BREMEN – The Manchester High School football team found itself overmatched in semifinal action of Class 2A Sectional 26 Friday at No. 5 Bremen. Opening the second half with a 33-0 lead, the Bremen Lions (11-0) scored touchdowns on the first play of their first two third-quarter possessions, nabbing a 47-0 lead and ultimately defeating the Squires (3-8) by a 47-14 count at Don Bunge Field. “We were very efficient,” Bremen coach Bob Holmes said. “The kids came out and did an outstanding job. Took care of business early and did what we needed to do. Hats off to the Manchester Squires and their coaching staff. They never quit — played hard until the end.” Of Bremen’s six first-half possessions, the Lions scored on five of them, as the only one it didn’t produce a touchdown on was when senior quarterback Nate Leeper took a knee to end the half. “Coming into it, I thought we could get a few things on offense against them,” Manchester coach Brandon Baker said. “I knew it’d be tough to stop their offense, and they got some big plays early. We missed some tackles on defense, and on offense, they beat us to the punch. That was disappointing.” In the opening half, Leeper completed 11 of 15 passes for 192 yards and threw a touchdown pass each to sophomore Ryan Zellmer, senior Sean Knepper and sophomore Eric Knepper. Along with the scores via the pass, the Lions also had junior Reid Zellmer run one in, as did Eric Knepper. Already up big, the Lions opened the second half with a one-play drive, as senior Braxston Miller took a hand-off and ran it in from 61 yards out, increasing the lead to 40-0 just seven seconds into the second half. The play was the only one Miller took part in, as the Lions leading rusher had missed the previous week’s game with a concussion and had been a game-time decision this week. “Braxston was released to play tonight, but we wanted to be careful with him because he had a concussion,” Holmes said. “We just wanted to get him in, get his feet wet. He had one series and he made the most of it.” After forcing a three-and-out, Bremen regained possession, and like it’s first series of the half, needed just one play to score, as Leeper ran for a 45-yard score, resulting in the last points of the night for the Lions. With Holmes calling off the dogs, Manchester began to get things going late in the game, as Manchester senior running back ran for 126 of his 127 yards in the second half, posting touchdown runs of 35 and 36 yards. “Our (starters) did an outstanding job,” Holmes said. “Our (reserves) came in and got some valuable experience down the stretch, and that’s where (Penrod) got most of his yards. That’s OK. We have to look forward to next week. We pulled our guys early, with about eight minutes left in the third quarter. Once we knew the game was in hand, we began looking forward to next week.” Whether or not Bremen took its foot off the gas, Baker was happy to see his seniors go out with a couple scores in the sectional game. “That’s a good thing about coach Holmes, because he’s not going to run the score up on you,” Baker said. “It helps them too — playing those younger guys, because they’re only a play away from getting into the game. We were able to put a few in (the end zone).” With his late-game breakthrough, Penrod ended his playing career on a positive note, tallying 1,798 yards and 21 touchdowns this season. “He’s probably the best running back I’ve coach — overall,” Baker said about Penrod. “He does a great job of cutting in the hole and making people miss in traffic. He was able to squirt through and get a couple big runs for us.” With the win, Bremen has now won 18 of its last 19 games, with its only loss being a 35-28 overtime loss to Rensselaer Central in last year’s regional, and prepares to host Lewis Cass in the sectional championship Friday. Cass reached the sectional final by defeating Rochester 28-7 Friday night. While Bremen plays on, the season is over for the Squires, but Baker was happy with the way his guys performed. “I’m proud that we didn’t give up,” he said. “The guys kept going hard and fighting until the very end. That’s one thing they’ve done this year. They may not be the most talented, but they don’t give up. “We got better as the season went along, and ultimately, that’s what you want to do,” he added. “We were shorthanded a little bit up front, but our guys kept fighting. We were undersized pretty much every game we played, but they fought hard and got better with each week.”
