Squires Open Season With Hard-Fought Win
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
NORTH MANCHESTER - After finishing the 1999 football campaign on a down note, losing to Ft. Wayne Harding 7-6 in sectional action, the Manchester Squires wanted to open the 2000 high school football season on a much happier note.
As expected on opening night, the Squires didn't play impressive football, but they were impressive enough to defeat Mississinewa 20-7.
"We have a lot of inexperienced players this year,' Manchester coach Al Bailey said. "We started out the game pretty emotional, and then we lost that luster somewhat in the second half.'
The Squires had little trouble with Mississinewa last year, defeating the Indians 33-7 on the road. With an expected high-octane Squire offense, the Indians stayed right with the host team.
"They outplayed us in the second half,' Bailey added. "We made a lot of mistakes and we knew we were in for a dogfight.'
The first quarter got off to a horrible start for Mississinewa. Its first drive went four and out and gave the Squires decent field position.
On Manchester's first drive of the year, the Squires moved the ball quickly down field thanks to two costly Mississinewa offside penalties. On the seventh play of the drive with the ball on the Mississinewa 49, senior running back Jon Gratz fumbled, ending a promising drive.
The Indians would again be denied of much on the offensive end on their second series, giving the Squires a bit of new life. On the third play of the drive, the Manchester fans finally saw how potent this Squire offensive unit can be. On third and seven, and 1:44 left in the opening quarter, quarterback Michael Sorg found a wide-open Klay Bechtold for an 82-yard touchdown, giving the Squires a 6-0 lead. Jarred Kopkey added the extra point for the 7-0 lead.
"We were moving the ball well in the early going,' Bailey added. "We mixed up the run and pass and it was effective.'
The Squire defense again came up big on Mississinewa's next possession, limiting the Indians to four and out again.
"I thought we had a lot of guys step up defensively that first half,' Bailey said.
"We need to learn how to do that for four quarters.'
On Manchester's first drive of the second quarter, the Squires again took advantage of Missisinewa errors. Two offside penalties again killed the Indian defense and the Squires made them pay. With 4:18 left in the quarter, Josh Peden scored on a 7-yard touchdown run with no Indian jerseys in sight. Kopkey's field goal made it 14-0 in Manchester's favor.
"We had some good blocking up front for Peden on that touchdown,' Bailey said. "I think we wore them out a little bit with running it right at them.'
Just when Mississinewa fans thought that nothing could get worse for the Indians, well, on their first possession of the second quarter, Ricky Mesina fumbled and Klint Rupley picked it up and took it 22 yards for a touchdown. Kopkey's extra-point attempt was wide left, leaving the Squires with a commanding 20-0 lead heading into halftime.
"We built our confidence up in the first half,' Bailey said. "It just goes to show you how things can change in one half of football if you don't stay focused.'
Focused is the key word. After jumping out to a 20-0 lead, it looked like the Squires would bury their guests from the south. After playing pretty solid football the first half, the Squires played ugly in the second. After committing only two penalties for 10 yards, Manchester racked up six penalties for 42 yards in the second half.
"We made a lot of silly mistakes in the second half," Bailey said. "We had a lot of penalties that hurt us and we dropped some open looks on the offensive end. We didn't play with much discipline in the second half.'
Mississinewa finally got on the board with 9:57 left in the third quarter when Chris Lamb scampered 76 yards for a touchdown that closed the gap to 20-6. Zach Pierson added the extra point to make it 20-7.
From the middle of the third quarter on, both teams sputtered on offense. Mississinewa ended with 197 total yards while the Squires racked up 242 yards.
Josh Peden paced the Squires on the ground, carrying 27 times for 79 yards. Klay Bechtold was the big threat deep for the Squires, catching two passes for 99 yards.
If the Squires are to move to 2-0 with a win next week at home against Heritage, they are going to have to play four solid quarters.
"We need to work on cutting down our mistakes and holding on to the football,' Bailey said.
MANCHESTER 20
MISSISSINEWA 7
Mississinewa 0 0 7 0 - 7
Manchester 7 13 0 0 - 20
Mis Man
First downs 6 11
Rushes/yards 37-197 38-99
Passing yards 0 143
Comp.-Att.-Int. 1-2-0 4-11-0
Total offense 197 242
Fumbles/lost 3-1 1-1
Punts/avg. 5-40.8 3-31.3
Penalties/yards 11-67 8-52
First Quarter
Man - Klay Bechtold 82 catch from Michael Sorg (Jarred Kopkey kick), 1:44
Second Quarter
Man - Josh Peden 7 run (Jarred Kopkey kick), 4:18
Man - Klint Rupley 22 yard fumble recovery (kick failed), 4:03
Third Quarter
Mis -ÊChris Lamb 74 run (Zach Pierson kick), 9:57
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing - Mis: Jim Twigg 5-5, Chris Lamb 25-199, Aron Wilson 4-3, Ricky Mesina 2-2, Matt Goins 0-16. Man: Josh Peden 27-79, Michael Sorg 7-7, Jon Gratz 3-11, Anthony Sorg 1-2.
Passing -ÊMis: Jim Twigg 0-1-0. Man: Michael Sorg 4-11-143.
