Fresh off a win over Douglass High School in Soul Bowl 2009, the Manassas Tigers found themselves taking on the Northside Jaguars in what should have been called The Mud Bowl. The Tigers came out flat and struggled through most of the first half against a Northside team that came in with a record of 1-7. It wasn’t until late in the first half that the Tigers put together a drive to go up 8-0 on a nice 29 yard pass play from Will Redmond to Terrance Oliver. This would get Manassas rolling towards an eventual victory, 34-0.

The game marked the first shutout of the season for Manassas. For a defensive unit that has played well most of the season, this was a nice reward for their hard work. And they wasted no time in letting Northside know that they were in for a long night. After kicking off to start the game, the Tigers would make a statement on the first play from scrimmage. Senior Dexter Alexander cut down the Northside running back in the backfield for a loss and set the tone for the rest of the night. On a very wet and muddy field, the defense would make sure the Jaguars would be spinning their wheels most of the night. They would limit Northside to only 6 first downs and 135 yards of offense.

A key player on the defensive side of the ball also proved to be a valuable weapon on special teams and offense. Chavis Daniels played his best all around game of the season and helped to lift his team out of the funk they were in. Chavis would recover an onside kick late in the first half and intercept a pass and return it to the one yard line to set up a score in the second half.  And to top things off, Chavis scored his first touchdown of the season on a 5 yard pass from quarterback Terrance Oliver to complete the scoring in the 4^th quarter. T.O. once again proved how valuable he is to this Manassas team by catching a touchdown pass in the first half and then throwing one in the second half.

In the second half the Tigers proved to be too much for the Jaguars After making some adjustments to account for the defensive schemes of Northside, Manassas would score two touchdowns in the 3^rd quarter to put the game away. The first score came on a 35 yard pass over the middle from Will Redmond to JaTaime Wiggins. Later in the quarter, Will would keep it himself for a one yard touchdown run. And it wouldn’t be a Manassas game without Omar Williams scoring. So in the 4^th quarter, Omar would do just that on a 2 yard run to complete his night. Omar would carry 18 times for 100 yards to lead the rushing attack that also saw Antonio Parker get 51 yards on only 7 carries.

The Tigers shot themselves in the foot a couple of times or the game would have been even more lopsided. Costly penalties on a fake punt that went for a long gain and on a punt return that was called back would take 14 points off the board for Manassas. These types of mistakes could prove to be costly come playoff time. Fortunately the Tigers have one more game to fine tune things prior to playoffs.

The Tigers celebrated the victory and a berth in the playoffs by diving and sliding headfirst across the muddy field. This Friday night the Tigers will wrap up the regular season by celebrating senior night and taking on Kingsbury High. Game time is 7:00 PM at Crump Stadium. Come on out and show your support for the Tigers. They have had a great season and plan on closing it out in style. Don’t miss it.