Mansfield Lake Ridge Too Much for the Central Bobcats

MANSFIELD, TX — The Central Bobcats traveled to DFW to open up their road slate against the Mansfield Lake Ridge Eagles on Friday. Despite a close game for most of the contest, Lake Ridge made the most plays when it counted to pull away in the end. Central drops to 1-1 after a 47-28 loss in Mansfield.

After a back-and-forth first half, the Eagles' defense locked down the Bobcats. Eagles quarterback Deshawn Edwards then took over the third quarter to help Lake Ridge pull away in the end. Despite the loss, Central faced a talented, athletic football team and gained valuable experience moving forward.

Head coach Mark Smith echoed that sentiment after the game.

"We will learn," Smith said. "You don't lose, you learn. We are going to take this as a great opportunity to learn and get better. We are leaning towards what we want to do as we get to district play, and this was a step in that direction tonight."

The first half boiled down to fourth-down efficiency. Twice, the Bobcats had the ball in Lake Ridge territory on fourth down, and twice the Eagles found a way to get off the field. Each time, Mansfield took advantage with a touchdown. After scoring on the opening drive, Lake Ridge forced a turnover on downs during Central's first possession on a throw from Micah Smith that was just a bit too long for Gavin Johnson.

The Eagles capitalized almost immediately with a long touchdown drive.

Down 14-0, the Bobcats finally clawed their way onto the board thanks to some tough running from Zey Johnson. Faced with another fourth down, Johnson bruised his way into the end zone from a yard out to narrow the Eagles' advantage to 7.

Central's Gio Walker then forced the game's only turnover on an interception near midfield. However, the Bobcats failed to capitalize after another failed fourth-down attempt.

Lake Ridge then drove the field to take a 21-7 lead with time winding down in the second quarter.

Central would respond after a well-timed trick play sent Gavin Johnson down the sideline on a reverse for more than 50 yards. Micah Smith would score on a 5-yard touchdown run a few plays later to pull the Bobcats back within seven.

Both teams traded possessions in the final two minutes, but neither managed to score. The Bobcats headed to the locker rooms at the half down 21-14.

Central tied the game at 21-21 after the Bobcats drove 94 yards on the opening possession of the third quarter. A 21-yard touchdown from Gavin Johnson looked to give the Bobcats the momentum they needed headed into the latter parts of the game.

However, Central knew coming into this contest that the Bobcats had to contain dual-threat quarterback Deshawn Edwards. Unfortunately, that proved to be too much for the Bobcats in the end. Edwards turned multiple busted or well-covered plays into highlight-reel runs in the third quarter to put the Eagles up two scores before the Bobcats finally managed to find the end zone again.

"If a guy like [Edwards] gets on the loose, then it's trouble," Smith continued. "We were exposed a little bit tonight in that area, but we will be better for it. Sometimes, part of the maturation process of the team and players is to be exposed. This game is instant accountability. So, we saw that today. We will learn. We will be better from this; that's why we scheduled them."

To the Bobcats' credit, the guys never stopped the fight. Smith threw his second touchdown pass of the evening to Ellis Johnson midway through the fourth quarter, but the game was already out of reach at that point.

Mansfield Lake Ridge ran out the rest of the clock to claim a 47-28 victory.

Next up, the Bobcats return home to host the Abilene Cooper Cougars on Friday, Sept. 11. Kickoff at San Angelo Stadium is set for 7 p.m.