MANSFIELD — The Tygers bared their teeth on defense Friday night.
Mansfield Senior limited Ashland to 142 yards in a 14-6 Ohio Cardinal Conference win on Homecoming night at Arlin Field.
Senior High (5-2, 4-0) is alone atop the OCC standings. Ashland (4-3, 2-2) slipped two games back.
“It’s a rivalry for a reason. They will always play tough and we’re going to play tough. That’s just what it is,” Senior High coach Chioke Bradley said. “We go at each other. We play great games against each other.
“I’m just glad to get the win. It was an ugly win, but we found a way to win and that’s all that matters. I’ll take ugly wins over losses.”
The game was scoreless at the half as both teams saw scoring opportunities slip away late in the second quarter.
The Arrows marched to the Mansfield Senior 11-yard line, but fumbled the ball away with slightly more than a minute remaining.
Senior High quickly moved the ball to the Ashland 21, but quarterback Duke Reese was sacked by Ashland’s Gabe Baith and Joey Isenhart and the Tygers, who didn’t have any timeouts remaining, couldn’t stop the clock to attempt a field goal.
Mansfield Senior muffed the second-half kickoff and the Arrows recovered at the Senior High 29-yard line.
Ashland quarterback Nathan Bernhard capped the drive with a 2-yard keeper and the Arrows led 6-0 with 8:12 remaining in the third.
Mansfield Senior responded on its next possession, marching 80 yards on 14 plays. Jamir Petty capped it with a 6-yard TD run and Quinten DeBolt’s PAT gave the Tygers a 7-6 edge.
The Arrows went three-and-out on their next possession and, after an 18-yard Ashland punt, the Tygers took possession at the Ashland 31 late in the third quarter.
Seven plays later, Reese hooked up with Maurice Bradley II on a 15-yard scoring strike and DeBolt’s extra-point gave Mansfield Senior a 14-6 lead with 10:12 to play.
“I just had to go make a play when we needed one,” Bradley said of his first career offensive touchdown. “It was really big because we really needed that.”
The teams traded punts the rest of the fourth quarter.
Ashland got the ball back at its own 27 with 3:38 remaining and moved the ball to midfield, but Bernhard’s fourth-down pass fell incomplete and Senior High ran the final 1:31 off the clock to preserve the win.
The Tygers rushed for a season-high 239 yards on 49 carries. Petty and Reese each ran for 91 yards, while Zyion Brown added 55 yards.
“That has been the gameplan all season, to establish the running game,” said Petty, who has rushed for a team-high 372 yards. “I want to give credit to the offensive line. They opened things up for me and Zyion and Duke.
“Once we scored our first touchdown, that gave us the momentum we needed.”
Reese completed 7-of-17 passes for 89 yards and a touchdown. Amarr Davis caught four passes for 43 yards.
For the Arrows, Bernhard completed 9-of-18 passes for 81 yards. He was sacked twice and pressured on numerous occasions.
Cayden Spotts rushed for 68 hard-earned yards on 21 carries and caught three passes for 28 yards. Gabe Baith had four catches for 28 yards.
“We battled for four quarters and just didn’t make enough plays to get the job done,” Ashland coach Scott Valentine said. “Our group keeps getting better. They keep working. I’m proud of the effort they gave tonight.”
