Coming off a tough loss to Northshore, where the Skippers raced out to a big lead only to see it slip away, Mandeville was looking to erase that memory against defending district champion Slidell.

Mission accomplished.

Junior Nate Sheppard ran for 184 yards and four touchdowns as the Skippers cruised to a 42-7 District 6-5A victory at L.V. McGinty Stadium on Sept. 29.

Sheppard did most of his damage in the first half, scoring all of his touchdowns in the first two periods. He scored on runs of 1, 26 and 75 yards in the first quarter and capped his night with a 14-yard run in the second quarter, finishing the first half with 147 yards on just 11 carries.

Skippers’ quarterback Caden Jacob provided the rest of the scoring, throwing TD passes to Michael White and Donovan McGowan in the second quarter. The pass to McGowan was the final straw as it put Mandeville up 42-0 with 2:50 left in the quarter, allowing the officials to institute a running clock for the rest of the contest.

Slidell (1-4, 0-2) never got on track offensively, as the Tigers went 3-and-out on three of its six first-half possessions. Two more possessions ended with fumbles, and the halftime horn stopped the final drive of the second quarter.

Mandeville (3-2, 1-1), on the other hand, wasted no time putting points on the board, scoring on the seventh play of the game on a run by Sheppard, then getting touchdown runs from Sheppard on the second play of each of its next two possessions.

Sheppard said his offensive line was the key to success.

“When they can get that big hole, I can go anywhere,” he said. “Once I get past them, I can really see the field and open it up and do what I do. We’ve been saying for the last four weeks that we just have to execute, and today, we had very few mistakes.”

Mandeville coach Craig Jones said his team played a complete game.

“After two tough losses, I thought the guys were still practicing well, and I thought they really put that into action tonight, and I was really proud of them,” Jones said. “I thought the defense played great because what they came out with was not what we practiced against — they totally changed their scheme, and I was proud of the guys for making the adjustments.”

With the running clock in effect for the second half, the game moved quickly, with Mandeville having just two possessions to Slidell’s three.

The Tigers avoided the shutout, getting a 33-yard touchdown run from quarterback Corey Cousin with 50 seconds remaining in the game. Cousin finished with 114 yards rushing but threw two interceptions.

Slidell coach Malter Scobel didn’t mince words when talking about his team’s play.

“We are just not very consistent on either side of the ball right now,” he said. “We just have to go work — it’s my fault, and it’s my job as a head coach to get them to work.”

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Mandeville | 21 | 21 | 0 | 0 — 42

Slidell | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 — 7

SCORING SUMMARY

First quarter

MHS: Nate Sheppard 1 run (Creighton Wilbanks kick), 8:50, 7-0

MHS: Sheppard 26 run (Wilbanks kick), 6:06, 14-0

MHS: Sheppard 75 run (Wilbanks kick), 3:50, 21-0

Second quarter

MHS: Michael White 25 pass from Caden Jacob (Wilbanks kick), 10:35, 28-0

MHS: Sheppard 14 run (Wilbanks kick), 6:40, 35-0

MHS: Donovan McGowan 10 pass from Jacob (Wilbanks kick), 2:50, 42-0

Third quarter

No scoring

Fourth quarter

SHS: Corey Cousin 33 run (Austin Buell kick), 0:50, 42-7

STATISTICS

Mandeville, 349 total yards (132 pass, 217 rush)

Rushing:?Nate Sheppard, 15-184, 4 TDs; Caden Jacob, 5-13; Isaiah Baham, 4-24.

Receiving:?Donovan McGowan, 3-69, TD; Michael White, 2-40, TD; Parker Lanaux, 1-23.

Passing: Jacob, 6-9, 132 yards, 2 TDs.

Slidell, 193 total yards (22 pass, 171 rush)

Rushing:?Corey Cousin, 9-114, TD; Trevel Watts, 12-37; Jalen Anderson, 6-24.

Receiving:?Anderson, 1-18; Ramelo Howard, 1-4.

Passing:?Cousin, 2-5, 22 yards, 2 INTs.