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

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.