Five Forced Turnovers Power Mauldin to Historic Win

GREENVILLE | A steady, balanced offensive attack combined with a dominant defense that kept making big plays allowed Mauldin to party like its 1999 Thursday night. The Mavericks forced five turnovers and scored touchdowns off of four of those to roll to a 48-6 win at JL Mann.   The victory gives Mauldin (5-5, 3-4 Region I-5A) its first non-losing regular season since 2021 and - when the playoff brackets are announced this weekend - what should be its first home playoff game this century. It would be just the third home playoff game ever for the Mavericks and the first since defeating Lakewood in the opening round of the 1999 playoffs.   "It means everything. I'm just so proud of our kids. They've gone through so much, but they decided they wanted to stay here and build," Mauldin coach Andre Cook said. "They've done nothing but work their tails off to get to this point and really have a historic moment for our program.   "They set that goal to host a playoff game at the beginning of the season and they've worked extremely hard and believed throughout the entire process. I'm just really happy for them to accomplish that goal."   It especially means everything to seniors like [player_tooltip player_id='1303951' first='Tamari' last='Shepherd'] (pictured), who caught five passes for 94 yards and a pair of touchdowns Thursday. Over his first three years at school, Shepherd saw the program suffer through 29 losses and just three wins.   "Just going through the struggle since the start of my sophomore year and just knowing we changed the program," Shepherd said. "It means a lot."   While Shepherd had a big night receiving, Mauldin's intentions offensively were a little different to start the night. Senior running back [player_tooltip player_id='1822852' first='Taurus' last='Thomason'] carried the ball on each of the first six plays of the game, totaling up 64 yards along the way. The drive ended in bizarre fashion two plays later. Officials ruled that what appeared to be a forward pass went backwards, then ruled that after Mann recovered and lost it Mauldin had regained possession and a fresh set of downs.   After [player_tooltip player_id='1822862' first='Peyton' last='Myers'] connected with [player_tooltip player_id='1604037' first='Micah' last='McClintock'] for an 18-yard gain, sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='1822865' first='Kamari' last='Cannon'] raced 17 yards to the end zone. The Patriots' [player_tooltip player_id='1817791' first='Jayden' last='Wheeler'] blocked the extra point attempt to leave Mauldin with a 6-0 lead midway through the opening quarter.   Mann's first possession lasted just two plays, ending on a diving interception by sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='1820371' first='Tyson' last='Smith'] at midfield. This was the lone Patriots' turnover that didn't turn into points thanks to a third-down sack by [player_tooltip player_id='1821184' first='Jordyn' last='Turner-Butler'] of Mann.   The sack seemed to spark some momentum in the Patriots as quarterback AJ Bush got loose for a 36-yard run on their next offense play before Smith made a touchdown-saving tackle. Bush scrambled for 36 yards to the end zone later in the drive, but it was wiped out by a holding penalty. A huge momentum swing happened two plays later when Smith came up with another interception. While the first one required a great diving effort, this one had a sweeter reward as Smith took it back 59 yards for a touchdown.   "We've been working on that play at practice a lot. When their guy came in motion, it just kind of went in my head that that's what we've been working on," Smith said. "I saw it. He threw it. I went and got it."   In the second quarter, Shepherd became the third different Maverick to take a snap as he kept on each of the first three plays of a drive for 19 yards rushing. Then senior [player_tooltip player_id='1820354' first='Reddick' last='Langston'] came on at QB. Langston has been the starter most of the season but has been banged up the past few weeks. He hit Shepherd on a 24-yard pass, which set up a three-yard touchdown run by Cannon to push the lead to 20-0 midway through the second quarter.   After Mauldin's [player_tooltip player_id='1818026' first='Masson' last='Miller'] came up with a third-down sack to force a three-and-out, the Mavericks offense went back to work near midfield. On a third-down play, Myers went deep to Shepherd in the end zone who made a great catch for an 18-yard touchdown with 2:36 left in the first half.   The Patriots' ensuing possession ended on Mauldin's third interception of the half, this time by [player_tooltip player_id='1817997' first='JaQuan' last='Delbridge'], who returned it 27 yards to the Mann 24. Two plays later, Langston hit Shepherd in stride in the end zone for a 20-yard touchdown with 58 seconds left.   Mauldin's Lucas Hagedorn and [player_tooltip player_id='1467822' first='Josh' last='Evans'] teamed up on a sack on Mann's next possession to help the Mavs take a 34-0 lead into halftime.   The only damper for Mauldin in the first half was when Thomason left with an injury and didn't return. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, the Mavericks have had experience with dealing with injuries at skill positions all year. They've found a way to make it work.   "We just continue to learn with (both) my QBs," Shepherd said. "Staying after practice just to get that chemistry down and working on my steps."   Mauldin had its longest drive of the night late in the third quarter. Langston capped the 12-play drive when he made a stellar fake handoff. By the time anyone realized that he had the ball, he was in the end zone with a nine-yard scoring run.   Three plays later, the Mavericks closed out their scoring with another big play on defense. Hagedorn picked off a loose fumble out of mid-air and rumbled 26 yards to the end zone to push the lead to 48-0 and start the automatic running clock.   Mann avoided the shutout when Bush kept for a 57-yard touchdown run on the Patriots' final offensive play with 1:33 remaining. That run doubled the Patriots' offensive output as they finished with 114 yards on 36 plays.   Mauldin had 54 plays for 402 yards - 205 yards rushing and 197 passing. Thomason finished with 69 yards on eight carries and had one 24-yard reception. Cannon had 14 carries for 64 yards and Evans ran seven times for 48 yards. Langston had 122 yards passing, while Myers finished with 75.   "We've got a group of unselfish guys. All they really care about is the success of the team," Cook said. "That's really been the difference. You've got a group of guys that care about each other now more than their own individual accolades."   Bush led Mann with 66 yards on 11 carries.

GREENVILLE | A steady, balanced offensive attack combined with a dominant defense that kept making big plays allowed Mauldin to party like its 1999 Thursday night. The Mavericks forced five turnovers and scored touchdowns off of four of those to roll to a 48-6 win at JL Mann.