Bearcat fullbacks accounted for 156 yards and two touchdowns and the Bearcat defense allowed only 16 second half yards but it would not be enough Friday night.
Taking advantage of a kicking game miscue and momentum from the game’s only turnover Mansfield claimed a 16-14 decision in a game that got started almost an hour late due to both a power outage and a pair of lightning strikes.
The Bearcats began the game with a 49-yard drive on which Hunter Warren (shown) carried the ball seven straight downs for all 49 yards.
Warren finished with 109 yards on 22 carries. The senior also led the defense with eight stops, six of them solo.
Oliver Loaeza added the extra point after Warren scored from the 1 and it was 7-0 with 8:59 left in the first quater.
Conner Droemer had set up the drive with a kickoff return of 24 yards to just across midfield.
Mansfield managed one first down then punted with their initial possession of the game with the kick pinning the Bearcats at their 13-yard line.
Four plays later the Bearcats were in punt formation but the snap sent the football splashing across the turf and punter Cutler Haller went to a knee to field it giving the Tigers the ball at the Bearcat 6.
After an offside penalty – the Bearcats had 5 penalties for 33 yards – got half the yardage, the Tigers went in front 8-7 with a scoring run and a successful 2-point conversion.
Droemer returned the kickoff 18 yards and the Bearcats quickly crossed midfield, eventually reaching the Tiger 39 before losing a fumble at the 40.
Mansfield then used a 50-yard run – exactly one-third of their offense on the night – to get in position to go up 16-7 with 0:05 to play in the opening quarter.
The Bearcats responded by crossing midfield but again had a penalty push them back into minus territory and eventually punted to start a series of three straight possessions ending in punts.
Mansfield mounted a scoring threat, moving from their 23 to the Bearcat 31, but ran out of time in the first half.
Lathen Shaffer and Haller led the stand that would see Mansfield run out of time. For the night Shaffer had seven total tackles.
The Tigers had won the toss and deferred until he second half but the Bearcat defense had forced a punt less than two minutes into the half.
Clint Osborne recorded one of the tackles that helped induce the punt. Osborne would have four stops in the half and seven in the game.
The Bearcats then went 72 yards in 11 plays with Brody Chambers scoring a touchdown on a 2-yard run to make it 16-14 with 5:31 to play in the third quarter.
Chambers ran 9 times for 47 yards.
The Bearcats would force another punt and were at midfield when the third quarter ended but it was 4th down.
Mansfield then survived a fumble at their 16 and would have to punt again, giving the Bearcats the ball at their 40 but the Bearcats netted only 3 yards over the next three plays and also punted.
The Bearcats had a final opportunity after a sixth Mansfield punt, but needed to go 73 yards over the final 4:56.
A loss on a fumbled pitch would force the fifth Bearcat punt and Mansfield was, despite the Bearcats using all of their time outs, able to keep the ball the rest of the way, picking up a clinching first down via a penalty.
The Bearcats drop to 5-3 overall and 5-1 in conference play and will next travel to Charleston with the Conference 3A-1’s 2-seed on the line. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
MISTAKES PROVE COSTLY FOR BEARCATS
