Mansfield Senior 38, West Holmes 28
Mansfield Senior’s (2-2, 1-0) Symirr Phillips had a decisive defensive night recording 3.5 sacks to lead the Tygers to a 38-28 win over West Holmes (2-2, 0-1), handing the Knights their first OCC loss in three years.
The Tygers went up 2-0 with 9:35 on the clock in the first quarter when a West Holmes punt rolled out of the back of the end zone for a safety. Amarr Davis then promptly ran back a 71-yard kickoff return with 9:20 left to go up 8-0, which was the score after one quarter. The Knights tied the game with 11:18 left in the quarter on a 25-yard pass from Morgan Smith to Kyle Maltarich. Smith completed the two-point conversion making it 8-8. The Tygers responded with a 22-yard pass from Duke Reese to Ja’ontay O’Bryant, and after an extra point they were up 15-8 at halftime.
With 9:11 left in the third quarter, the Knights had an intentional grounding call against them at 17-8. They made it 24-8 on a 20-yard touchdown pass from Reese to Jermaine Bradley with 4:13 left in the third quarter. Mansfield Senior continued their dominance with another Reese touchdown pass to Nate Dismuke of 18-yards with four minutes left in the third quarter.
The Knights responded in the fourth quarter on a 37-yard touchdown pass from Smith to Collier Cline to make it 31-14 with 9:30 left in the game. The Knights scored with 8:03 left on an 8-yard touchdown pass from Smith to Maltarich, making it 31-21, but their comeback hopes were put on hold with a pick six by Maurice Bradley Jr. of 33 yards with 4:12 left. The Knights scored on a Smith touchdown pass to Nate Fair of 18-yards at the end of the game, but it wasn’t enough to mount a comeback.
It was a milestone night for Davis, with the receiver setting the Tyger reception record with 140 career catches, eclipsing a record previously held by Angelo Grose. He led the team with three catches for 18 yards on the night. Reese was 8-for-12 passing for 116 yards and three touchdowns to lead the charge for the Tygers.
Jamir Petty had 21 carries for 101 yards, which was the first time Mansfield Senior had a 100-yard rusher since last year when Reese eclipsed the mark against Wooster. The Tygers ran the ball 41 times for 139 yards.
Phillips was in the backfield wreaking havoc all night with 3.5 sacks, which gives him 10.5 already on the young season. Bradley had 11 tackles, 1.5 sacks and his first-ever pick-six. There were two safeties, seven sacks, two on-side kick recoveries, four forced turnovers and a defensive touchdown on the pick six to help the Tygers get the win. They held West Holmes to only 45 yards on 26 carries.
For the Knights, Smith was 22-for-34 passing for 289 yards with four touchdowns and three interceptions. Maltarich had five catches and a pair of touchdowns, while Logan Zollars recorded 10 receptions for 97 yards.
Next up for Mansfield Senior is New Philadelphia (3-1, 2-0) at home at 7 p.m. The Knights face Madison Comprehensive (0-4, 0-3)
