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NORTH CANTON — As the crowd cheered in the closing seconds with the game on the line, Hoover sophomore quarterback Carson Dyrlund took the snap from the 5-yard line, rolled out to the left and lofted a pass toward the corner of the end zone. 

For a brief moment it looked as though a Hoover receiver was open and might come down with the ball and the win. Mansfield sophomore defensive back Ja’ontay O’Bryant quickly closed the gap and dashed those dreams by swatting the ball away as time expired. The celebration was on for the Tygers.

Mansfield improved to 3-0 after making its second stop from inside the 5-yard line in the fourth quarter to down the Vikings 21-17.

“We always show up like that,” Mansfield head coach Chioke Bradley said. “I believe we have the best defense in Ohio. These players show up to practice locked in. They have been tested. You are going to be hard pressed to find an offense that is going to be able to dictate the way the game is going to be played to us. We are going to be lights out if we stay healthy.”

The previous stop was just as dramatic. With 3:03 to go, the Vikings had a fourth-and-1 from just outside the Mansfield 1-yard line with the Tygers leading 21-17. Hoover gave the ball to Drew Logan, who was quickly met by a wall of Tyger defenders for no gain. 

“Coach called a timeout right before that play and fired us up to go get that stop,” senior wide receiver/linebacker Myles Bradley said. “It was a big moment. It was a tough play but we came up big. I love our defense.”

Myles, the son of the head coach, also played a big role in getting the Tygers the lead in the first place. He took a screen pass from quarterback Brock Hill 80 yards on the first possession of the third quarter for a Mansfield touchdown. He followed that up with a 61-yard touchdown off a trick-play pass from wide receiver Amarr Davis on the next Tyger possession. Those two TDs proved to be enough to give Mansfield the win.

“We didn’t have time to make the deep ball happen,” Myles Bradley said. “We knew we were going to have to try to get the ball out quick and us guys on the outside were going to have to make something happen from that point.”

Myles Bradley caught six passes for 187 yards. Hill was 10-of-15 for 189 yards and two touchdowns despite being sacked seven times and being under near constant pressure.

“They were bringing a lot of pressure off the edge of the first half and we weren’t dealing with it well which was a big reason we were trailing 17-7,” Chioke Bradley said. “We needed to slow them down in some way so we went with the quick pass. We came into this game believing we had an advantage at the skill positions and I should have went to that earlier.”

The mood was somber in the Viking locker room. 

“We blew an opportunity tonight,” Hoover head Brian Baum said. “We didn’t convert the opportunities on offense. Our defense has to be smarter than we were in the second half. We knew they had good athletes and we knew we couldn’t let them get behind us and they did somehow. This one is on all of us.”

The final score doesn’t show just how dominant Hoover was at the line of scrimmage at times. The Vikings had the aforementioned seven sacks, forced three turnovers and held Mansfield to minus-40 yards rushing as a team.

 

We have a nice defense,” Baum said. “We made a lot of nice plays but we also gave up those big plays. We have to get better in the coming week. We have to get ready for Louisville and our Federal League schedule.”

The loss also was painful in more ways than one for Baum. He was injured in the closing seconds of the game and emerged from the trainers’ room in a walking boot. 

“They tell me I tore my calf apparently,” Baum said. “I was running down the sideline to call a timeout to set up that last play when it happened.”

Luke Roach ran for 111 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries for Hoover. Zander Bugara also returned a kickoff 82 yards for a touchdown in the first half. Hoover falls to 1-2 on the season. 

Mansfield 21, Hoover 17 

Mansfield – 7 – 0 – 14 – 0 — 21 

Hoover – 10 – 7 – 0 – 0 — 17 

First quarter 

H—FG Smart 42, 7:35 

M—O’Bryant 23 pass from Hill (Putt kick), 4:46 

H—Bugara 82 kickoff return (Smart kick), 4:35 

Second quarter 

H—Roach 29 run (Smart kick), 6:12 

Third quarter 

M—Bradley 80 pass from Hill (Putt kick), 5:20 

M—Bradley 61 pass from Davis (Putt kick), 1:18 

TEAM STATS 

                     MAN           HOO 

First downs 6                  13 

Rushes-Yds 17-(minus 40)         46-142 

Passing Yds 250               23 

Comp-Att-Int 11-16-1      6-14-1 

Punts-Avg.  6-39.7      4-43.5 

Fumbles-Lost 2-2              2-1 

Penalties-Yds 6-30            8-57 

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS 

PASSING—Mansfield, Hill 10-15-189-1, Davis 1-1-61-0. Home, Dyrlund 6-14-23-1,  

Rushing—Mansfield, Hill 10-(minus 21), Mills 5-(minus 5), Brown 1-(minus 7), TEAM 1-(minus 7). Hoover, Roach 22-97, Logan 8-37, Tindell 6-22, Griguolo 3-13, Shimek 1-1, Dyrlund 5-(minus 13), TEAM 1-(minus 15). 

RECEIVING—Mansfield, Bradley 6-187, Davis 3-30, O’Bryant 1-23, Grose 1-0. Hoover, Reed 2-11, Bugara 1-7, Roach 1-6, Shimek 1-(minus 1) 

Records: Mansfield 3-0; Hoover 1-2.