Manvel slips past Dawson 38-31 in district clash

November 5, 2025

A place in the playoffs had already been secured by the Dawson Eagles entering the game against Manvel, but the Mavericks were fighting for their playoff lives.

In a back-and-forth contest, Manvel was able to finally pull out the district win to keep their playoff hopes alive as they will face the Dobie Longhorns this week with the winner advancing to the post-season.

When the dust had cleared or better yet, when the flags were picked up, the Mavs had pulled out a 38-31 win while Dawson had closed out the regular season with a 7-3 overall record and 6-2 in district with a ticket to the playoffs.

Both teams had somehow survived one of the worst officiated games this year as Manvel was flagged 23 times for 199 yards and Dawson was flagged nine times for 80 yards. That's 279 yards in penalties when an average high school game might see five to nine total flags thrown for both teams.

Despite the penalties, Dawson also had to overcome an uncharacteristic number of turnovers as they had four interceptions by the Manvel defense while the Eagles defense countered with two fumble recoveries.

Dawson opened up the game with good field position at their own 48. Six plays later the Eagles faced fourth down at the Manvel 32 and settled for a 49-yard field goal by kicker Noah Abela for a 3-0 lead 8:40 left in the first quarter.

It didn't take Manvel long to answer as Eric Moseley scored on a 12-yard run with 7:08 in the first period to cap a 6-play, 67-yard drive for a 7-3 lead.

The Eagles responded with a 7-play, 64-yard scoring drive as WR Corey Brown scored on a 15-yard run with 4:47 left in the opening period to retake the lead 10-7.

Manvel took back the lead as they were able to get three interceptions producing a 1-yard touchdown plunge by Kenneth Malone-Hayes and then Moseley scored with 1:01 left in the first period on a 26-yard run to make the score 21-10.

Dawson fought back in the second quarter holding Manvel scoreless while scoring twice as Corey Brown found the pay station on runs of 1 and 8-yards to take a 24-21 lead at intermission.

The Eagles increased the lead to 31-21 with 4:48 left in the third quarter when QB Zion Anderson tossed an 11-yard pass to Anthony Fournet. Abela added his fourth PAT.

That would be all the scoring for Dawson as Manvel scored 17 unanswered points down the stretch to grab the 38-31 district win to keep their playoff hopes alive.

Dawson has an open date this week to get ready for the playoffs. Their playoff opponent and schedule still hasn't been decided.