While the way the first half went wasn’t exactly what head coach Eddie Fields had in mind, the end result was just what his team needed, as the Manchester football team defeated Whitko 21-0 in South Whitley Friday night to snap a three-game skid.
“It was really sloppy in that first half, but these are young teams,” Fields said after the game. “I think in the long run this is a great win for our program. Our kids finished strong which is exactly what we’ve been stressing.”
After forcing a Manchester three-and-out on the opening drive of the game, the Whitko offense got right down to work. After methodically moving the chains a few times on the back of running back Trevor Freel, the Wildcats took a shot, with quarterback Jack Hill going deep to receiver Riley Harman. The shot would pay off, as Harman would break loose and take the ball 42 yards to the one-yard line. It looked as if the home side was going to use the opportunity to take the lead, but Hill would be blown up on a quarterback keeper at the one, fumbling the ball and turning it over.
Following the turnover, the Squires began to move the ball a bit better, relying on the legs of quarterback Logan Eastgate and running back Preston Duffy. The visitors would get the ball near midfield, but would fall victim to a miscue of their own. A third down snap would fly over the head of Eastgate and stop the drive in its tracks.
After a few more drives went nowhere for each team, Whitko began putting together a nice, tough drive once again. But once again, an untimely turnover would stop the drive in its tracks, as Harman would fumble the ball at the Squire 35-yard line.
It looked as if Manchester would take advantage of the good fortune, as Eastgate hooked up with leading receiver Eli Metzger for a long 43-yard reception. The chunk play would get the visitors into the red zone, where they would slowly work their way towards the goal line with a series of quarterback keepers and halfback draws. But, at the two-yard line, snap issues reared their ugly head once again, as the snap went soaring over the head of Eastgate once again. This time, it would be recovered by Whitko’s Easton Grable.

    Junior Trevor Freel of Whitko highsteps his way downfield during Friday night's home game against Manchester. Photo by Gary Nieter

Following yet another turnover, each side would possess the ball once more in the first half. The Wildcats would punt, and upon receiving the ball back, Manchester put together its best offensive drive. Working in the two-minute offense, Eastgate was crisp in his decision making, getting the ball down field in a hurry. However, the first half clock would expire with the Squires deep in Whitko territory, resulting in a 0-0 tie at halftime.
After a nice defensive stand to begin the second half, the visitors were rewarded with fantastic starting field position on their first drive of the third quarter, starting inside the Whitko 35. Reiss Gaerte, the Manchester Swiss-army knife who had been quiet up to this point, made his presence felt in a big way on this drive, making a series of defenders miss on a 15-yard touchdown run. Less than four minutes into the second half, the Squires were now up 7-0.
“He’s electric, man. He’s fun to watch and fun to coach,” Fields said. “We all love him and I’m grateful to be able to coach a kid like that.”
It looked as if the Manchester offense was going to get back on the field in a hurry as the defense did its job on the first two plays of the ensuing drive. However, a massive roughing the passer penalty on third down would give the Wildcats new life, and the home side would spend the next few minutes driving down the field. Whitko would get near the red zone, but Gaerte would come up huge for his team once again, intercepting Hill’s pass near the goal line.
“After that scrimmage against Triton before the season, I didn’t know if our defense was going to stop anybody but these last few weeks they have been on fire,” Fields said. Any time you can stop the run you’re going to be successful on season and they’ve done that three weeks in a row now. Very impressed.”
With momentum really on their side now, the Squires put together their best offensive drive of the game following the takeaway. Gaerte and Duffy traded off 10+ yard runs as the team marched down the field with relative ease. At the goal line once again, Eastgate was given a clean snap to work with and punched it in himself from three yards out to make it a 14-0 game.
With the game now in the fourth quarter, Manchester continued to impose its will after getting the ball back once again. Runs that had been stopped at the line of scrimmage in the first half were now going for six or seven yards. After another hard-nosed drive, Gaerte found the end zone once again, breaking three different tackles on his way to a 25-yard score.
“We love running the football. We want to be physical. We play each play to dominate and if we do that it should come back and help us later on in the ball game which is exactly what happened tonight,” Fields said.
That would be the final time points would be put on the board in the game, as despite the Wildcats’ best efforts, the team was unable to find the end zone on its final two-minute drill of the contest.
Harman led Whitko in receiving with 77 yards on three catches. Freel led the ground attack with 30 yards on 14 carries. For the Squires, Gaerte ran for 133 yards and two scores while Eastgate added 68 yards and a touchdown of his own. All 75 of Eastgate’s passing yards went to Metzger.
Manchester (3-4, 3-3 Three Rivers Conference) is back at home next week for a meeting with Lewis Cass, while Whitko (1-6, 0-5 TRC) goes on the road to take on Northfield.