A 28-year-old woman is brought to the hospital after being assaulted with a blunt object. On examination, she has a 4 cm laceration on the left forehead with irregular, jagged edges and surrounding tissue swelling. The wound bleeds briskly. On her right arm, there are multiple parallel linear marks with partial skin loss, and on her back, there is a large area of blue-purple discoloration with intact skin. The examining physician notes that the forehead wound has tissue bridging across its depth. Which of the following best explains the tissue bridging observed in the forehead laceration?