The Friday night lights will shine a little brighter this week when arch rivals Manual and Male take the field. The two teams share one of the oldest rivalries in the nation and there is a barrel to be won. Ultimately, both teams are having down years but I am sure both teams will show up big time for the rivalry match.

The two teams have played three of the same teams throughout the year: Butler, St. X, and Trinity. Both took tough losses to powerhouses St.x and Trinity but had very different experiences against Butler.

Manual lost 34-17 to Butler, while Male defeated Butler 14-8. The rivals scored a similar number of points against Butler, but Male’s defense did a better job of stopping the Bears. What is interesting is that Manual rushed and threw for more yards against Butler than Male did. This shows how Manual’s offense can move the ball, but has a hard time converting opportunities.

On Friday October 19, the two rivals will come into the game looking for the same thing, but will have very different strategies to get the win. However, both teams will be lead by a senior star. For Manual it will be running back Romine, who has proved himself to be one of the top running backs in the state. For Male it will be quarterback Tyler Erny. Erny has proved he can throw and run the ball and will look to carry his Bulldogs to the victory.

You can count on Romine and Erny having big games. Both players will put up big numbers for their teams and probably find the end zone at least once apiece. What will make the difference is which team can slow down the other team’s superstar. Manual will look to quarterback Mason Motley to come up big and give the Crimsons another threat on offense. Male will look to utilize Erny on the ground and in the air and try to slow down Romine when they are on defense.

I think Manual’s defense will step up big and slow down Erny. Romine will run all over Male’s defense and he lead the Crimsons to a 28-24 win. The barrel will stay at Manual.