Mandeville’s Skippers overcame 11 penalties at home Thursday night and held off the Slidell Tigers for a hard fought, 24-21, district victory. The Skippers (4-0) moved to 2-0 in District 7-5A play, while the Tigers (2-2) are even at 1-1 in the district. Both offenses were sluggish in the first half as the officials littered the field with yellow penalty flags. Mandeville was whistled for seven penalties totaling 50 yards, while Slidell was flagged five times for 33 yards in the opening stanza. MHS was called for 11 infractions for 80 yards, while SHS had seven penalties for 43 yards overall. In addition, numerous penalties were declined based on the situation.

Mandeville junior signal caller John Wenzel connected on 13-of-24 passes for 172 yards. He finished the first half 9-for-17 for 131 yards. He also rushed for 79 yards and a score.

Wenzel said his team needs to execute better and be mentally focused.

(Use arrows above to view more photos)

“It was a good win for us, but we really didn’t execute like we should have. Coming off a big win against St. Paul’s (17-0), maybe we weren’t as focused as we should have been. We have to start executing better,” Wenzel said.

Mandeville coach Guy LeCompte was frustrated with the number of penalties his Skippers committed.

“It needs to be corrected. It’s got to be corrected soon. That’s why I have white hair,” LeCompte said.

Mandeville enjoyed excellent field position throughout the first quarter. With Slidell at first-and-10 on its 19, senior quarterback Blake Forbis, who clicked on 23-of-37 for 279 yards and two touchdowns, was intercepted by MHS senior Hayden Harper after a pass deflection.

MHS took over at the Slidell 23 with 2:41 remaining in the first quarter. On first down, Lamard Martin broke off a big gainer for 22 yards. MHS senior cornerback Kody Keowen entered the game in the short yardage situation, pushing the ball across at the 2:13 mark. Matt Dombrowski tacked on the PAT for the 7-0 lead.

On the ensuing possession, Slidell took over at its 20. Forbis put together a nice drive, reeling off four first downs, but the drive failed to result in points. Facing fourth-and-six from the Skippers’ 9, the Tigers’ Chris Barnes 26-yard field goal attempt was ruled no good, sliding just wide right. Forbis completed 4-of-5 passes for 40 yards on the drive.

With 8:45 remaining in the second quarter, Mandeville countered with a drive of its own from the 20. On second-and-seven, Wenzel linked up with Michael Garrido for a 46-yard catch down the left sideline, picking up their sixth first down. The play set up the Skippers first-and-goal at the 7 with just under six minutes remaining. On first down, Wenzel threw a perfect fade to senior Brandon Weeden, who made a beautiful catch in the right corner for an apparent score. The play was nullified when the Skippers were called for illegal motion. The Skippers added to their woes, being flagged for a holding penalty on the next play. The drive stalled with the usually reliable Dombrowski trotting onto the field to try a 36-yard field goal. The kick never got any height and was no good to keep the score at 7-0 with 4:23 left in the half. On the change of possession, Slidell’s Jaron Wiggins fumbled after being hit by Kentrell Thomas with the ball being recovered by Skippers’ senior linebacker Jeff Rebouche at the Tigers’ 18 with 4:10 left in the half. On first down, another holding penalty was assessed against the Skippers. Wenzel connected with Elijah Leveé on two consecutive short passes for 7 and 9 yards. Levee´ had four catches for 38 yards. On third-and-six from the 14, Lamard Martin gained 2 yards. Dombrowski lined up for a 30-yard field goal, splitting the uprights after holder Chris Houlemard did an excellent job with a low snap to get the ball down. Dombrowski’s kick made it 10-0 with 1:35 before halftime.

Slidell started its final drive of the half from the 33. On third-and-11, Forbis found Tyler Ziegler for a 28-yard reception down to the Skippers 40 with 36 seconds left. Following an incompletion, Forbis hit Ziegler with a 2-yard completion. On third-and-eight, Forbis generated some magic, launching a Hail Mary pass right down the middle of the field that was hauled in by junior receiver Armand Williams. He made an athletic move, out leaping the Skippers’ defense to pull in the TD toss with just eight seconds left. Williams finished with seven catches for 79 yards. Barnes was true on the PAT, to make it 10-7 at intermission.

Forbis said his club got off to a slow start.

“We got some stupid penalties. It took us awhile to get our momentum going. It was good getting that score right before the half. I just threw it up to him (Williams). Armand is good at going up, and getting the ball. He came down with it, and made a great play,” Forbis said.

Forbis said the Mandeville defense flies to the ball.

“I didn’t have many running lanes. They have some speed. Their DBs will hit you,” Forbis added.

SHS received the second half kick off but was unable to move the ball. Wenzel got the Skippers back on the board on their initial possession, capping off an eight-play drive, busting right up the middle on a 32-yard scoring jaunt with 5:19 left in the third quarter. Dombrowski converted the extra point to push the Skippers’ lead to 17-7.

Later in the quarter, MHS took over with 2:26 on the clock, at its 20. Senior Will Bunns rattled off a 57-yard run down to the Tigers’ 23. The Skippers found pay dirt when Houlemard, the Skippers’ backup quarterback, lofted a pass to Weeden on a fade rout to the right corner from 7 yards out with 11 seconds left in the quarter. Dombrowski’s point after pushed the margin to 24-7.

Slidell’s Romero Garcia returned the ensuing kickoff 34 yards. The Tigers, in a never-say-die effort, converted on a fourth-and-three from the Skippers’ 42 with Forbis hitting Travis Markey along the right sideline. He broke a couple tackles, making his way into the end zone. Barnes’ PAT cut the lead to 24-14 with 10:03 left.

Slidell made things interesting with Wiggins scoring on a 6-yard run. Barnes’ point after trimmed the lead to 24-21 with only 1:01 remaining. Barnes attempted an onsides kick with the ball being covered up by Rebouche to give the Skippers possession at the Tigers’ 48. Wenzel knelt down a couple times, running the clock for the Skippers 24-21 victory.

Mandeville’s defense got a strong effort from Michael Crain with nine individual tackles and one assist. Senior cornerback Jerry Mitchell posted five solo tackles and an assist. Keowen notched five tackles along with one stop for a loss.

MHS defensive coordinator Craig Jones said he was pleased with the victory. “You have to be happy with the ‘W’, but we had a couple breakdowns that we have to fix,” Jones said. “Slidell has a very talented group of receivers. They did a good job with their formations. They were able to get some mismatches, and they took advantage of them. Forbis was able to keep things alive,” Jones added.

Slidell senior receiver TJ Nunez had a solid game, snaring nine receptions for 90 yards, while Ziegler had four catches for 54 yards.

Slidell coach Artie Liuzza said his club played hard.

“I’m proud of them. They played their butts off. We made some mistakes early, and they were hard to overcome. Mandeville is a fine football team. We will be a better football team next week because of this game,” Liuzza said.

Liuzza praised the play of his quarterback (Forbis) and his wide receivers.

Mandeville travels to Ponchatoula Friday, while Slidell is on the road against the St. Paul’s Wolves (3-1, 1-1).