NORTH MANCHESTER - Manchester coach Al Bailey summed it up nicely.

"You can't win when you fumble the ball eight times," he said.

It's short, simple, and to the point. In the rain and muck at Carl W. Burt Memorial Stadium, the Manchester Squires squandered away multiple opportunities to get on top of a strong Rochester Zebras team in the early stages of the game.

It came back to hurt them in a 26-6 loss Friday night.

Although the Squires recovered seven of the fumbles, they came at times when Manchester could least afford to commit errors.

How about three fumbles in four plays inside the Zebras five yard line in the second quarter of a tie game? How about a fumble on the second play of the second half, the only fumble that Manchester could not recover? How about a fumble to start its first drive of the fourth quarter at their own 44 yard line, when the Squires still had a chance to make a game of it?

More than anything else, it was these mistakes that cost Manchester, along with one or two other plays when Manchester was beginning to gain momentum.

In the opening period, Rochester ate up the first five minutes of the game. The drive ended when the Manchester defensive line stuffed Bret Henderson for no gain on a fourth and one at the Squire 17-yard line.

After Manchester went three and out, the Zebras began another drive, but it abruptly ended at the Manchester 24-yard line when Henderson coughed the ball up. Two first quarter drives, and two huge bullets that the Squire defense dodged.

Manchester recovered the ball on downs after Rochester failed to convert a fourth-and-five at the Squire 27-yard line on the first play of the second quarter. Manchester took seven minutes off the clock with a 15-play drive that ended at the two-yard line after four fumbles on the drive.

Neither team really got close to scoring for the rest of the half, and Manchester went into the locker room knotted at 0-0. In the second half, the luck finally ran out for the Squires. On the second play from scrimmage, Todd Sites fumbled the ball away, and Rochester recovered at the 31-yard line. Three plays later, Rochester was in a fourth-and-four situation at the 25- yard line.

"The turning point, I think, came on their touchdown," said Bailey. "It was fourth down, we had a guy behind him and in front of him, and the ball just came down between them and they got the score."

The 25-yard scoring strike from Seth Wilson to Mike Smith put Rochester on the board and opened the offensive floodgates.

Two drives later, after a punt return that put Rochester on the Manchester 20-yard line, Henderson punched the ball in from three yards out to give the Zebras a 13-0 lead.

However, Manchester struck back quickly. David Shriver kicked the ball to the 10-yard line for Rochester, but Andy Trickle returned the ball 90 yards for a touchdown that got the Squires back to within seven points.

"That return really pumped the sidelines up," said Bailey.

But, as Rochester seemed to do all night, once the Squires found some life, the Zebras squashed it. Rochester took the next drive 53 yards over a five minute span that ended with a six yard touchdown run from Jeremy Swank that put the Zebras up 20-6.

Then, on the next play from scrimmage for Manchester, Mike Smith intercepted a Brandon Reimer pass and returned it 28 yards for the final score of the game.

"The score was lopsided, but we got where we had to throw that wet ball, and you're not going to be able to go that route," said coach Bailey.

The big man for Rochester was Bret Henderson, who ended with 114 yards rushing on 21 carries. Manchester had seven different men carry the ball, with Brandon Reimer leading the charge with 28 yards rushing.

Manchester (1-4, 1-3) hosts Three Rivers Conference leader and No. 4 in the state Southwood on Friday. [[In-content Ad]]