MILLERSBURG -- Last year the Mansfield Senior football team finished its campaign in overtime at the state finals.

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This year the Tygers began the season in a game that went overtime, as in over two days. Unfortunately, the end result was the same, a loss both times. On Saturday, Senior High dropped a 56-21 decision at West Holmes in the opener for both schools which was postponed on Friday night.

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Senior High knew this would be a significant rebuilding year, with 14 seniors departing 18 starting positions on both sides of the ball. All but one pass completion left with the graduation of quarterback Cameron Todd, and the Tygers had the runner-up to Mr. Football in Angelo Grose head off to Michigan State.

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The new youngsters filling in those gaps earned a trial by fire this weekend, as the Knights roared to a 14-0 first quarter lead on Friday night.

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Noah Clark fired a 52-yard TD pass to Brady Taylor to get West Holmes off to a 7-0 lead just three minutes into the game, then rifled a 53-yard scoring strike to Garrett Estep just two minutes later.

In the second period, Clark tacked on an 8-yard touchdown dash for a 21-0 bulge. The postponement came just 36 seconds before halftime.

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The Tygers had nearly as many penalty yards (45) as total yards (48) to that point.

Saturday's 4 p.m. continuation wasn't much better. The Knights scored again on a 90-yard fumble return to make it 28-0.

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Aveon Grose returned the ensuing kickoff 90 yards to get Senior High on the board, but the Tygers defense just couldn't stop West Holmes.

Senior High added two more third-quarter TDs, one a 64-yard toss from Brock Hill to Amar Davis, and the other on Hill's 1-yard run.

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Hill paced the Mansfield Senior offense with 70 yards rushing and 257 yards passing, accounting for a couple of scores. Davis caught six passes for 189 yards.

The Tygers (0-1) open at home on Friday night at Arlin Field against Columbus DeSales.

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