Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Wilkins puts it all together for Lamar

LAMAR 50, MANSFIELD 20 4-3A

- HAROLD MCILVAIN II SPECIAL TO THE DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

MANSFIELD — Lamar senior Dusty Wilkins did it all early for the Warriors on Friday night at Tiger Stadium.

Wilkins scored two of the first three touchdowns to help Lamar jump in front and the Warriors never looked back in a 50-20 victory against Mansfield in a 4-3A conference game.

“[Wilkins] is an outstandin­g player and hasn’t broken out this season until tonight,” Lamar Coach Josh Jones. “It has been kind of expected for him, but other guys have been stepping up. This game will give him a lot of confidence going forward.”

Lamar (5-0, 2-0) jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter with Wilkins scoring on special teams, then later on offense.

Wilkins returned a fumbled Mansfield (1-4, 0-2) punt 29 yards for a touchdown to give the Warriors a 7-0 lead with 10:04 left in the first quarter.

Lamar quarterbac­k Hunter Davenport found Austin Hency for a 60-yard touchdown pass after that to extend the lead to 14-0 with 5:50 left in the first quarter.

Wilkins then found the end zone offensivel­y, scoring on a 10-yard rush to push the lead to 21-0 with 1:10 left in the first quarter.

Wilkins had 113 yards rushing on 8 carries with 2 touchdowns, recovered the fumbled punt for a touchdown and had a 45-yard intercepti­on return all in the first half.

The Lamar offense didn’t let up in the second quarter, pushing the lead to 42-0 heading into halftime.

The Warriors scored on their first six possession­s of the first half to build their lead. Lamar outgained Mansfield 296 to 21 in the first two quarters.

Davenport was 4 for 4 passing for 112 yards with 2 touchdowns for the Warriors. Senior wide receiver Blake Kern finished with three catches for 52 yards and a touchdown.

Mansfield got its offense going after halftime capping its first second-half drive with a 25-yard touchdown run from quarterbac­k Christian Saygnaphay to cut the lead to 42-7.

Tigers running back Joseff Bucella led the way rushing 8 times for 101 yards with 2 touchdowns.

Lamar’s Joe Mueller finished with five carries for 71 yards including a touchdown to push the lead to 50-7 in the third quarter.

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