Mavs shrug off deficit, mistakes
MISSOURI CITY — Fort Bend Marshall came out firing, determined to make this year’s meeting closer.
Manvel’s loaded Mavericks fired back, however.
They shrugged off an early deficit behind SECbound stars Jalen Preston, Deneric Prince and Kam Scott, who each supplied a first-half score in a 56-27 victory Saturday at Hall Stadium.
“They’re a really good football team, very wellcoached, with a lot of speed, and we needed a fight like that,” Manvel coach Kirk Martin said. “Our kids needed that, and I was proud of how we did respond.”
The state’s No. 2 Class 5A team improved to 5-0 overall and 3-0 in District 23-5A.
The Mavericks rolled over the No. 12 Buffs 63-6 last season en route to an undefeated district championship and a berth in the state semifinals, where they suffered a disappointing 2423 loss to Temple.
That was only the latest playoff misstep for the powerful program, which is still seeking its first state title.
This could be the year they find it.
“Our expectation is to win the whole thing, and if we don’t, we’ve failed,” Martin said. Turning the tables
Marshall (3-2, 2-1) tested the Mavs early, taking a 7-0 lead 1:25 in on quarterback Jabari James’ first throw — a 66-yard strike to Devon Achane. But Manvel responded with a TD on its first series, with Prince, a Texas A&M pledge, carrying for 19 and 8 yards, then sprinting to a 38-yard touchdown.
Then Manvel’s defense stepped up.
Linebacker Trent Serrato, who notched two sacks in the first half, took down QB Jabari James, who fumbled, and defensive tackle Derrick Williams scooped it up and rumbled 48 yards for a 14-7 advantage.
Marshall answered after Braxton Brantley intercepted QB Kason Martin.
James found Henry Thomas in the end zone for a 20-yard TD, but Manvel stayed ahead 14-13 after a missed extra point.
The Mavericks pulled away in the second quarter.
Preston, another A&M commitment, took a direct snap 50 yards for a TD on a one-play drive, and Scott, pledged to Missouri, hauled in a Kason Martin pass for a 38-yard score down.
They led 28-13 at halftime, but could have put the game away before the break.
The Mavs appeared to have a first down at Marshall’s 30 after a 15-yard gain by Preston with less than two minutes left, but a hold on Prince and an unsportsmanlike penalty on Preston after the play left them in 2nd-and-30 at their 30. Kason Martin then tossed his second interception.
“We’ve got a really good football team,” Kirk Martin said. “(But) we’ve got way too many penalties. I’ve talked to them all year about discipline, I’m running the mess out of them every time we have a personal foul, and I’ll be danged if we don’t get another one (Saturday). It’s frustrating.” Third-quarter onslaught
Marshall used the reprieve to pull within one score in the third quarter.
Manvel went three-andout to start the quarter, then James tossed a 22-yard touchdown to Michael Jones for a 28-20 deficit. But Prince (18-yard TD run) and Preston (16-yard TD reception) struck again, and Garrison Johnson’s 6-yard sidestep into the end zone on the final play of the third sealed a win.
The Mavs led 49-20 heading into the fourth.
Johnson, playing with a broken hand, added another TD on a 55-yard burst with 7:25 left after Depriest Taylor intercepted James.
“This is a big step forward, as far as winning the district championship, but we’ve got bigger fish to fry,” Kirk Martin said. “We’ve got to get better.”