BY BRIAN GOSSET
X – @Gosset41
MANSFIELD – Houston commit Travis Buhake highlighted a dominating defensive front as his name was called what seemed like every play in the first quarter and Mansfield Summit shut down Everman 21-0 in a District 3-5A Division 2 contest on Thursday night at Newsom Stadium. Summit moves to 5-4 overall and 5-2 in district with one game left in the regular season.
Everman falls to 1-8 and 1-6.
Despite being three games over 0.500 in the district standings, the Jaguars have yet to clinch a playoff spot. Argyle and Colleyville Heritage are the clinchers while Summit, Mansfield Timberview and Arlington Seguin are fighting for the last two spots. Timberview (4-3) plays The Colony on Friday and Seguin (4-3) is on its bye week.
However, a Timberview loss on Friday would give Summit the third playoff berth in district.
But a Timberview win will create some fireworks in Week 11 when the Jaguars travel to Arlington against Seguin. Timberview beat Seguin by 14 and lost to Summit by 1 giving the Wolves a +13 advantage. As it stands, Summit is at +1 and Seguin is at -14. If Timberview wins on Friday, Seguin would have to beat Summit by at least eight points to clinch the final spot – leaving the Jaguars home. But if Summit wins or even loses to the Cougars by seven, then Summit would be in and Seguin would be out.
Follow all of that?
Okay, but that’s a week away. Thursday night, the Jaguars picked up another win as their defense shined, allowing 58 yards for the entire game. Everman totaled a negative yard all in the second half. Summit led 14-0 at halftime thanks to two 1-yard touchdown runs from running back Adarion Nettles. The first quarter was scoreless as both teams struggled to find a rhythm on offense. The Bulldogs had six possessions in the first 24 – finishing with three punts, two turnover on downs and a lost fumble.
The Jaguars didn’t do themselves any favors – starting out with a turnover on downs and one punt.
However, the team got going with seconds left in the opening frame. They went eight plays for 36 yards and killed off just over three minutes to get on the scoreboard. With a short field, Nettles had runs on three consecutive plays capped with a 1-yard plunge. The extra point was missed and Summit led 6-0 with 9:16 left in the first half.
Everman got a great return on the ensuing kickoff as Barrington Stricklin ran it back 49 yards to the Summit 26.
The drive, though, stalled four plays later when the Bulldogs put the ball on the turf and Summit’s Jahshon Williams recovering. The Jaguars turned it into points going 51 yards on six plays. Nettles broke a 19-yard run and then an 11-yard gain to set up goal to go at the 1. Next play and he found the end zone for a second time, QB Demarus Bird ran in the conversion and the lead was 14-0 with 5:16 left on the clock.
One bright spot in the first half for Everman was when Stricklin intercepted a pass attempt with under two minutes remaining.
The final score came with 9:21 left in the fourth quarter as Bird and wide receiver Domonique Young hooked up for a 38-yard touchdown. The Jaguars rushed 40 times for 184 yards and got 271 total. Nettles led the way with 86 yards on 19 carries. Ian Gebhardt and Demetri Carter added 45 and 34 yards rushing, respectively.
For Buhake (according to 247Sports), he’s a 4-star defensive lineman and is listed at 6-foot-2 and 255 pounds. Across the 2025 class, Buhake ranks as the #14 d-lineman in the country, #23 overall player in Texas and #103 overall in the entire nation. He committed to Houston back in April and chose the Cougars over Arizona, Arkansas State, Cal, Colorado State, UNT, SMU, Texas State, Tulsa, UNLV, UTEP, UTSA.
SUMMIT DT #4 TRAVIS BUHAKE WAS A FORCE ALL NIGHT VS EVERMAN
