NORTH MANCHESTER -ÊGoing into Friday night's game against Rochester, the Manchester Squires were considered the underdogs.

"Our kids were determined to outplay them," said Manchester coach Al Bailey. "It was homecoming night, and the seniors wanted to play."

And play they did. The Manchester Squires shocked just about everyone but themselves by picking up a 38-21 homecoming win over the Rochester Zebras.

Manchester came out with something to prove. After taking the ball to their own 27-yard line on the opening kickoff, the Squires scored on the first play of the drive. Sophomore quarterback Joe Egner, in his first varsity start, hooked up with Farron Gaerte on a 73-yard pass play to put the Manchester squad up 6-0.

On the ensuing kickoff, Rochester fumbled the ball, and Manchester recovered on its own 47-yard line. However, the Squires were unable to capitalize and returned the ball to the Zebras on a fumble just six plays later.

At the end of the first quarter, Manchester still held a 6-0 lead, but that changed on the first play of the second frame.

With a third-and-goal situation, Rochester quarterback Reid Surface connected with Josh Lett for a 4-yard touchdown pass. After Paul Soderlund split the uprights, the Zebras held a 7-6 advantage.

With just 6:43 left in the second quarter, Rochester struck gold again. Shane Cameron ran 12 yards to score the second Zebra touchdown of the night. Again, the kick was good, and after holding Manchester scoreless through the remainder of the quarter, Rochester took a 14-6 lead into the halftime break.

The Squires returned from the halftime break with a vengeance. Manchester's defense forced Rochester to go three-and-out. The Squires blocked the punt, and senior Josh Staton pounced on the ball in the endzone to score another Manchester touchdown. After the two-point conversion failed, Rochester clung to a 14-12 lead.

"Josh Staton has been injured, but he went out an played some defense for us," said Bailey. "It's homecoming and the seniors always want to play. I am surprised at how well he did."

With 5:03 left in the third quarter, Manchester's offense struck again. Dustin Burke caught a pass from Egner and scored a 61-yard touchdown to restore the Squire lead, 18-14.

But the Squires were not finished.

Just two minutes later, Paul Sommer capped off a 36-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run to give Manchester a 24-14 advantage.

At the 1:11 mark, Rochester struck again as Ty Horn broke through the Manchester line for a 50-yard touchdown run. Another Soderlund kick put the Zebras within three, 24-21.

Early in the fourth quarter, Rochester had the ball on its own 23-yard line, but Squire senior Dustin Westafer stopped the Zebra drive by intercepting a pass and taking it to the 5-yard line.

Two plays later, the Squires added to their lead when Egner connected with Farron Gaerte for a 6-yard touchdown pass. This time, Egner connected with Jennen Gaerte for the two-point conversion, and the Squires held a 32-21 lead.

Not satisfied with that score, Farron Gaerte intercepted a Zebra pass and ran it back 85 yards with 6:25 left in the game to make the score 38-21.

The Squires held Rochester scoreless for the remainder of the game and improved to 2-2 in the Three Rivers Conference and 4-2 overall. The loss makes Rochester 2-2 in TRC play and 4-2 overall.

Egner finished the night 11-of-25 passing for 210 yards and three touchdowns. Farron Gaerte caught three passes for 88 yards and scored three touchdowns. Westafer ended the game with an interception and nine carries for 26 yards.

In all, Manchester's defense held Rochester to just 165 yards of total offense and forced Surface to throw two interceptions.

The Squires hope home is sweet again next week as they host Southwood in another TRC matchup. Rochester hopes to stop its two-game losing skid when it faces off against Tippecanoe Valley in Akron.

MANCHESTER 38, ROCHESTER 21

Rochester 0 14 7 0 - 21

Manchester 6 0 18 14 - 38

M R

First downs 8 9

Rushing yards 23-27 37-133

Passing yards 210 32

Comp.-Att.-Int. 11-25-0 4-14-2

Total offense 237 165

Penalties/yards 8-55 3-30

First Quarter

M - Farron Gaerte 73 pass from Joe Egner (pass failed), 11:41, 6-0 M

Second Quarter

R - Josh Lett 4 pass from Reid Surface (Paul Soderlund kick), 11:55, 7-6 R

R - Shane Cameron 12 run (Soderlund kick), 6:43, 14-6 R

Third Quarter

M -ÊJosh Staton recoves blocked punt in endzone (pass failed), 10:18, 14-12 R

M - Dustin Burke 61 pass from Egner (pass failed), 5:03, 18-14 M

M -ÊPaul Sommer 1 run (run failed), 24-14 M

R -ÊTy Horn 50 run (Soderlund kick), 1:11, 24-21 M

Fourth Quarter

M - F. Gaerte 6 pass from Egner (Jennen Gaerte pass from Egner), 8:09, 32-21 M

M - F. Gaerte 85 interception return (pass failed), 6:25, 38-21 M

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing - Manchester: Dustin Westafer 9-26, Austin Greer 6-9. Paul Sommer 5-14, Joe Egner 3-(-22); Rochester: Shane Cameron 15-39, Jeff Byers 15-64, Reid Surface 2-7, Tyler Frounfelter 3-20, Ty Horn 1-3, Damic Beck 1-0

Passing - Manchester: Egner 11-25-210 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT; Rochester: Surface 4-14-32 yards, 0 TD, 2 INT, Matty Miller 0-1-0, 0 TD, 0 INT

Receiving - Manchester: F. Gaerte 3-88, J. Gaerte 2-24, Neil Westendorf 4-34, Dustin Burke 2-64; Rochester: Josh Lett 3-23, Wes Geller 1-9 [[In-content Ad]]