Mangham Dragons defeat Oak Grove, 34-6

The Mangham Dragons dominated the Oak Grove Tigers last Friday night, bringing home a 34-6 victory.

The win gives Mangham a 1-0 record following their open game of the regular season.

“Our effort versus Oak Grove was outstanding,” Mangham head coach Tommy Tharp said. “We showed some grit and fight that I didn’t know we had in us. I was extremely proud of many young men, 9-12 grade, that contributed to this effort. We are not yet The Ritz, but we are improving daily and certainly will need to considering out schedule.”

The Dragons jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter and widened it to 28-6 by half time. Following a scoreless third quarter, the Dragons scored again in the final period to make the score 34-6 at the end of the night.

The Dragons rolled up 376 yards on the night, with 32 yards passing and 344 yards rushing.

Kyle Barefield hit two of four pass attempts for 21 yards while Chris Fleming went two for two for 11 yards. Barefield also had one reception for five yards while Jakarie Nicols pulled into two passes for 21 yards and Jermichael Harris had one reception for six yards.

Abdullah Rhone led Mangham’s rushing with seven carries for 115 yards and a touchdown. Barefield had seven carries for 95 yards and a touchdown. Nichols had 11 carries for 90 yards and a touchdown. Donovan Haynes had seven carries for 27 yards. Andrew Sevier had four carries for eight yards and two touchdowns and Rodney Hardmon ran the ball once for nine yards.

Jake Guillot contributed four points while kicking PATs.

On defense, Nichols had nine tackles, Joel Banks and Julius Haley had eight each, Cedric Straughter had seven, Barefield and Amariss Chisley had five each, Dre Rogers had four, Madison Woodward and Everett Huff had three each, Rhone, Brandon Cleary and Guillot had two each and  Sam McMurry, Haynes,  Jeremy Biggs, Hunter Roberts and Harris had one each.

This week, Mangham will host St. Thomas Aquinas on Sept. 11. The Falcons now stand at 1-0 following a win over Chalmette in their season opener.

“St. Thomas is the SEC West,” Tharp said. “They have an LSU and a Mississippi State commitment in their defensive tackle and their quarterback. We must play extremely well to keep from getting embarrassed. We are out of our class with this private school, but we’ve been there before, and expect to battle.”