The win boosted the Dragons to a 3-0 record in District 4-1A and 7-1 overall. Oak Grove fell to 1-1 in the district and 4-4 overall.
The Dragons began the game with possession of the ball, but had to punt four plays later.
This gave Oak Grove the ball on their own 18. Nine plays later, the Tigers had managed to gain 24 yards before they, too, were forced to punt.
The Dragons held onto the ball for six plays this time, making up five yards before punting the ball back to Oak Grove.
The Tigers then rallied a six-play drive from their own 19 yard line. Oak Gove’s Jimmy Pepmiller capped the drive with a 16-yard run for the touchdown. The pass for two failed and the Tigers led 6-0 in the first quarter.
The Tigers scored again in the second quarter when Jacob Pippin rain into the endzone from the two yard line.
This time, Pepmiller’s pass to Deoncus Nelson was good and Oak Grove’s lead widened to 14-0. The lead seemed to be holding until Pepmiller fumbled the ball.
Mangham’s Shaquille Ausberry recovered it and the Dragons took possession on the Tiger 36 yard line. Two plays later, Ausberry crossed the goal line on a five-yard run, getting Mangham on the board. The conversion attempt missed and the Dragons trailed 14-6 at half time.
The Tigers opened the third quarter with a 16-play drive for 84 yards an a touchdown. The score came on a two-yard run by Pippin, followed by a two-point pass from Pepmiller to Nelson, bringing the Tiger lead to 22-6.
It was the last score the Dragons let them have.
Six plays and 59 yards later, the Dragons scored when Wilson hit Jonathan Harris with a 33-yard pass. The two-point attempt failed and the Dragons ended the third quarter trailing 22-12.
Mangham began the final quarter with a 69-yard touchdown pass from Wilson to Michael Holland. He hit Holland again with the extra point pass and suddenly the Dragons were only trailing 22-20.
Oak Grove lost the kickoff on a fumble, giving Mangham the ball on the Tiger 43 yard line. Eight plays and 41 yards later, the Dragons had King within striking distance and he booted in the field goal from 18 yards out to put Mangham in the lead 23-22.
With 9:31 left in the game, the Dragon defense clamped down on the Tigers, holding them to 18 yards over the next seven plays. Pepmiller was finally forced to put, sending the ball 49 yards back into Dragon territory and Mangham took possession on their own one-yard line with 5:54 left in the game.
The Dragons kept the ball the rest of the game, moving 91 yards in 12 plays to be just within reach of another score when time ran out on the game.
The final score: Mangham 23, Oak Grove 22.
No matter how you look at it, it was a close game right to the end, with only one point and two yards separating the teams on offense.
Oak Grove actually beat Mangham on yardage, with 322 total yards to the Dragons’ 319.
The Tigers had 248 yards rushing to Mangham’s 115 but Mangham did better in the air witih 204 yards to Oak Grove’s 74.
The Tigers had 16 first downs to 11 for the Dragons. But Mangham never fumbled while Oak Grove lost the ball on fumbles three times. Both teams punted three times. Mangham’s Mooney averaged 40.7 yards while Oak Grove’s
Pepmiller averaged 38.7.
Mangham had two penalties for 10 yards while Oak Grove had four for 16.5.
Ausberry was Mangham’s rushing leader with 7 carries for 51 yards and a touchdown. Edward Blount had nine carries for 40 yards and quarterback Josh Wilson had six for 24.
Wilson also completed 12 of 27 pass attempts for 204 yards and two touchdowns.
Holland lead the receivers with three carries for 80 yards and a touchdown. Harris had two catches for 64 yards and a touchdown. Montel Hardman caught four passes for 40 yards. Blount caught two for 15 and Kyle King had one for five yards.
On the defense, Karl Wiggers had 10 tackles, two assists and a sac. Jeffery Watkins had eight tackles seven assists and a sac. O.T. Miley had eight tackles and four assists; James Williams, eight and two; and Arthur Miley, eight and one. Ausberry had six tackles, two assists and a sac.
This Friday, the Dragons will host Jonesboro-Hodge in a non-district game.
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