NORTH MANCHESTER - For the first time in nine years, the Manchester Squires will play football in November.
With Friday night's 20-0 win over the Whitko Wildcats in the second round of Class 2A Sectional 26, Manchester will play in a sectional championship Friday at Lewis Cass.Lewis Cass earned its berth in the championship game following its 27-13 win over Bremen.
"We're excited," Manchester coach Brandon Baker said. "It's great for our program to get to this point. We hadn't won a sectional game since 1998, and that was the last time they were in a sectional final too. So we're there."
The Squires got there by holding Whitko to just 96 total yards. The Manchester defense was in the Wildcat backfield all night, limiting Whitko to just 41 yards rushing on 23 carries, while forcing four turnovers.
"In a game like this, turnovers will kill ya," Whitko coach Bryan Sprunger said.
"They bring a lot of stunting," he added. "We thought we did some things. We worked on some screens, to try to beat it early on. It looked like some of those were going to work, then we end up messing up one way or another."
Whitko's first turnover came on its second play from scrimmage when Manchester linebacker Blaine Miller forced a fumble by Whitko running back Ryan Bumbaugh at the Whitko 18-yard line. With the Squires already up 3-0, Manchester quarterback Dylin Kennedy needed just one play to fing his brother Brecken Kennedy for an 18-yard touchdown, upping the lead to 10-0 with 6:47 left in the first quarter.
"We dug ourselves a hole," Sprunger said. "We turned the ball over deep in their territory on the first touchdown, then the second time, we get some things going, then have another turnover."
The Wildcats' second turnover came after the team had driven the ball to the Manchester 35. On fourth-and-4, Breckin Kennedy came up with an interception, returning it 30 yards.
"The defense has played well the last three, four weeks," Baker said. "Really, our defense hasn't allowed a touchdown in three weeks. Our defense is based on being aggressive, blitzing and trying to force turnovers. We did a good job of doing that."
In their last four games, Manchester has surrendered just 31 points, all resulting in victories.
With the defense doing its part, the Squire running game then did its. On the night, the Squires controlled the tempo, holding the ball for 30:58 of the possible 48 minutes.
"We did a good job of being able to control the clock," Baker said. "Coming out after halftime, they controlled most of the third quarter, but we were able to run it when we needed to. That was key."
Manchester ran for 136 yards on 41 carries, 115 of those yards coming from senior Nolan Holloway on 26 attempts. Holloway's last three yards came on a touchdown run late in the fourth quarter, resulting in the 20-0 score.
"He's doing a much better job of knowing where to run," Baker said of Holloway. "There's still some things to improve on, but that's the same for everybody, and he knows that. He does a pretty good job of hitting the creases and following his blocks. He's been getting better week after week."
Another key to the game was junior kicker Broc Skaar.
Skaar's strong leg helped him kick 37 and 41-yard field goals, as well as a touchback on a kickoff. Skaar narrowly missed a 47-yard attempt in a driving rain and on Manchester College's Burt Field. In college, field goal posts are 18-feet, 6-inches wide, while a regular high school field would have goal posts 23-feet, 4-inches apart.
"He's got a big time leg," Baker said of Skaar. "He can pretty much make them from 50 (yards) in practice. And that's huge, not only for putting points on the board, but it just boosts team spirit. You get a 41-yard field goal, you don't see that in high school very often."
The Squires will now face 9-2 Lewis Cass, which is ranked 12th in the Associated Press poll and 10th in the Coaches' Poll. But according to Baker, his team only has to be better than Cass once to advance.
"Anything can happen," he said. "That's why we play the games on Friday. We told them, 'You don't have to be the best team in the state. You just gotta be the best team on that Friday.' So we'll strap it up and give it the best effort we can."
