Injuries Pile Up On Valley Football Team
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
NORTH MANCHESTER - The Manchester Squires capitalized on an injured Tippecanoe Valley football team's mistakes to win their first Three Rivers Conference game of the season 27-9.
With quarter back Brandon Eaton and several other players out with injuries, the Vikings had obstacles to overcome internally before they even stepped on the field against Manchester.
The Vikings grabbed momentum early as they recovered a Manchester fumble on the first play of the game. The Vikings then jumped out to a 3-0 lead when Nathan Moore sent the ball through the uprights for a 46-yard field goal.
The Valley squad then increased its lead to 9-0 after recovering a Manchester fumble in the endzone with 2:19 remaining in the first quarter.
After the Squire offense fizzled in the first quarter, coach Al Bailey sent sophomore Michael Sorg in to play quarterback. He led the Manchester squad to its first points of the game on a 1-yard Josh Peden run. After Korey Rupley nailed the extra point, Manchester had reduced Valley's lead to two, 9-7.
"Sorg has a different cadence so I think the team listens harder when he's in," said Bailey. "I think it caught the defense off guard with the different rhythm."
On their first drive of the second half, the Squires moved got the ball on their own 39-yard line and gained just seven yards in three plays. Then on third down and three, Sorg connected with Kedric Miller for a 55-yard touchdown pass to give Manchester its first lead of the night.
"The 55-yard pass play in the third quarter shifted the game our way," said Bailey. "It put us in front for the first time. It turned the emotion of the game in our favor."
However, the Squires were not finished as they capitalized on another Valley fumble less than a minute into the next drive to gain possession of the ball on Valley's 40-yard line. The Squires converted the turnover into another touchdown to give themselves a 21-9 lead going into the fourth quarter.
After intercepting a Valley pass, Manchester moved the ball down the field to set up a 1-yard touchdown run by John Sommer that put the Squires up 27-9.
On Valley's last drive of the game, Manchester intercepted the ball on the Viking 28-yard line with 3:23 remaining, but Valley's offense suffered a more severe blow when halfback Josh Wagoner went down with an injury.
"The word on Wagoner is not good," said Valley coach Scott Bibler. "He got a helmet to the leg and we think he may have a broken tibia.
"In all my years of coaching, I have never seen a year like this with injuries. This is the worst by far. We have four starters out, and they are four starters who go both ways. That definitely doesn't help the team."
"You never want to see things like that happen," said Bailey. "They lost their quarterback last week, and they have lost some others as well. It's a tough situation for them right now."
Manchester improves to 2-1 overall and 1-0 TRC and will prepare to play conference rival Whitko (0-3, 0-1 TRC) next week. Valley falls to 1-2 overall and 0-1 in the TRC and hosts 2-1 Southwood Friday.
Manchester 27 Tippecanoe Valley 9
Manchester 0 7 14 6 - 27
Valley 9 0 0 0 - 9
M V
First downs 11 3
Rushes-yards 50-174 27-28
Passing 97 7
Comp.-Att.-Int. 4-16-0 2-10-2
Total offense 271 35
Fumbles-lost 6-2 5-2
Punts-ave. 1-34.0 6-30.8
Penalties-yards 3-26 3-24
First Quarter
7:00 -ÊNathan Moore 46 yd FG, 3-0 V
2:19 -ÊChris Standeford fumble rec. in endzone (PAT failed), 9-0 V
Second Quarter
4:36 -ÊJosh Peden 1 yd run (Korey Rupley PAT), 9-7 V
Third Quarter
8:19 -ÊKedric Miller 55 pass from Sorg (PAT failed), 13-9 M
3:45 -ÊPeden 2 run (PAT Sorg run), 21-9 M
Fourth Quarter
5:05 -ÊJohn Sommer 1 run (PAT failed), 27-9 M
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing -ÊManchester: Peden 26-116, Sommer 13-42; Valley: Derek Eby 4-21.
Receiving - Manchester: Tom Hardy 1-30, Kedric Miller 2-33; Valley: Eby 1-8.
