Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
After starting the 2000 season with a big 20-7 win over Mississinewa last Friday night, the Manchester Squires would get their first real test against a veteran team in Heritage Friday night. The Squires were hoping to turn the tables against the Patriots. The Patriots defeated the Squires 35-21 last year.
After piling up 450 yards on the ground last week against New Haven in a 39-20 win, Manchester had a huge task at hand. The question of the night was if the Squire defense would rise to the challenge.
The answer, too much J.D. Myers. Myers scored all three touchdowns on the ground, enabling Heritage to pull out a 20-0 win over the Squires.
"Heritage had a lot of weapons, and we knew that coming into this game,' Manchester coach Al Bailey said. "They controlled the line of scrimmage and it just wore us down.'
In the first quarter, the Squires held Heritage on its first drive, but the Squires couldn't convert. On the next drive for the Patriots, they scored on an eight-play, 66-yard drive capped off by Myer's 20-yard touchdown run to give the guests a 6-0 lead. Pete Foster added the extra point to make it a 7-0 lead with 3:03 to play.
"Myers is a tough running back,' Bailey added. "What makes them tough is that they can spread the ball around to so many players.'
On Heritage's first possession of the second quarter, they again took a long drive that resulted in a touchdown. The Patriots went on a 10-play, 48-yard drive again capped off by another Myers touchdown, this time from one yard out. The extra point was blocked, making the score 13-0 in favor of Heritage.
"Really I didn't think our defense played all that bad,' Bailey said. "They were just more physical than us.'
The Squires couldn't muster much offense in the first half, let alone the entire game. Manchester only collected 36 rushing yards in the first half and had a total of only 54 total yards.
"We just couldn't get anything going offensively,' Bailey said. "Our wide receivers couldn't get open, and they plugged the running up pretty well.'
Again it was all Myers in the third quarter. Heritage went on a long drive that started with 8:30 left in the quarter and ended on a 3-yard Myers touchdown with 1:47 to play in the quarter. The drive took 15 plays and covered 69 yards. The extra point was good, upping the lead to 20-0.
The Squires had the best chance to score in the fourth quarter. With first and goal and the ball on the 6-yard line, a bad snap resulted in a Manchester fumble, thus closing the door on the Squires denting the scoreboard.
"We really had a good chance to score some points in the fourth, but again, we made a mistake,' Bailey said.
The key to this game was on the ground. Heritage finshed with 219 rushing yards, while the Squires netted only 13. Myers rushed for 125 yards, Jerry Clopton chipped in 49 yards on 12 carries, and Matt Fleming rushed for 47 yards on nine carries.
Up next for the Squires is the first Three Rivers Conference game of the year. The Squires have to travel to Death Valley to face the Vikings of Tippecanoe Valley.
"We are going to have to get some offense next week,' Bailey said. "Valley is a very scrappy team and it is always a tough ballgame when you play up there.'
HERITAGE 20, MANCHESTER 0
Heritage 7 6 7 0 - 20
Manchester 0 0 0 0 -Ê0
H M
First downs 10 8
Rushes/yards 48-219 32-13
Passing yards 0 41
Comp.-Att.-Int. 0-0-0 4-13-0
Total offense 219 54
Fumbles/lost 2-1 1-1
Punts/avg. 3-35.6 5-42.2
Penalties/yards 5-40 3-25
First Quarter
H - J.D. Myers 20 run (Pete Foster kick). 3:03
Second Quarter
H - J.D. Myers 1 run (kick failed), 8:53
Third Quarter
H - J.D. Myers 3 run (Pete Foster kick), 1:47
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing - H: J.D. Myers 26-125, Jerry Clopton 12-49, Matt Fleming 9-47, Jamael Turner 1- -2. M: Josh Peden 21-33, Michael Sorg 5-41, Jon Gratz 5-20, Anthony Sorg 1-1.
Passing - M: Michael Sorg 4-13-41.
Receiving -ÊM: Jon Gratz 2-23, Aaron Cassel 1-10, Klay Bechtold 1-8.
