Clearfield • Andre Dyson searched for a quarterback around whom he could rebuild his alma mater’s struggling football program when he took over as Clearfield’s football coach three and a half years ago.
It wasn’t long before he noticed then-freshman Jaxon Mansfield.
“He’s just a winner, first and foremost,” Dyson said. “The first day he walked into this building you could tell there was something about him. He loves to compete, likes the big stage and the game never gets too big for him.”
With Mansfield leading a deep senior class, Clearfield is poised to deliver on Dyson’s four-year plan to fix the Falcons.
“It was part of a bigger picture of getting them ready for this year,” said Dyson, whose team sits at 2-0 to begin the season. “They’ve worked hard and they’ve been through a lot, and it’s good to see them have some success.”
Following victories over Hunter, which came in double overtime, and Cottonwood, where he threw for two touchdowns in each game, Mansfield took time to reflect on how far he and his team have come since he took over as starting quarterback as a sophomore in 2015.
“We set the bar pretty high for ourselves,” said Mansfield, who is determined to reverse three seasons of misfortune. “We definitely have our sights set on the playoffs and just prove people wrong because we know what we have and we know what we need to do to get there.
“It’s not the same old Clearfield anymore, and we have kids that have bought in and do what coach has us do to win games.”
JAXON MANFIELD <br>School • Clearfield <br>Year • Senior <br>Positions • Quarterback/safety <br>Height • 5 foot 10 <br>Weight • 170 pounds <br>Passing stats • 27 of 49 for 406 yards, 4 TDs, 3 INTs <br>Rushing stats • 10 carries for 43 yards, 1 TD
Mansfield’s favorite receiving target and fellow senior Colton Manning has seen his teammate become more than just a capable quarterback as their high school careers near completion.
“He was a playmaker from Day 1,” said Manning, who met Mansfield during summer football when they were freshmen.
While his knowledge of the game and vision from the pocket evolved, Manning said it was Mansfield’s leadership skills that especially grew over time.
“This year he’s been a lot more focused and a lot more determined,” said Manning, who is coming off a 10-touchdown season in 2016. “You’d see him leading on the field with his play, but now he’s leading vocally — a huge difference from his sophomore year.”
Mansfield said he recognized his team needed more from him than just his on-field performance. He needed to become an extension of Dyson.
“I just wanted everyone to buy into what the coaches had to say and to trust what we had to say as captains to win football games,” Mansfield said. “We’ve got a lot of people on our side right now.”
Dyson’s rebuilding plan has been methodical and, at times, trying. After an 0-10 season in 2015, the Falcons improved slightly to 2-8 last season. Dyson was encouraged by their progress but felt his team underachieved.
“Last year we just couldn’t close out close games,” said Dyson, who played in college at Utah and later for three NFL clubs over seven seasons. “Or we kept teams in games when they shouldn’t have been close.
“We didn’t know how to win. Seeing the little things we did has helped in our first two wins.”
Perhaps slightly undersized for a prototypical quarterback, Mansfield possesses superior athleticism and a baseball-honed strong arm in directing Clearfield’s spread offense.
One challenge Dyson had for his senior quarterback was to harness his athleticism and arm strength so those close losses — four of which came by less than a touchdown in 2016 — would become wins this season.
“We talked a lot, and our big discussion was protecting the football,” Dyson said. “If he cut his interceptions in half, it would mean the difference in games. He controls the offense and commands respect from his teammates and instead of looking for the big play, he’s looking to make the right one.”
The Falcons will try to move to 3-0 for the first time since 2003, when they reached the Class 5A state quarterfinals. They host Weber (1-1) to open Region 1 action.
WEEK 3 SCHEDULE <br>Thursday <br>Stansbury at Grantsville <br>Richfield JV at Wayne <br>Friday <br>West Side (Idaho) at Rich, 4 p.m. <br>Milford at Layton Christian, 4 p.m. <br>Altamont at West Wendover (Nev.), 4 p.m. <br>Springville vs. Sky View at Utah State, 5:30 p.m. <br>American Fork vs. Servite (Calif.) at Mission Viejo High, 6 p.m. <br>Monticello at San Juan <br>Pleasant Grove at Jordan <br>Dixie at Tooele <br>Moapa Valley (Nev.) at Hurricane <br>Viewmont at Green Canyon <br>Payson at Emery <br>Ben Lomond at Morgan <br>Northridge at Syracuse <br>Box Elder at Mountain Crest <br>Highland at Hillcrest <br>Summit Academy at Judge Memorial <br>Roy at Skyridge <br>Hunter at Mountain View (Idaho) <br>Manti at Pine View <br>Spanish Fork at Maple Mountain <br>Carbon at Duchesne <br>Cedar City at North Sanpete <br>Bingham at Herriman <br>West Jordan at Bear River <br>Logan at Ogden <br>Delta at Beaver <br>Cottonwood at Kearns <br>Gunnison Valley at South Sevier <br>Copper Hills at Cyprus <br>Granger at Bountiful <br>Davis at Layton <br>Mountain View at Wasatch <br>Juab at Salem Hills <br>Weber at Clearfield <br>Provo at Riverton <br>Westlake at Corner Canyon <br>Lehi at Lone Peak <br>Las Vegas (Nev.) at Snow Canyon <br>Woods Cross at West <br>Millard at North Sevier <br>Uintah at Union <br>Brighton at Olympus <br>Fremont at Bonneville <br>Juan Diego at Skyline <br>North Summit at Enterprise <br>Richfield at Kanab <br>Alta at Taylorsville <br>Timpanogos at Canyon View <br>American Leadership at Grand County <br>South Summit at Park City <br>Monument Valley at Many Farms (Ariz.) <br>East at Saguaro (Ariz.) <br>Ridgeline vs. Raymond (Alberta), at Utah State, 8:30 p.m. <br>Desert Hills at Mission Hills (Calif.), 9 p.m. <br>Parowan at Calvary Chapel (Nev.), 8 p.m. <br>Saturday <br>Timpview vs. Del Oro (Calif.) at Mission Viejo High, 5 p.m. <br><br>All games at 7 p.m. unless noted