Passing - Manchester: Michael Sorg 3-5-83 0 INT, TD; Valley: Craig Kuhn 2-10-7, 2 INT. [[In-content Ad]]
NORTH MANCHESTER - The Manchester Squires capitalized on an injured Tippecanoe Valley football team's mistakes to win their first Three Rivers Conference game of the season 27-9.
With quarter back Brandon Eaton and several other players out with injuries, the Vikings had obstacles to overcome internally before they even stepped on the field against Manchester.
The Vikings grabbed momentum early as they recovered a Manchester fumble on the first play of the game. The Vikings then jumped out to a 3-0 lead when Nathan Moore sent the ball through the uprights for a 46-yard field goal.
The Valley squad then increased its lead to 9-0 after recovering a Manchester fumble in the endzone with 2:19 remaining in the first quarter.
After the Squire offense fizzled in the first quarter, coach Al Bailey sent sophomore Michael Sorg in to play quarterback. He led the Manchester squad to its first points of the game on a 1-yard Josh Peden run. After Korey Rupley nailed the extra point, Manchester had reduced Valley's lead to two, 9-7.
"Sorg has a different cadence so I think the team listens harder when he's in," said Bailey. "I think it caught the defense off guard with the different rhythm."
On their first drive of the second half, the Squires moved got the ball on their own 39-yard line and gained just seven yards in three plays. Then on third down and three, Sorg connected with Kedric Miller for a 55-yard touchdown pass to give Manchester its first lead of the night.
"The 55-yard pass play in the third quarter shifted the game our way," said Bailey. "It put us in front for the first time. It turned the emotion of the game in our favor."
However, the Squires were not finished as they capitalized on another Valley fumble less than a minute into the next drive to gain possession of the ball on Valley's 40-yard line. The Squires converted the turnover into another touchdown to give themselves a 21-9 lead going into the fourth quarter.
After intercepting a Valley pass, Manchester moved the ball down the field to set up a 1-yard touchdown run by John Sommer that put the Squires up 27-9.
On Valley's last drive of the game, Manchester intercepted the ball on the Viking 28-yard line with 3:23 remaining, but Valley's offense suffered a more severe blow when halfback Josh Wagoner went down with an injury.
"The word on Wagoner is not good," said Valley coach Scott Bibler. "He got a helmet to the leg and we think he may have a broken tibia.
"In all my years of coaching, I have never seen a year like this with injuries. This is the worst by far. We have four starters out, and they are four starters who go both ways. That definitely doesn't help the team."
"You never want to see things like that happen," said Bailey. "They lost their quarterback last week, and they have lost some others as well. It's a tough situation for them right now."
Manchester improves to 2-1 overall and 1-0 TRC and will prepare to play conference rival Whitko (0-3, 0-1 TRC) next week. Valley falls to 1-2 overall and 0-1 in the TRC and hosts 2-1 Southwood Friday.
Manchester 27 Tippecanoe Valley 9
Manchester 0 7 14 6 - 27
Valley 9 0 0 0 - 9
M V
First downs 11 3
Rushes-yards 50-174 27-28
Passing 97 7
Comp.-Att.-Int. 4-16-0 2-10-2
Total offense 271 35
Fumbles-lost 6-2 5-2
Punts-ave. 1-34.0 6-30.8
Penalties-yards 3-26 3-24
First Quarter
7:00 -ÊNathan Moore 46 yd FG, 3-0 V
2:19 -ÊChris Standeford fumble rec. in endzone (PAT failed), 9-0 V
Second Quarter
4:36 -ÊJosh Peden 1 yd run (Korey Rupley PAT), 9-7 V
Third Quarter
8:19 -ÊKedric Miller 55 pass from Sorg (PAT failed), 13-9 M
3:45 -ÊPeden 2 run (PAT Sorg run), 21-9 M
Fourth Quarter
5:05 -ÊJohn Sommer 1 run (PAT failed), 27-9 M
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing -ÊManchester: Peden 26-116, Sommer 13-42; Valley: Derek Eby 4-21.
Receiving - Manchester: Tom Hardy 1-30, Kedric Miller 2-33; Valley: Eby 1-8.
Passing - Manchester: Michael Sorg 3-5-83 0 INT, TD; Valley: Craig Kuhn 2-10-7, 2 INT. [[In-content Ad]]