By Cody Thorn
X – @codythorn
MANSFIELD — Class 5A Division II No. 5-ranked Mansfield Timberview extended its winning streak to 8 in a row with a 45-28 win over Ennis Thursday night at Vernon Newsom Stadium.
The 17-point win didn’t tell the whole story, as Ennis fought back and got the ball to open the fourth quarter with a chance to take the lead. Two late touchdown passes by Steven Hall, who had 6, secured the win for Timberview.
“They made some plays on 4th down, and you know that happens in football,” Timberview coach Jacody Coleman said. “But when it counted in the 4th quarter, we shut them out when winning time came.”
The Wolves (8-0, 5-0 District 7-5A D2) got another big defensive stop, then scored twice in the fourth to surpass last year’s win total.
The end of the third quarter featured an interception by Ennis’ Aaron Laza, returning the ball to the 43-yard line.
It was a critical flip in momentum that kept trending toward the Lions (4-4, 4-1). Ennis had pulled within 33-28 on a touchdown pass from Elijah Leblanc to Jayton Williams with 1:20 left in the third quarter.
The momentum for Ennis, winners of four in a row, slipped away when Leblanc was picked off by Josiah Hall.
The defensive back had two interceptions for the Wolves and a third was negated by a penalty.
“I just know I wanted to get the offense the ball again,” said Hall, who had one interception heading into this game. “As long as I’m getting my offense the ball, I’m doing my job.”
Five plays after the turnover, Hall connected with Trysten Shaw for a 22-yard touchdown. It was the fourth receiving score of the night for Shaw, who also had a fumble recovery in the end zone on his fumble on the Wolves’ first possession.
Hall’s 6th touchdown pass — tying a season-high from Week 1 — came with 3:15 left. He connected with Dalyn Hill for a 53-yard score.
Hall came up with several big and quick plays in the win.
After an interception by Kadyn Washington ended Ennis on the first possession of the game, Hall hit Shaw for a 58-yard score. In the second quarter, Jarvis Smith intercepted a pass for the Wolves and on the next play, Hall hit Braylin Barnett for a 33-yard touchdown.
Ennis had five turnovers, while the Wolves had three.
“We did some things to let them back in the game with penalties off of turnovers that we didn’t get,” Coleman said. “Way too many penalties tonight. Ball security has to be better as we go on throughout the season. We played a little sloppy defensively. We never give up that many 3rd and 4th-down (conversions) and long touchdowns, and tonight we did. They (Ennis) made plays. Credit to them.”
Leblanc threw four touchdowns and had four interceptions, but two of his touchdown passes were on fourth down. Jayton Williams finished with three touchdown catches, including one on fourth down. Aaron Navarro’s lone score also came on fourth down.
The schedule for the Wolves features a winless Everman team and a Corsicana team that is 4-3 heading into this week’s play. It provides a chance to finish the regular season undefeated for the second time in the past five years. The 2022 team went 13-1 and lost to Longview in the quarterfinals.
