After knocking off previously unbeaten West Holmes 40-29 in Millersburg on Friday, Mansfield Senior now sits atop the OCC a game ahead of the Knights, Madison and Lexington. This marks the first time the Tygers have ever held the lead in the conference this late in the season.

"It was a huge win." Senior safety Jakkar Bishop says. "We all came together and focused and we just played the way we should play."

Bishop has been around the program for a long time, ever sense he was the Tygers water boy as a kid, and says it's nice to be a part of a winning team after being around the program when it was struggling.

"We had the losing seasons and you know, fans would doubt us." Bishop says. "We just came as a pack and said after this one, we can't lose no more games."

The "one" Bishop is referring to is Mansfield Senior's week two loss to still unbeaten Tiffin Columbian at Arlin Field. The Tygers have stayed true to their word though and have now rattled off five consecutive wins to put themselves in line for a home playoff game. But third year head coach Chioke Bradley says his team needs to worry about the now and not get ahead of themselves.

"We're not going to look forward at any point or at any time." Bradley says. "I just feel like we got to take care of one week at a time and we're really proud of the kids for staying focused because we control our own destiny and that's a good position to be in."

But before the start of the season many Tygers players say they weren't expected to be in this position and it has fueled much of their success this season.

"When the season first started a lot of people were counting us out, but look at us now." Sophomore linebacker Jaleel Taylor says. "It's been a team effort all season. If you want to make plays the guy in front of you is going to have to step up and if he steps up you already know that you're going to make a play."

The Tygers have certainly been "stepping up" as of late, playing on Friday's without a loss sense August. To continue the streak, Mansfield Senior will have to take down a talented Wooster bunch that is just 2-5 on the season, but has played competitively throughout the year.

Bradley says this is a classic "trap game" where teams typically have a let down after a big win, but says his kids definitely aren't looking past the Generals and they should be successful on Friday night.

Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. at Arlin Field and can be seen on the WMFD Game of the Week at midnight Friday and again at 8 a.m. Saturday morning.

@BrianSkowronski