NORTH MANCHESTER - Manchester head coach Al Bailey and his quarterback Rex Reimer walked across the field with their arms around each other like they were best of friends. Reimer had, after all, just thrown for 142 yards in the fourth quarter to lead the Squires to an improbable 23-20 overtime comeback against Class 2A No. 7 Rochester.

Eventually, Bailey and Reimer split up and went their separate ways.

"I told you he could throw the ball, didn't I," Bailey said. "I told you he could throw the ball."

Reimer had struggled through the first half of the season, being bothered by an injured finger. However, through the first five games, running back David Barrett had picked up the slack, running for a state-high 1,159 yards.

But Reimer came ready to play Friday, passing for 275 yards and completing 10-of-13 fourth quarter passes.

"He started out with his hand banged up," Bailey said. "I told him that when it comes time to throw the ball, he's got to deliver, and he did that."

Manchester trailed 20-0 at the half despite driving inside the Rochester 30-yard line three times in the opening 24 minutes.

"We had three scoring opportunities in the first half and didn't score on any of them," Bailey said. "I don't know why. Our kids were a little excited and we did some things wrong."

In the third quarter, Manchester once again drove the ball on Barrett's shoulders. However, the drive stalled at the 30 and Rochester took over. After a three-and-out, the Squires took over at their own 44-yard line.

Forced to open up the offense, Reimer went to work passing. On third-and-10 from the Rochester 40, the Squires ran a perfect screen pass and Barrett went 35 yards to the five yard line. Eventually, Barrett scored to make the score 20-7.

About midway through the fourth quarter, Rochester was forced to punt but recovered a fumbled kick return at the Manchester 36 yard line. That play seemed to bury the Squires hopes of a comeback.

But Rochester ended up going three-and-out and the Squires got the ball back with 4:24 left.

Reimer completed five straight passes, the final one a 19-yard strike to Annon Gaerte to make the score 20-14.

Manchester's only hope was to stop Rochester three times and have just enough time for one last attempt.

Sure enough, the Squires stuffed the Zebras, burning timeouts after each play and getting the ball back at their own 39 with 2:15 left.

On second-and-10, Reimer hit J.D. Miller 35 yards downfield and then finished the drive with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Gaerte with 1:14 to play. All the Squires needed was the extra point to win the game.

However, Greg Groombridge, who nailed his first two extra point attempts, had this one blocked to send the game to overtime tied at 20-20.

In the overtime period, Rochester had possession first with four chances to score from the Manchester 10-yard line. The Squires held the Zebras to just five yards, giving Manchester the ball with a chance for the win.

After Reimer was sacked for a six yard loss on first down, he then found Brown with a pass in the end zone, but Brown was falling at the time and couldn't hold onto the ball. On third down, Reimer fumbled the ball attempting to pass and lost six more yards.

That set up a 39-yard field goal attempt for Groombridge and he had just enough distance to give the Squires the win.

"He's hit them from 50 in practice," Bailey said. "But this is pressure. You've got to be right on the money. It was a good kick."

Bailey gave a very simple halftime speech to his players and it paid off.

"I told them we need three scores," Bailey said. "I said, 'They can't score and we need three scores.' I didn't know we'd need four to win it in overtime."

Manchester actually controlled the game according to most of the stats. In total yards, the Squires had 336 compared to just 181 for Rochester.

Gaerte caught 10 passes for 149 yards, to help make up for Barrett's worst rushing total of the season, just 80 yards. However, he did have that key 35-yard screen play and was still a large part of the offense.

Reimer ended 17-of-34 for 275 yards and two touchdown passes. By comparison, Rochester quarterback Kevin Clark never completed a pass. That was a key because the Zebras became a one-dimensional team in the second half and overtime. Rochester only threw the ball three times in the final 24 minutes.

Defensively, Groombridge led the Squires with 15 tackles and Steve Fawcett added 14 more. Nate Young was also in double-digits with 12 tackles.

Manchester (5-1, 4-0) will meet Southwood Friday for a game that will most likely decide the Three Rivers Conference Championship. Bailey's goal at the beginning of the season was a top three finish in the conference. Unless the Squires fall apart over the final three games, Manchester should end first or second.

"Southwood's a great team," Bailey said. "We just have to enjoy this one and start focusing on next week Monday."

MANCHESTER 23

ROCHESTER 20 (OT)

Rochester 6 14 0 0 0 - 20

Manchester 0 0 7 13 3 - 23

Roch Man

First Downs 9 15

Rushes-Yards 49-181 29-61

Passing Yards 0 275

Comp-Att-Int. 0-7-1 17-34-1

Total offense 181 336

Fumbles-Lost 3-0 3-2

Punts-Avg. 4-36.3 1-34.0

Penalties-Yards 5-35 1-5

First Quarter

R - Deric Beck 7 run (Jason Fincher kick failed), 2:18, 6-0 Rochester

Second Quarter

R - Beck 75 run (pass failed), 6:03, 12-0 Rochester

R - Beck 10 run (Kevin Clark run), 1:04, 20-0 Rochester

Third Quarter

M - David Barrett 5 run (Greg Groombridge kick), 4:02, 20-7 Rochester

Fourth Quarter

M - Annon Gaerte 19 pass from Rex Reimer (Groombridge kick), 3:06, 20-14 Rochester

M - Gaerte 11 pass from Reimer (kick blocked), 1:14, 20-20

Overtime

M - Groombridge 39 field goal, 23-20 Manchester

Individual Leaders

Rushing - Rochester, Beck 23-80, Dustin Burkett 16-76, Clark 9-22. Manchester, Barrett 21-80.

Passing - Rochester, Clark 0-7-0-1. Manchester, Reimer 17-34-275-1.

Receiving - Rochester, none. Manchester, Gaerte 10-149, C.J. Brown 3-46, J.D. Miller 2-39, Barrett 1-35, Tom Hardy 1-9. [[In-content Ad]]