CEDARVILLE — Mansfield’s game at Cedarville on Friday came down to two fourth-down plays in the fourth quarter.
Mansfield converted on its attempt and Cedarville didn’t.
Seth Feimster ran for four touchdowns in the second half to lead the Tigers to a 32-20 victory over the Pirates at Glen Wisely Field. Mansfield (6-2, 5-0 4-3A) trailed 20-6 before Feimster returned a kickoff 86 yards for a touchdown and added scoring runs of 9, 12 and 2 yards.
The game was tied 20-20 when the Tigers went for it on fourth-and-2 from their 36 with 5:02 remaining. The gamble paid off when Garrett Sutton burst up the middle for 53 yards and Feimster scored on a 9-yard run to give Mansfield a 26-20 lead.
Cedarville (2-6, 2-3) was on the move when the Pirates were stopped on fourth-down near midfield. Mansfield then put the game away when Feimster scored on a 2-yard run with 11 seconds left.
“We believe we’re going to get a yard or two on fourth down,” Mansfield Coach Jason Gill said of the Tigers’ attempt from their end of the field. “Some people call it gambling, but we don’t. It was just a great effort by my kids there.”
Mansf ield’s victory spoiled a big night byCedarville’s Jonathon Connolly, who had touchdown runs of 60, 82 and 22 yards. Connolly had two touchdown runs in the first half to help the Pirates to a 14-6 lead at halftime.
“This one hurts because we just dominated the first half,” Cedarville Coach Kenneth Moore said. “We scored again on a great drive in the third quarter then they run one back and we never recovered.”
The Pirates scored on their first play from scrimmage when Connolly raced 60 yards down the home sideline for a touchdown. Donovan Sanders then ran for the two-point conversion to give Cedarville an 8-0 lead.
Cedarville held Mansfield scoreless until late in the second quarter when Sutton went up the middle on a 25-yard touchdown run. But any momentum Mansf ield gained was lost when Connolly took a quick pitch and went 82 yards down the visitors’ sideline to put the Pirates ahead 14-6.
Mansfield had two serious scoring opportunities in the first half but was turned away both times by the Cedarville defense. The Tigers converted on two fourth-down plays before being stopped on a third fourth-down attempt at the Cedarville 12.
Mansfield got the ball right back after a Cedarville fumble but a sack by Travis Thompson helped keep the Tigers out of the end zone again.
Sports, Pages 23 on 10/23/2010