Mansfield swoops by Midway in second half, sending Panthers to first loss
MANSFIELD — Before you can win, you've got to finish.
Midway had to settle for field goals instead of finishing off drives with touchdowns much of the night, and Mansfield capitalized with a second-half rally. The Tigers surged ahead for a 29-15 win on Thursday night at Newsom Stadium, bouncing Midway (3-1) from the ranks of the unbeaten.
The Panthers led 12-7 at the half, but their momentum evaporated in the matter of 14 seconds, as the Tigers' Jacobe Hayes busted a 92-yard touchdown return on the second-half kickoff.
With his team leading 22-15 late in the game, Hayes iced the win for Mansfield (4-0), getting free on a 61-yard touchdown catch with 2:10 to go.
Midway moved the ball well on offense, but struggled to finish off drives with touchdowns, settling for three Abraham Bustamante field goals.
"We were kind of nickel and diming there," Midway head coach Joe Gillespie said in a postgame radio interview on 106.7 FM. "We were in a heavyweight fight, and we were standing toe to toe in the center of the rings and trading some blows."
Cash Pullin passed for 265 yards for the Panthers, including 12 balls to Tyler Seith for 173 yards. Lathan Whisenton gave Midway good balance with 27 carries for 138 yards. But all that offense led to only one TD.
Midway struck first with a solid 12-play, four-minute scoring drive on its first possession. The Panthers clicked right down the field before settling for a 33-yard Bustamante field goal that gave them a 3-0 lead at the 7:56 mark.
Midway's foes haven't found a ton of running room against the Panthers this year, but the Tigers managed to clear some space on their answering drive. Teddy Clark popped off long runs of 38 and 24 yards, the latter of which resulted in a touchdown that pushed Mansfield in front, 7-3, at the 3:34 mark of the first quarter.
Midway responded with another long drive that stalled before it could reach the end zone, leading to another short Bustamante field goal. The Panthers would not be deterred though, as Tyron Roberts made an interception of a Mansfield busted special-teams play to give his team the ball back.
Midway looked as though it might go for the jugular quickly, with Pullin finding Seith for an apparent 63-yard touchdown, but the play was wiped out by a holding call against the Panthers.
Midway kept the drive going anyway. At one point it set up for a 40-yard field goal try from Bustamante, but Mansfield jumped offsides, then jumped offsides again on the next snap to give the Panthers new life with a first down.
A few plays later, Lathan Whisenton shot around the right side on a 9-yard TD run and Midway pushed in front, 12-7. Then his brother Landon Whisenton, starring at his usual spot at safety, intercepted a Braxton Van Cleave pass to end the half.
However, Midway couldn't snuff out Van Cleave and the Tigers' second-half rally, despite the defense producing three interceptions on the night, including the second of the year by Lane Alexander.
Midway will now turn its attention to District 12-6A play, traveling to Leo Buckley Stadium in Killeen to face Harker Heights on Sept. 27.
— Brice Cherry
