MANDARIN – After seeing Zy Grable return the opening kickoff all the way back to the 25 yard line and Ali Boyce punch it in from a yard to give Sarasota Riverview a quick 7-0 lead minutes into the game; host Mandarin responded with a 25-0 run to walk away with a 45-31 win over the Rams at the Coral.
Things didn’t start out easy for the Mustangs though after giving up the score on the opening drive of the game, Carson Beck pass was tipped and picked off by Chuck Brantley at the 38 yard line giving the Rams the ball back.
That’s when the Mustangs defense turned up the pressure as Fulton hit the Rams spread option attack for a loss and a play later Darian Oxendine picked off a Sean White long pass inside the 20 to give the Mustangs the ball back.
However, three plays later the Rams were forced to punt it back to the Mustangs again as the option attack quickly fell apart thanks to Christian Warren, Nijel McGriff, Jayvon Fulton and the Mustangs defense.
Behind the power running game of Terrell Jennings and the crisp combination of Beck to Demario Douglas, Kris Mitchell or Oxendine, the Rams had no answer for stopping the high powered Mustangs offense.
Beck hit Douglas in the flats, and Douglas juked his way down to the sideline for a 48 yard touchdown pass cutting the lead to 7-6 with 2:43 left in the first quarter, after the point attempt was no good.
Part I with Mandarin head coach Bobby Ramsay pic.twitter.com/o7Fm6mqMsl
— Corey Davis (@ByCoreyDavis) December 1, 2018
Boyce had no room to run against the front seven of the Mustangs and went 3 and out again on their next drive to give the Mustangs the ball back quickly.
Beck found Kas Absolu for a 54 yard completion out of the Emory and Hery formation to set the Mustangs up at the 32 yard line, then hit Jennings for a completion down to the 13 yard line before capping the drive with a Oxendine 1 yard sneak to give Mandarin a 14-6 lead on the first play of the second quarter.
Another three and out another Mandarin score on its next drive.
Jennings broke free through a gaping hole and a 29 yard gain and hooped up with Beck on a short completion putting the Mustangs inside the 30, while Beck hit Mitchell for a 23 yard completion to the 7 yard line. Oxendine lined up at wildcat again and found a hole for a 1 yard sneak and 19-7 lead for the Mustangs with 7:13 left till half.
Thanks to the great field position on the opening kickoff, Mandarin began kicking away from Grable and the Rams returners to keep them pinned back inside the 20 yard line each drive and force them to move the ball down the field.
Demario Douglas came up huge for the Mandarin Mustangs. One of the many reasons the Mustangs will play in the very last high school football game of the 2018 season in Orlando. pic.twitter.com/8neUzhzuK6
— Corey Davis (@ByCoreyDavis) December 1, 2018
Just when it appeared the Rams were moving the ball down the field reaching the 20-yard line, Fulton scooped up a Rams fumble and tried to return it before running into a pile of Ram blockers and pitched it back to another Mustang teammate pinning the Mustangs back at their own 9-yard line.
Beck hit Mitchell across the middle and Mitchell spun his defender around and turned on the jets racing 91 yards untouched for a 25-7 lead with 3:58 left till half.
Riverview finally had some success on offense driving the ball down the field but settled for a 37 yard field goal from Dorian Hall with 1:09 left till half cutting the lead to 25-10, stopping the Mustangs 25-0 run also.
However, Mandarin wasn’t content going into half only up 15, as Beck hit Douglas on a simple short screen pass and Douglas weaved his way down the sideline untouched for a electrifying 68 yard touchdown pass putting Mandarin back up 21 points as the Mustangs went into the locker room ahead 31-10 with less than a minute left till half.
Warren hit Stone in the backfield seconds before the half ended sending a message to the Rams, you can’t be one dimensional against the Mustangs and expect to win.
Part II with Mandarin head coach Bobby Ramsay pic.twitter.com/ZPyVyQ9mhb
— Corey Davis (@ByCoreyDavis) December 1, 2018
Down 21 as the third quarter began, you had to expect Riverview would come out with an onside kick apparently Mandarin didn’t though as the Rams easily recovered the onside kick and took possession of the ball.
After stopping the Rams on a quick three and out after another monster hit from Warren, the Mustangs appeared to be getting the Rams offense off the field again but a late pass interference call on third down on a uncatchable ball, helped the Rams offense stay on the field.
Riverview took advantage of one of the few and rare mistakes Mandarin made on the night as White found Malachi Wideman in the back of the end zone cutting the lead to 31-17 with 8:25 left in the third quarter.
The Rams tried another onside kick but was whistled for being offside and forced to kick the ball deep to Mandarin. Beck found Oxendine for a 56 yard completion down to the 22 yard line to set up Jennings 2 yard run increasing the lead to 38-17 with 7:32 left in the third.
Boyce swept left from the wildcat position to cut the lead to 38-24 with 4:13 left in the quarter to temporarily cut the lead back to 14 points, the closest Riverview would get in the game.
Mandarin was ready for the onside kick this time and recovered it at the 50 and Beck once again made them pay for it as Beck found Mitchell for a 50 yard completion down to the 4, Jennings plowed through the hole on the ensuing play to put Mandarin up 45-24 with 3:46 left in the third.
Absolu picked off White and returned it to midfield before a penalty on Mandarin brought it back to the 35 yard line, however the Mustangs were stopped on one of the few drives of the night turning the ball back over to Riverview.
Riverview burned a timeout and still came out with 12 guys on the field while Mandarin was attempting to punt, giving the Mustangs an automatic first down allowing them to keep possession and more importantly burn more clock.
As the fourth quarter began, Mandarin was just 12 minutes away from making school history again, 12 minutes away from a trip to the state finals.
Boyce 12 yard touchdown run cut the lead to 45-31 with 3:19 left in the game keeping the Rams still in the game.
Part 3 with Mandarin head coach Bobby Ramsay pic.twitter.com/zPsOJEr1GC
— Corey Davis (@ByCoreyDavis) December 1, 2018
However, the Mustangs recovered the onside kick and instead of airing it out like they did for nearly the whole game they fed Jennings the ball and Jennings carved up the Rams defense and most importantly the clock as well sending the Mustangs (10-4) to Orlando next Saturday night at 8 p.m. in the Citrus Bowl to play for the Class 8A state championship against Miami Christopher Columbus (14-0).
2018 STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS:
8A – Mandarin vs. Columbus
7A – Lakeland vs. Aquinas
6A – Armwood vs. Northwestern
5A – Gibbons vs. North Marion
4A – Raines vs. Cocoa
3A – Chaminade vs. King’s Acad.
2A – N. FL Chr. vs. Champagnat
1A – Baker vs. Madison County#flhsfb— FloridaHSFootball.com (@FlaHSFootball) December 1, 2018
Featured Image Courtesy of Epic Images
