FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Maniscalco and Mounties Give Magnificent Effort against Army
WEST POINT, NY – Wow what a game and what an effort!
Senior quarterback
Mike Maniscalco had a record-setting night as Mansfield threw a huge scare into undefeated Army before falling 48-32 to the Black Knights in a CSFL offensive thriller at West Point Friday night.
Maniscalco had one of the top performances in Mansfield's 119-year history and set numerous school sprint football marks completing 24-of-40 passes for 380-yards while throwing five touchdown passes.
Sophomore
Kurt Logan caught a school-record 11 passes for a school-record 158-yards and tied the school-record with three touchdowns receptions with fellow sophomore
Eddie Larcom pulling down nine passes for 126 yards and a touchdown as Mansfield scored the most points on an Army team since Navy recorded a 38-20 win in the opening game of the 2011 season.
Army took the opening kickoff and marched 60-yards on 12 plays and taking a 7-0 lead on a four-yard touchdown pass to Tucker Van Dyke from J.J. Wartski at the 10:48 mark of the first half.
Mansfield responded immediately, answering with their own eight-play 72-yard drive behind the arm of Maniscalco who completed all six of his passes including a 33-yard touchdown strike to Larcom. However the PAT was no good with Army hold on to a 7-6 lead.
Army drove to the Mountaineer's 2 yard line on the next possession but a tackle for a loss by
Christian Sookdeo forced the Black Knights to settle for a field goal and a 10-6 lead.
Mansfield mounted a 75-yard drive capped by a 15-yard touchdown grab by Logan from Maniscalco and held a 12-10 lead midway through the first half.
After an Army second quarter touchdown Mansfield retook the lead 18-17 when Logan scored on a 41-yard passing play from Maniscalco with just over five minutes to play before halftime.
Army scored twice over the final 3:30 of the second quarter, the last coming with 11 seconds before intermission to build a 31-18 advantage at halftime.
Mansfield capitalized on
Raymond Jackson's 50-yard return on the opening kickoff of the second half. Maniscalco kept the drive alive with an eight-yard pass to Logan on a 3rd and 5 on the Army 37. After Leon Strother's 21-yard run was called back on a holding call, Maniscalco hit Logan over the middle and the sophomore ran it into the end zone untouched for a 29-yard touchdown.
A two-point conversion play was successful when Maniscalco found
Derrick Burd in the end zone closing the gap to 31-26.
Army responded on its next drive, going 65-yards on 12-plays holding a 38-26 advantage as the third quarter ended. The Black Knights kicked a 25-yard field goal seconds into the start of the fourth quarter to extend the lead to 41-26.
But Mansfield didn't fold, coming up with several key defensive stops before Maniscalco found
Myles Hauser for a school-record 78-yard touchdown strike as the Mountaineers closed to 41-32 with under 10 minutes to play.
Army intercepted a pass inside Mansfield territory late in the game and scored the final touchdown with six seconds remaining.
Mansfield threw up a season-best 396 yards in total offense while Army, the CSFL's top offense team, went over 500 yards in total offense for the second week in a row with 527 yards.
Christian Sookdeo led the defense with a game-high 10 tackles including two for a loss.
Kyle Post and
Spencer Underdown recorded nine stops each.
Senior quarterback J.J. Wartski completed 24-of-40 passes for 262 yards and three touchdowns to lead Army with Marqus Burrell rushing for 117 yards on 25 carries as the Black Knights extended their winning-streak to 17 straight games.
Mansfield hosts Franklin Pierce Saturday.
