MANDARIN – No fourth quarter rally needed this time as host Mandarin never left off the gas and steam rolled Deland 35-0 at the Coral Friday night to move on to the Region I-8A semifinal round next week easily.
Back in Week 4, Mandarin needed a late comeback to knock off host Deland 24-21, the rematch was never in doubt this time.
Junior quarterback Carson Beck, 14 of 24 for 224 yards, single handedly picked apart the Deland secondary torching them with five touchdowns passes to four different receivers to lead the host Mustangs to the victory.
Kris Mitchell, 6 catches for 115 yards and two touchdowns, led the Mustangs in receiving along with scores from Demario Douglas, Darien Oxendine and Jaylen Smith.
Beck opened the scoring with a 31 yard toss to Mitchell, which gave the Mustangs an early 7-0 lead, a lead they would never relinquish.
Smith hauled in a 31 yard catch from Beck and Beck then found Oxendine for a 5 yard toss to extend the lead to 21-0 at the half.
The Mustangs kept it up in the third quarter as Beck found Douglas wide open for a 22 yard reception and Mitchell again for a 7 yard catch and a 35-0 lead after three quarters.
While the air assault had its way with the Bulldogs secondary, so did Terrell Jennings, who accounted for 119 yards on 19 carries to lead the Mustangs on the ground.
Definsively, the Mustangs came up with their third shutout in their playoff history, their first since a second round 20-0 win at home over Lake Brantley back in 2015, the other being a 24-0 win back in 2004 at home over Cypress Creek.
Third seeded Mandarin (7-4) will travel to No. 2 Winter Park (10-1) this Friday for the Region I-8A semifinal game at Showalter Field, their first trip to the second round of the playoffs since the win over Lake Brantley three years ago.
Photos courtesy of Eagles Eye Photography
