MENTONE - David Barrett must have slept well Friday night. Manchester's senior running back carried the ball 38 times Friday against Valley, tallying 294 yards, in leading his team to a whopping 54-28 victory over Tippecanoe Valley in the Three Rivers Conference opener for both teams.

"We know we've got a good group of guys to work with here," Manchester head coach Al Bailey said. "Tonight our defense had a couple lapses and our special teams had a couple lapses, but our offense picked it up. I'd rather see a better defensive effort and not have to score as many points."

Barrett, the workhorse for the Squires, touched the ball on 54 percent of Manchester's offensive plays and scored four touchdowns. His performance had Valley heads shaking in frustration all night.

"He's a good back," Bailey said. "He's a good, hard-working kid and it's working. We just kept going with him."

Barrett ran for positive yardage on 36 of his 38 carries and battered the Valley defensive line all night, eventually wearing down the Vikings. Despite the performance, Valley stayed within striking distance until late in the third quarter.

Manchester led 21-12 at the half and took possession to begin the third quarter of play. That's when the Squires took control of the game. Manchester went on a 14-play drive that lasted more than eight minutes, finally culminating in an 8-yard plunge from Barrett. In all, he carried the ball nine times on that possession.

Tippecanoe Valley's Eric Prater answered on the ensuing kickoff with a 98-yard return. His 2-point plunge cut the gap to just eight points at 28-20. However, that play was bittersweet for the Vikings. Because the Valley defense had just been on the field for more than eight minutes, it needed a chance to rest and regroup.

That opportunity never came and Manchester charged right back down the field in five plays as Barrett scored from 45 yards out for a 34-20 win.

The Squires put the game away in the fourth quarter with a 5-minute drive that ended with a 9-yard run by none other than Barrett. Manchester added a 40-yard interception return by Annon Gaerte and a 23-yard touchdown run by Steve Fawcett to close out the scoring.

Rex Reimer turned around his early season difficulties with an 8-of-13 passing performance. Coming into the game he was just 4-of-18 on the year.

"He had injured his finger," Bailey said. "He had a couple fingers taped, but maybe we're through that. He's a good quarterback."

Valley was not without a solid performance of its own. Prater ended up with seven catches for 200 yards, 68 yards rushing and the big 98-yard kick-off return. In all, he ended with 416 yards of total offense on his own.

"He's been an exciting one to watch," Valley head coach Scott Bibler said. "He was a bright spot for us. But I thought we'd play tougher than we did. We just got our heads handed to us."

Manchester (2-1, 1-0) will host Whitko Friday. Valley (1-2, 0-1) will be at Southwood Friday.

MANCHESTER 54

VALLEY 28

Manchester 14 7 13 20 - 54

Valley 6 6 8 8 - 28

Man TV

First Downs 20 13

Rushes-Yards 59-376 18-106

Passing Yards 125 235

Comp-Att-Int 8-13-0 13-25-1

Total offense 501 341

Fumbles-Lost 3-1 2-1

Punts-Avg. 0-0 2-41.0

Penalties-Yards 3-21 7-82

First Quarter

TV - Eric Prater 81 pass from Brandon Eaton (Derek Eby kick failed), 10:57, 6-0 TV

M - Annon Gaerte 76 pass from Rex Reimer (Greg Groombridge kick), 10:39, 7-6 Man

M - Groombridge 3 run (Groombridge kick), 1:18, 14-6 Man

Second Quarter

M - David Barrett 74 run (Groombridge kick), 1:17, 21-6 Man

TV - Prater 14 pass from Eaton (pass failed), :02, 21-12 Man

Third Quarter

M - Barrett 8 run (Groombridge kick), 4:43, 28-12 Man

TV - Prater 98 kick-off return (Prater run), 4:31, 28-20 Man

M - Barrett 45 run (kick failed), 2:20, 34-20 Man

Fourth Quarter

M - Barrett 9 run (Groombridge kick), 6:26, 41-20 Man

M - Gaerte 40 interception return (kick failed), 6:12, 47-20 Man

TV - Prater 1 run (Nathan Patterson run), 4:09, 47-28 Man

M - Steve Fawcett 23 run (Groombridge kick), 1:55, 54-28 Man

Individual Leaders

Rushing - Manchester, Barrett 38-294, Groombridge 12-49. Valley, Prater 7-68, Nathan Patterson 2-27.

Passing - Manchester, Reimer 8-13-125-0. Valley, Eaton 10-20-191-1, Kuhn 3-5-41-0.

Receiving - Manchester, Gaerte 5-103. Valley, Prater 7-200. [[In-content Ad]]