Receiving - Man: Klay Bechtold 2-99, Klint Rupley 2-44. [[In-content Ad]]
NORTH MANCHESTER - After finishing the 1999 football campaign on a down note, losing to Ft. Wayne Harding 7-6 in sectional action, the Manchester Squires wanted to open the 2000 high school football season on a much happier note.
As expected on opening night, the Squires didn't play impressive football, but they were impressive enough to defeat Mississinewa 20-7.
"We have a lot of inexperienced players this year,' Manchester coach Al Bailey said. "We started out the game pretty emotional, and then we lost that luster somewhat in the second half.'
The Squires had little trouble with Mississinewa last year, defeating the Indians 33-7 on the road. With an expected high-octane Squire offense, the Indians stayed right with the host team.
"They outplayed us in the second half,' Bailey added. "We made a lot of mistakes and we knew we were in for a dogfight.'
The first quarter got off to a horrible start for Mississinewa. Its first drive went four and out and gave the Squires decent field position.
On Manchester's first drive of the year, the Squires moved the ball quickly down field thanks to two costly Mississinewa offside penalties. On the seventh play of the drive with the ball on the Mississinewa 49, senior running back Jon Gratz fumbled, ending a promising drive.
The Indians would again be denied of much on the offensive end on their second series, giving the Squires a bit of new life. On the third play of the drive, the Manchester fans finally saw how potent this Squire offensive unit can be. On third and seven, and 1:44 left in the opening quarter, quarterback Michael Sorg found a wide-open Klay Bechtold for an 82-yard touchdown, giving the Squires a 6-0 lead. Jarred Kopkey added the extra point for the 7-0 lead.
"We were moving the ball well in the early going,' Bailey added. "We mixed up the run and pass and it was effective.'
The Squire defense again came up big on Mississinewa's next possession, limiting the Indians to four and out again.
"I thought we had a lot of guys step up defensively that first half,' Bailey said.
"We need to learn how to do that for four quarters.'
On Manchester's first drive of the second quarter, the Squires again took advantage of Missisinewa errors. Two offside penalties again killed the Indian defense and the Squires made them pay. With 4:18 left in the quarter, Josh Peden scored on a 7-yard touchdown run with no Indian jerseys in sight. Kopkey's field goal made it 14-0 in Manchester's favor.
"We had some good blocking up front for Peden on that touchdown,' Bailey said. "I think we wore them out a little bit with running it right at them.'
Just when Mississinewa fans thought that nothing could get worse for the Indians, well, on their first possession of the second quarter, Ricky Mesina fumbled and Klint Rupley picked it up and took it 22 yards for a touchdown. Kopkey's extra-point attempt was wide left, leaving the Squires with a commanding 20-0 lead heading into halftime.
"We built our confidence up in the first half,' Bailey said. "It just goes to show you how things can change in one half of football if you don't stay focused.'
Focused is the key word. After jumping out to a 20-0 lead, it looked like the Squires would bury their guests from the south. After playing pretty solid football the first half, the Squires played ugly in the second. After committing only two penalties for 10 yards, Manchester racked up six penalties for 42 yards in the second half.
"We made a lot of silly mistakes in the second half," Bailey said. "We had a lot of penalties that hurt us and we dropped some open looks on the offensive end. We didn't play with much discipline in the second half.'
Mississinewa finally got on the board with 9:57 left in the third quarter when Chris Lamb scampered 76 yards for a touchdown that closed the gap to 20-6. Zach Pierson added the extra point to make it 20-7.
From the middle of the third quarter on, both teams sputtered on offense. Mississinewa ended with 197 total yards while the Squires racked up 242 yards.
Josh Peden paced the Squires on the ground, carrying 27 times for 79 yards. Klay Bechtold was the big threat deep for the Squires, catching two passes for 99 yards.
If the Squires are to move to 2-0 with a win next week at home against Heritage, they are going to have to play four solid quarters.
"We need to work on cutting down our mistakes and holding on to the football,' Bailey said.
MANCHESTER 20
MISSISSINEWA 7
Mississinewa 0 0 7 0 - 7
Manchester 7 13 0 0 - 20
Mis Man
First downs 6 11
Rushes/yards 37-197 38-99
Passing yards 0 143
Comp.-Att.-Int. 1-2-0 4-11-0
Total offense 197 242
Fumbles/lost 3-1 1-1
Punts/avg. 5-40.8 3-31.3
Penalties/yards 11-67 8-52
First Quarter
Man - Klay Bechtold 82 catch from Michael Sorg (Jarred Kopkey kick), 1:44
Second Quarter
Man - Josh Peden 7 run (Jarred Kopkey kick), 4:18
Man - Klint Rupley 22 yard fumble recovery (kick failed), 4:03
Third Quarter
Mis -ÊChris Lamb 74 run (Zach Pierson kick), 9:57
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing - Mis: Jim Twigg 5-5, Chris Lamb 25-199, Aron Wilson 4-3, Ricky Mesina 2-2, Matt Goins 0-16. Man: Josh Peden 27-79, Michael Sorg 7-7, Jon Gratz 3-11, Anthony Sorg 1-2.
Passing -ÊMis: Jim Twigg 0-1-0. Man: Michael Sorg 4-11-143.
Receiving - Man: Klay Bechtold 2-99, Klint Rupley 2-44. [[In-content Ad]]