Look: Fulshear muscles past Manvel 9-7 to keep district title hopes alive

The Fulshear Chargers earned a 9-7 road win over Manvel on Friday to stay tied for first place in the District 10-5A DI standings with one week left in the regular season

ROSHARON, Texas — The Fulshear Chargers have thrived in 2022 thanks to their high-octane offense.

But despite owning one of the state's most dangerous offenses and their best record in program history, the Chargers leaned on their defense in a pivotal District 10-5A DI matchup against Manvel.

The Chargers held the Mavericks to a single second-half score and produced a pair of fourth-quarter stops defensively, as Fulshear eked out a 9-7 victory over Manvel on Friday night at Freedom Field.

The victory marked Fulshear's fourth straight district win and helped the team clinch a postseason berth. The Chargers improved to 6-1 in district play with the win, preserving a first-place tie with Angleton in the District 10-5A DI standings with a week left in the regular season.

Fulshear, which averaged 52.5 points per contest offensively heading into Week 10, claimed an early advantage with the only first-half score of the game after a defensive first quarter.

The Chargers took the lead on an 8-yard touchdown run by quarterback Parker Williams, but a failed two-point conversion attempt on the next play kept the score at 6-0 during the second quarter.

Manvel tried to make a dent in Fulshear's lead before heading into halftime, but missed a 25-yard field goal attempt on the final play of the second quarter.

The Mavericks were held to less than 100 yards of offense during the first half, but seized their first lead of the night during the third quarter.

Mavs quarterback Kaden Smith scrambled 48 yards to score on a game-tying touchdown run with less than 4 minutes left during the third quarter, and the ensuing extra-point gave Manvel a 7-6 advantage.

The Chargers, however, soon responded with a field goal to reclaim a 9-7 lead with about 8 minutes remaining in the game.

Fulshear's defense took over from there.

Manvel mounted two fourth-quarter drives to try to move within field-goal range and drill a game-winning kick.

The Chargers foiled the Mavericks' first of two late fourth-quarter drives when defensive back Jacob Hoffard picked off a pass inside the 4-minute mark.

A few minutes later, the Mavs regained possession and had pushed the ball past midfield with less than a minute remaining during the fourth quarter.

Manvel lined up to kick a 47-yard field goal to retake the lead, but an illegal substitution penalty pushed the Mavericks back, where they missed a 52-yard field goal attempt to give the ball back to the Chargers.

Fulshear (8-1, 6-1) will look to pick up its fifth straight win when the Chargers return to action for a high-stakes district finale against the Richmond Foster Falcons (7-2, 5-2) at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 3, at Guy K. Traylor Stadium in Rosenberg.

The Chargers can secure an outright District 10-5A DI championship with a win against Foster and an Angleton loss to Fort Bend Kempner.

Manvel (6-3, 5-2), meanwhile, will try to close out its regular-season slate on a high note when the Mavericks face the Rosenberg Terry Rangers (2-7, 0-6) in their district finale at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 4, at Traylor Stadium in Rosenberg.

The Mavs will lock up District 10-5A DI's No. 3 playoff seed with a win against Rosenberg Terry.

Check out SBLive's exclusive photo gallery from the game:

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PHOTO GALLERY — FULSHEAR 9, MANVEL 7

All photos by Tom Dendy