Manual recorded its second straight shut-out, and third of the season, in Thursday night’s 35-0 win over Butler.

Manual’s defense recorded two interceptions, one by Aaron Riddick (12,#25) in the first quarter and one by Jarius Brents (9,#5) in the third.

“Like I’ve been saying all along, we win because of our defense,” Head Coach Oliver Lucas (Science) said. “Our defense does such a stellar job. As long as a team shuts people out, you have a punching chance to win the game.”

Players Giruad Drake (11, #13) and Tim Comstock (11, #3) also spoke highly of the defense.

“We’re a whole unit. We don’t have one person who’s better than the other,” Drake said. “We could put anybody in there, at any time, and we’d still have the same outcome.”

“With our defense, I feel safe on offense. I feel like they have our back every time,” Comstock said.

Manual’s offense also showed signs of improvement, despite missing star running back Micheal Nero (12, #27).

“[The offense] took another step forward,” Lucas said. “Collectively we spread the ball around and everybody was a contributor tonight.”

Manual recorded five touchdowns Thursday, including a 15-yard pass from Comstock to receiver Jailin Carter (10, #11), and runs by Reece West (11, #1), Trae Gordon (12, #22), Andre Teague (10, #26), and Jordan White (12, #8).

Teague’s touchdown came at the end of a long string of penalties called against Butler after roughing the kicker on a punt. They were then penalized with two counts of unsportsmanlike conduct, culminating in the ejection of Butler’s Teewan Wiggington (#4). This string of penalties set Manual up on Butler’s 10 yard line for the first play of the drive.

On top of those, Comstock completed a long 42-yard pass to Will Blackford (12, #6) early in the first to set Manual up for their first touchdown, and Omari Alexander (11, #29) had two punt returns above 30 yards (38 and 32 yards respectively).

The Thursday win put Manual’s record at 6-0. They will take on Trinity at Manual Stadium on October 10 at 7:30.