Mansfield powers past Fordyce for first-ever 3A title, 40-30

Published On: December 23, 2025Categories: High School, Featured, News

Mansfield powers past Fordyce for first-ever 3A title, 40-30

LITTLE ROCK — For a quarter and a half, the Centennial Bank 3A state championship looked like it might be decided by red-zone grit and who could simply avoid the next penalty.

Then Mansfield’s flexbone did what it’s done all season: it turned one stop into an avalanche.

The Tigers and Fordyce traded early punches without landing anything on the scoreboard. Mansfield recovered a sky kick to open the game and twice pushed deep into Red Bug territory, only to be turned away by Fordyce’s defense. The Red Bugs had their own golden chance—first-and-goal at the 3—before a string of mistakes and a fourth-down stand kept them empty.

That sequence proved to be the hinge point.

With 3:45 left in the first half, Mansfield fullback Andrew Burton broke through the first wave, shrugged off contact, and outran everyone for a 90-yard touchdown that finally cracked the scoreless tie. Mansfield’s confidence only grew from there. Just before halftime, quarterback Jubel Parks went up top and Joe Carter won a contested ball for a 48-yard touchdown, and Mansfield’s commitment to (and success on) two-point tries helped build a 16-0 lead at the break.

Fordyce refused to fold.

Playing through a knee injury, quarterback Andrew “Cadillac” Ellison ignited the Red Bugs in the second half with explosive throws—first finding Jamart Straoud behind the defense for a long score, then getting the ball to Micah Gamble in space for another. Each time Fordyce threatened to swing momentum, Mansfield answered with the same formula: keep it on the ground, keep it physical, and punish any lapse in assignment football.

The most backbreaking response came immediately after Fordyce closed within two scores in the third quarter—Burton ripped off another long touchdown run (59 yards), and Mansfield’s rushing avalanche never really slowed. By the end of the night, Mansfield piled up 489 rushing yards, setting a state championship game record, and Burton’s bruising, breakaway performance (and a perfect night on conversions) held off every Fordyce surge.

Fordyce’s passing game made it a fight to the final minutes—Ellison threw for 475 yards and five touchdowns, and Straoud produced a monster receiving night—but Mansfield’s 5-for-5 performance on two-point conversions ended up being the separator in a game where both teams scored five touchdowns.

When the final knee hit the turf, Mansfield had not only completed the job—it had delivered the program’s first state football championship.