mean it’s obviously a great thing,” shared Martin after his team won the first state football championship for Mansfield High School. “Like, it’s never happened before - it's awesome!
“Can’t ask for more than a perfect season,” said the senior award winner and All-State football player. “We played as hard as we could every single game, and it turned out great.”
Martin's father Daniel Martin was on some of Mansfield’s early playoff football teams of the late 90s. Daniel’s teams never advanced out of the first round.
Years later, the older Martin returned to Mansfield as a volunteer assistant coach. He first helped coach his son Peyton’s team, a group that made the semifinals for the first time in school history two seasons ago.
Ethan was on that team and the following squad that also made the semifinals. Not until 2025, did a Tiger football team advance past the semifinals to the championship round. This one doubled down by winning the whole thing with a 40-30 victory over Fordyce in Little Rock’s War Memorial Stadium on December 13.
“Man, this is surreal!” said Daniel Martin. “It’s one of those things that you don’t really think about until you get here, and know what the work you got to put in is.
“Watching these guys and how hard they work and how much it’s just evolved is frickin awesome. We’ve always said we want Mansfield on the map - we’re here!”
Daniel, who serves as the offensive quality control coach for the Tigers, went on to talk about coaching his son in this championship season.
“Him embracing his role, being in junior high - being a running back, and he’s got to embrace a new role,” Daniel reviewed the course of several seasons in the flash of a minute. “To watch him transition and do that and become an All-State guy and just buy in - that’s stuff you want.
“To make it to the state finals is hard,” Daniel continued. “To coach your kid and make it to the state finals and win it, I don’t know if there are many people that have done that.”
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