Manual defeated the Eastern Eagles 34-13 last night on the Crimsons’ Senior Night.
At the start of the game, Manual kicked off to Eastern. The Eagles’ drive was stalled and they were forced to punt the ball back to the Crimsons.
Manual started their first drive on their own 31 yard line. Jaelin Carter (#11,12) had a pair of back to back runs to get the first down.
Marcis Floyd (#2,11) ran for 40 yards followed by Aidan Robbins (#29,10) with a nice gain. Andre Teague (#6,12) caught a touchdown pass followed by a successful kick by Nick Kopp (#9,11), putting the Crimsons on the board.
After scoring a touchdown in their first drive, Manual seemed unstoppable from then on.
The Eagles’ drive stalled out once again and after punting away to the Crimsons, Manual gained control of the ball which led to yet another touchdown by Teague and a successful kick by Kopp.
Manual opened the second quarter with a rocky start by allowing the Eagles to intercept their first two drive attempts.
The Eagles were unable to take advantage of the opportunities and punted to Manual. Carter returned the punt 30 yards for another Manual touchdown with a completed kick by Kopp.
The Eagles gained control of the ball for the final minutes of the second quarter. A 15 yard penalty on Manual pushed the Eagles even farther down the field. Another pass-interference penalty put the ball onto the goal line and Lawrence Webb (#19,12) made the first touchdown of the night for the Eagles.
At the end of the first half, Manual led the game 21-7.
The Crimsons started the third quarter on the 35 yard line. Robbins had a good run followed by Carter with a 49 yard touchdown run. Kopp finished the drive with yet another successful extra point, putting the score at 28-7, Manual.
The Eagles could not get their offense to gel. As the Eagles tried to make a pass down field, it was intercepted by John Sneed (#8,12) who ran it back for a touchdown.
The fourth quarter consisted of a lot of back and forth among the teams. Nearing the end of the game, the Eagles gained control after a Crimson fumble. Tavoris Scott (#16,11) ran the ball in for an Eagles touchdown but the team failed to get the extra point.
The Manual seniors showed out in their final regular season home game by scoring all five of the touchdowns.
“The seniors and their leadership were the biggest strength tonight. They came to play as leaders and took care of business,” said Manual Head Coach Scott Carmony.
All aspects of the team were successful in the last home game of the regular season.
“Our defense came out hard and our offensive running game was good. The only thing we struggled with was turnovers,” said Jaden Newton (#21,12).
At the end of the season, the team is looking forward to the playoffs.
“Our strength was playing together as brothers and finishing out our regular season. The win was motivational especially going into the playoffs,” said Carter.
The next game is Friday, Nov. 4 in Henderson County for the first round of the playoffs.
