CLEVELAND — Smoke rolled across the field just before Mannford’s first offensive snap Friday night.
Maybe somebody forgot to tell the Pirates it was supposed to just be atmospheric.
One play later, J.J. Hindsman was gone. The Mannford senior ripped off a touchdown run on the Pirates’ first offensive play, and from there the smoke looked less like pregame theatrics and more like somebody had lit a fire under the Mannford sideline.
Hindsman finished with 288 rushing yards and five touchdowns as the Pirates rolled to a 40-0 victory over Keystone Lake rival Cleveland.
For a rivalry game between two towns separated by only a few minutes of highway, this one did not spend much time pretending it was going to be close.
Mannford scored 21 points in the first quarter, leaned on a punishing ground game all night and finished with 455 rushing yards on 39 carries. That is 11.7 yards every time the Pirates handed somebody the football.
Most of the offense belonged to Hindsman. The senior carried just 12 times, averaged 24 yards per rush and broke a 90-yarder along the way. Five of those 12 carries ended in the end zone.
Cleveland entered the night already dealing with some adversity. Sophomore starting quarterback Bryson Sullivan did not suit up, and sophomore Sam Sizemore, normally one of the Tigers’ receiving threats, moved behind center.
That had a ripple affect on Cleveland’s offense as it had to shuffle before the rivalry game ever started, taking one of its better targets out of the passing game at the onset.
Mannford won the toss, took the football and wasted almost no time making the Tigers chase.
After the opening touchdown, the Pirates kept hammering away on the ground. Ryder Tidwell added 69 yards on eight carries, Keegan Arndt picked up 43 yards on only three attempts, and Mannford finished the night with 465 total yards despite throwing for only 10.
In other words, there was not much mystery about what Mannford’s plan was going in.
Cleveland knew the run was coming. If you’ve scouted these Pirates, they like their feet on the ground.
Stopping them was another matter. The Pirates led 21-0 after the first quarter, went scoreless in the second, then added 13 more in the third and six in the fourth.
When the field flipped, it was still all Mannford. Hindsman was every bit as disruptive when Cleveland had the ball.
He led Mannford with 12 tackles, added an interception and was credited with a quarterback hurry. The Pirates finished with six tackles for loss, two sacks and three interceptions.
Cleveland did have moments worth noting, particularly from No. 11 Leland Kimbrough.
Kimbrough returned to action with a broken elbow, his left arm still in a cast and heavily wrapped in protective foam. That did not stop him from getting to Mannford quarterback Kayden Leslie for a sack.
There is probably an easier way to spend a Friday night with a broken elbow. The couch, a Play Station.
Kimbrough apparently was not interested. For Mannford, Tidwell continued to show signs of becoming more than just another ball carrier. The junior ran for positive yardage, blocked well and continued to play aggressively on defense.
The game also added another chapter to a rivalry that has been around far longer than most of the players wearing today’s uniforms.
Mannford and Cleveland have been meeting for decades, with the series regularly carrying the extra edge that comes from neighboring communities sharing the same lake, many of the same roads and no shortage of acquaintances on the other sideline.
For the last five years, the rivalry has turned a darker shade of purple.
Mannford has won the last five meetings, including Friday night’s 40-point shutout.
That does not make the rivalry any less heated. It just means Cleveland will have even more reason to remember this one next year.
For Mannford, there will not be much time to admire the box score.
The Pirates return home Friday to face an incredibly scrappy Bristow Pirate team in the Battle of the Boats.
After the way the ground game looked in Cleveland, Bristow probably does not need anybody to send over the scouting report.
Just circle No. 3. That’s JJ Hindsman.