NORTH MANCHESTER – It was a mild September evening at Manchester Jr.-Sr. High School. The weather presented ideal conditions that gave both Tippecanoe Valley and the host Squires a chance to showcase their offenses.
On Manchester’s homecoming night, it was a tale of two halves.
After trailing 25-19, the Valley Vikings scored 27 unanswered points en route to a 46-25 victory in Three Rivers Conference high school football action.
“The game is 48 minutes for a reason,” said Manchester coach Greg Miller. “I’m proud of the fight in our guys, but we have got to start putting in 48 minutes together.”
In the first half, both the Squires and Vikings scored on every one of their possessions.
For Manchester, senior halfback Delton Moore carried the ball 19 times for 177 yards and two touchdowns Friday night. Moore also caught the ball twice for 22 yards.
Valley head coach Steve Moriarty knew all too well about Moore’s abilities.
“We made a few adjustments to stop that run up the middle (in the second half), but Moore was a beast tonight,” he said. “It took two or three of us to bring him down.”
Manchester junior quarterback Devin Marcum scored twice on the ground, finishing with 27 yards on seven carries. Through the air, Marcum was 9 of 23 for 91 yards, along with one interception.
When Manchester was going to the air more, Moriarty felt his defensive line had a better handle of things and his secondary did a great job.
On the Vikings’ side of the ball, Cameron Parker scored a touchdown and led the way with 206 yards on 27 carries, surpassing the 100-yard mark before halftime. Senior teammate Alex Morrison found his way into the end zone five times in the victory and finished with 59 yards on nine carries.
Valley senior quarterback Noah Miller also got in on the scoring frenzy with a touchdown run late in the fourth quarter.
“We have got to be more physical up front,” said Moriarty. “I thought early on, we controlled the line of scrimmage, and then they controlled the second half. When we get a lead, we need to make sure we intensify and keep playing.”
The teams were knotted at 13-13 after one quarter of play and Manchester led 25-19 at halftime.
The Vikings scored 14 points in the third to take a 33-25 advantage and then added 13 more in the fourth quarter as they improved to 3-3 overall and 2-1 in the TRC North standings. Manchester fell to 2-4 and 0-2.
Valley will host rival Rochester Friday in the annual battle for the Bell Trophy.
“It’s going to be a big game because of TRC implications, and it’s also the Bell Game, and it’s also Homecoming, which will be very distracting, but hopefully we can stay focused,” said Moriarty.
Manchester will stay put next week, as the Squires will host the Whitko Wildcats for Senior Night.
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 46, MANCHESTER 25
TV 13 6 14 13 — 46
M 13 12 0 0 — 25
TV M
1st downs 22 16
Rushing yds 330 339
Passing yds 64 91
Comp-Att-Int 2-6-66 9-23-91
Total yds 396 339
Fumbles/lost 0/0 0/0
Penalties/yds 5/39 6/68
First Quarter
M – Delton Moore 32 run (Klayton Hendrix kick), 8:33
TV – Cameron Parker 5 run (kick failed), 5:49
M – Devin Marcum 15 run (kick failed), 3:30
TV – Alex Morrison 14 run (Jose Rivera kick), :00
Second Quarter
M – Moore 1 run (conversion failed), 10:36
TV – Morrison 2 run (conversion failed), 4:01
M – Marcum 1 run (conversion failed), :10
Third Quarter
TV – Morrison 13 run (Parker run), 4:31
TV – Morrison 5 run (conversion failed), :21
Fourth Quarter
TV – Morrison 2 run (conversion failed), 7:30
TV – Morrison 5 run (conversion failed), :21
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing — Valley, Cameron Parker 27-206 Alex Morrison 9-59, Dakota Gaff 3-36, Noah Miller 10-30, Wes Melanson 5-14; Manchester, Delton Moore 19-177 2 TD, Seth Gaerte 4-33, Devin Marcum 7-27 2 TD, Tyce Rooney 2-11. Passing — Valley, Miller 2-6-66; Manchester, Marcum 9-23-91 1 INT
Receiving — Valley, Morrison 2-64; Manchester, Mason Meyer 4-37, Moore 2-22, Rooney 1-26, Tyler Andritsch 1-5.
Records: Valley 3-3 (2-1 TRC), Manchester 2-4 (0-2 TRC)
