MANSFIELD – Red Oak place kicker Andrew Casillas drilled a 30-yard field goal with 39 seconds remaining to give Red Oak a 23-20 win in an 11-6A opener for both teams Thursday at Newsom Stadium. Casillas was 3-for-3 on field goal attempts, making it from 40 and 22 yards in the first quarter.
Red Oak (3-1, 1-0) got 177 total yards from quarterback Tuhran Square with 92 rushing, including 25 yards on Red Oak’s game-winning drive.
Mansfield (2-2, 0-1) had rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit, scoring 10 points off two turnovers thanks to an interception by Camren Pervis and a fumble forced by Ola Olawepo that Jordan Brandon recovered. The turnovers led to an eight-yard touchdown run by Knowledge Bluitt and a 31-yard field goal by kicker Aaron Price.
Red Oak took advantage of three Mansfield mistakes – two bad snaps and a 24-yard punt – to score 17 points in the first half.
A bad snap on a punt attempt led to a 15-yard touchdown pass from Square to Darrius Sanders to give Red Oak a 10-0 lead with 6:51 left in the first quarter.
Reserve Red Oak quarterback Brandon Fields took a lateral from Square and threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to Sanders to give Red Oak a 20-10 lead with 2:28 left in the second quarter.
Red Oak linebacker Jaydon Johnson had four tackles for a loss and a fumble recovery in the first half, helping Red Oak knock Mansfield back for minus-34 yards rushing in the first half and just 41 rushing yards for the game.
Johnson finished with five tackles for loss while Red Oak had 10 as a team.
Mansfield quarterback Brandon Ellis kept his team in the game with 127 yards passing in the first half, including a 25-yard touchdown pass to Preston Jackson with 10:01 left in the second quarter. Ellis finished with 213 total yards.
Red Oak 13 7 0 3 23
Mansfield 0 10 10 0 20
RO – Andrew Casillas 40 field goal.
RO – Darrius Sanders 15 pass from Tuhran Square II (Andrew Casillas kick).
RO – Andrew Casillas 22 field goal.
MF – Preston Jackson 25 pass from Brandon Ellis (Aaron Price kick).
MF – Aaron Price 25 field goal.
RO – Darrius Sanders 39 pass from Brandon Fields Jr (Andrew Casillas kick).
MF – Knowledge Bluitt 8 run (Aaron Price kick).
MF – Aaron Price 31 field goal.
RO – Andrew Casillas 30 field goal.
First Downs RO: 12 MF: 12
Rushing Yards RO: 25-125 MF: 35-41
Passing Yards RO: 124 MF: 157
Passing RO: 14-24-1 MF: 12-29-0
Punts-Avg RO: 6-33.5 MF: 5-33.8
Penalties RO: 13-102 MF: 4-20
Fumbles-Lost RO: 1-1 MF: 1-1
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing: RO – Tuhran Square II 13-92, Jaden Ford 1-6, Daylan Johnson 3-10, Cruz Martinez 8-17. MF – Raymond Weaver 12-9, Brandon Ellis 17-56, Knowledge Bluitt 5-13, Aaron Price 1-37.
Passing: RO – Brandon Fields Jr 1-2-1-39, Tuhran Square II 13-22-0-85. MF – Brandon Ellis 12-29-0-157.
Receiving: RO – Christian Totten 4-46, Brandon Bagley 5-16, Jordon McCuin 1-5, Darrius Sanders 2-54, Daylan Johnson 2-3. MF – Raymond Weaver 1-4, Cole Williams 2-58, Knowledge Bluitt 1-4, Preston Jackson 3-33, Jarred Pierson1-3, Deuce Hutchinson 4-55.