JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Twenty seniors walked across the field for Senior Night at Mandarin, never knowing a point during high school when the Mustangs weren’t district champions.
They walked off the field Friday night never having come up empty when it comes to district titles.
Mandarin’s defense turned in a dominant performance with two picks-sixes — one by Brysen Wright in the first quarter and one by Kyree Wilson to squelch an Oakleaf comeback in the fourth quarter — while Shaunqueze Foster topped 100 rushing yards and scored twice as the Mustangs rolled to a 31-14 victory over the Knights in the Varsity 4 Game of the Week.
That settles the District 2-6A title, with Mandarin (8-1, 3-0), third in the FHSAA Region 1-6A rankings, claiming the crown and the automatic playoff berth that comes with it. Still, Oakleaf (7-2, 2-1) is in a good situation with the postseason, as the Knights entered Friday ranked fourth in the region.
Mustangs coach Toby Bullock, whose team is ranked fourth in the Varsity 4 Super 10 and the coaches’ polls, came in four seasons ago, and every class he has coached has left as district titlists.
“Isn’t that the goal?” Bullock asked rhetorically. “Our goal is the state championship and always will be the state championship. But you want to win at everything you do. If you make snow cones, you want to make the best snow cones.
“The ups and downs of the team, the ups and downs of the season, the ups and downs of four years, these kids become family for you. Coach (Clayton) Cason, my (defensive coordinator) says it all the time, ‘It’s not a four-year relationship, it’s a 40-year relationship.’ And to let them have that moment, it’s awesome.”
The team savored it, with Mandarin players racing down to the scoreboard, near where Oakleaf was about to huddle postgame, posing for photos with some pointing at the board and letting the Knights know which team was taking the trophy.
Wilson, who along with some of his teammates posed for photos with a few Oakleaf players after the game, said it was all in good fun and the Knights players were brothers.
Others held a grudge.
“It’s a big one for us,” said junior defensive tackle Kindrid Outland, who was a game-wrecker with 1.5 sacks, another 2.5 tackles for loss and a blocked field goal. “They beat us last year in the playoffs, and this was a get-back. Senior Night, four years of dominance. We continue to do it.
“We worked harder than them. All they do is talk. We’re hard.”
It was also sweet satisfaction for one of those seniors, defensive end Izzy Ratliff, who missed both games against the Knights last year.
“I got everything I wished for,” said Ratliff, who had a sack, a stop for no gain and was in on a tackle for loss. “I came back, helped lead the team to victory. The way it’s supposed to be.”
Outland, Ratliff and their teammates up front set the tone. Oakleaf, which was fifth in the Varsity 4 Super 10 and coaches’ polls, had minus-1 in total yards after the opening quarter. Quarterback Jack McKissock was sacked five times, with Christian McGowan chipping in 1.5 and Kaden Bryant adding another, and the constant pressure played a role in three interceptions.
Wright’s was off a ball thrown up for grabs and returned for 48 yards for a score and a 7-0 lead. Mario Pratt grabbed one on the next series, which led to the game’s second score, a 2-yard Foster run.
Then came Wilson’s pick, which was returned 62 yards for a touchdown. The Knights had cut their deficit to 17-14 in the final quarter and were driving when Wilson jumped a route and raced in to basically salt away the game with less than 10 minutes left.
“Time, time, time,” Oakleaf coach Christopher Foy said of the big problem for his offense. “They have good guys up front and gave us a lot of pressure.”
Even when the Knights were doing well, they seemed snakebit. Midway through the second quarter, trailing 14-0, Oakleaf faced fourth-and-goal from the 1. McKissock plunged in for the score but a motion penalty pushed the Knights back.
Outland, doing what he described as “see the ball, get the ball”, ripped through the middle and spiked down a 23-yard field goal attempt.
The Mustangs took almost six minutes off the clock, and a 59-yard strike from Knox Annis to Wright helped set up Ermin Mehmedovic, who booted a 27-yard field goal as the first half ended.
On Mandarin’s first possession of the second half, the Mustangs faced a third-and-30 from their 11. Foster fumbled the ball and an Oakleaf defender recovered and began running for the end zone. But he too was stripped of the ball, and Mandarin recovered.
All that equaled a new set of downs for the Mustangs.
“That was a play where you had momentum,” Foy said. “We get a turnover and they get one back. That’s what makes this game great. We still got a stop on that series, but it still would have been better to have it inside the five.”
Still, the Knights pieced together two scoring drives, relying heavily on running back Fareed Coleman, who had 17 carries for 142 yards, his seventh 100-yard game of the season. Factor in Coleman’s receptions, and he accounted for all but 57 of his team’s total yards.
Also, Mandarin did itself no favors, being hit with 22 penalties for 176 yards.
But Wilson put an end to any rally hopes with the interception. Then, Foster finished off Oakleaf midway through the final quarter, weaving for a 46-yard score and closing the game with 122 rushing yards.
So, for the fourth season in a row, the title was in Mandarin’s hands.
It could stay there for a while, too. Wright, Wilson, Foster, Annis, Outland, McGowan, Bryant and Pratt are among the many underclassmen who are contributors. They know what it’s like to be in a struggle for a championship.
“We had to keep fighting and stay together when they started coming back,” Wilson said. “We fought hard and finished off the game.”
Mandarin 31, Oakleaf 14
Oakleaf, 0, 0, 14, 0 —14
Mandarin, 7, 10, 0, 14 —31
M – Brysen Wright 48 INT return (Ermin Mehmedovic kick)
M – Shaunqueze Foster 2 run (Mehmedovic kick)
M – Mehmedovic 27 FG
O – Jack McKissock 1 run (Sam Pena kick)
O – McKissock 1 run (Pena kick)
M – Kyree Wilson 62 INT return (Mehmedovic kick)
M – Foster 46 run (Mehmedovic kick)
Category: O — M
First downs: 12 — 16
Rushes-yards: 34-154 — 37-235
Passing: 60— 124
Comp-Att-Int: 5-11-3 — 7-11-1
Fumbles-lost: 1-1 — 2-1
Penalties-Yards: 5-35 — 22-176
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — O: Fareed Coleman 17-142, McKissock 12-15, Trace Burney 1-0, C.J. Moses 3-0, Ezra Brown 1-(-3). M: Foster 12-122, Ayden Owens 9-64, Wilson 6-32, Wright 3-15, Knox Annis 6-4, Team 1-(-2).
PASSING — O: McKissock 5-11-3-60. M: Annis 7-11-1-124.
RECEIVING — O: Jordin Price 2-26, Coleman 2-18, Michael Conner 1-16. M: Wright 3-62, Will Jones 3-45, Foster 1-17.