‘Pounding the rock’ leads Argyle to win over Mansfield Timberview in district opener

ARGYLE — Argyle’s game plan to neutralize one of the top secondaries in the Dallas area worked to near-perfection for a half. A week after receiver Julian Caldwell had over 200 yards receiving, it was Argyle’s ground game, led by Nathaniel Bruce, that powered a 35-27 win over Mansfield Timberview in its district opener Friday night. Argyle is back on track. ?? After dropping the opener to Lone Star, the Eagles have won 2 straight. Nathaniel Bruce led the way with 130 yards and 3 TDs on the ground. ????#txhsfb #RapidReactionWithRon #Dallas #HSFootball pic.twitter.com/0mv2b5zfFv — SportsDayHS (@SportsDayHS) September 13, 2025 Bruce finished with 130 yards rushing and three touchdowns. Argyle totaled 213 yards on the ground with Logan Rexroat adding another score. And that ground-and-pound effort was intentional, with Timberview fielding two of the top 2026 defensive backs in the state in Chance Collins and Davin Hill, who matched up with Caldwell most of the night. “We have a really good O-line,” Bruce said. “I was able to finally get a push because you win ball games in the trenches, and with our phenomenal O-line and our blocking receivers, the fact that we were able to control our line of scrimmage in the first half kind of set that tone. “We kept pounding the rock, pounding the rock and that opened up the pass more because we had safeties crashing down and all that. It just was a work of art.” Argyle shut out Mansfield Timberview in the first half, taking a 28-0 lead into halftime. But first-year head coach Jacody Coleman’s team rallied back in the second half, scoring 21 unanswered points led by quarterback Mylez Davis and receiver Braylin Barnett. The two connected on a pair of scores, one from 60 yards and one from 13 yards to cut it to a one-score game in the fourth quarter. “We had some balls bounce our way a couple of times [in the first half],” Argyle head coach Todd Rodgers said. “We were talking about that at halftime. That the ball bounced our way, and what are we going to do when the ball doesn’t bounce our way? We had to fight our tails off, because [Timberview is] a good team.” When Argyle needed to push the lead one more time, it looked to its TCU-commit tight end Braden Bach for one of his three catches on a 12-yard score. The win was Rodgers’ 100th-career home victory, all coming at Argyle. “It’s special because I spent it with a lot of kids, a lot of families, a lot of people celebrate on this field, so it’s uniquely special that I’ve been able to do it all in one location,” Rodgers said.

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‘POUNDING THE ROCK’ LEADS ARGYLE TO WIN OVER MANSFIELD TIMBERVIEW IN DISTRICT OPENER

ISHMAEL JOHNSON

The Dallas Morning News | 9/13/2025

PHOTO CREDIT: SportsDay Staff