With a playoff game on the line, the Mandarin Mustangs rose to the challenge on Friday. They came out on top against Winter Park by a score of 29-16. That result was just more of the same for these two, as Mandarin also won the last time the pair played back in November of 2018.
Mandarin got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Tiant Wyche out in front who rushed for 149 yards and two touchdowns on only 15 carries. Mandarin also got a significant boost from Deshard Westcott, who ran away from the competition to the tune of 114 yards.
Another reason for the win was Mandarin's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for eight sacks. The heavy lifting was done by Jackson Copeland and Desean Hall who racked up four sacks between them.
Mandarin is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 8-3 record this season. As for Winter Park, their loss ended a ten-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 9-1.
Mandarin will head out on the road to face off against Lake Mary at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Lake Mary is on a six-game streak of home wins, Mandarin a three-game streak of away wins -- so someone will have to leave a streak behind on the field. Winter Park does not have any more games scheduled as of now.
