In rush to impress, Mansfield does

MANSFIELD - In a game between talented running teams, Marshfield had no answer for Mansfield's rushing attack. Mansfield chewed up yardage with ease en route to a 22-6 win at Alumni Field last night.

"Going into the game, I said, 'It's nonleague, let's be aggressive and let's play to win,' " said Mansfield coach Mike Redding. "When the players succeed, it makes the coach look good."

The Hornets were led by junior running back Shawn Doherty, who rushed for 109 yards and two scores on 11 carries. Doherty had nearly half of Mansfield's 226 yards on the ground.

"Doherty is very good, he has great vision, and he is a really tough kid," Redding said.

Mansfield's defense was able to hold a vaunted Ram rushing attack to 79 yards and intercepted quarterback John Mullen twice.

"Our defense was very good tonight," said Redding. "They have a stable of running backs. We had a bend-but-don't-break attitude and we didn't want to give up the big play."

Mansfield neither bent nor broke. Senior captain Dan Glavin was in the backfield all day, terrorizing Marshfield's stable of backs. Glavin had 10 tackles, a fumble recovery, and a forced fumble.

Mansfield made many mistakes. Nik Busharis was intercepted three times and Jeff Mallett fumbled on the first play of the game.

"If we get rid of our turnovers, we can put 28 or 35 on the board," said Redding.

"Hopefully, with experience, those mistakes will go away."

Mansfield's first points came after a Marshfield miscue. Mullen was intercepted by Mansfield's Jeff Mallett in the end zone. The Hornets then drove down the field. A crucial 18-yard pass to Kevon Rogers on fourth and 1 extended the drive.

Rogers finished the drive himself, with a 1-yard dive for the touchdown. Rogers then caught the 2-point conversion pass from Busharis to give Mansfield the 8-0 lead.

The Rams could not move the ball. Whenever they made a positive play, it was offset by a mistake. Mansfield's second touchdown came after Marshfield was assessed two personal foul penalties within a span of three plays. They were forced to punt and Mansfield took advantage.

A 27-yard scamper by Doherty gave the Hornets the ball at the 10. Three plays later, Doherty sliced into the end zone for a 1-yard score to push the lead to 14-0.

After a safety by Mansfield made it 16-0, another mistake hurt Marshfield, which fumbled the ball at its own 10 and was recovered by Glavin. The next play was a 10-yard scoring rush for Doherty to make the score 22-0.

The lone Ram score came as time expired.