The Manual football team lost 14-10 last night in their second game of the season at Fern Creek.
The Crimsons started the game fast and loose, surprising the tigers and using that momentum to get across the field and kick a field goal. However after moving the ball all over the field the Tigers rallied in the second quarter and made their first touchdown by Dylan Dunbar (5, 12).
“We’ve been coming up short against Manual for a long time, ever since I’ve been at Fern Creek,” Dunbar said. “It was just my senior year and I couldn’t go out like that. I had to sacrifice whatever I had in me.”
The highlight of the game was during the second quarter when Fern Creek had possession of the ball but Manual’s defense kept pushing them further back with every new down. By the third down, the Crimsons had the Tigers pushed back to their own two-yard-line.
By halftime, the Fern Creek Tigers were leading by a score of 7-3.
Manual, having lost some of their momentum, reverted to the usual defense-heavy tactics yet played sharper offensively. Marcis Floyd (2, 12) made a touchdown with 14 seconds left in the third quarter, leaving the student section in hysterics.
During the third quarter the Tigers scored a touchdown with 2:50 left in the game from a pass of 61 yards by Isaiah Hester (17, 11) to Damon Durrah (9, 12).
The energy of the Crimson fans and players started to die down, and defeat seemed inevitable, until a player injury motivated the team to make a final push. Manual’s offense, led by Aidan Robbins (7, 11) got the ball within the 30-yard line, exciting the Crimson Crazies and the team. However a flag was called on the play, canceling out the gained yardage and moving the Rams further back, and they were unsuccessful despite attempts to recover.
Overall, last night’s game showed much improvement from last week’s loss to Central.
The Crimsons Head Coach, Scott Carmony, said, “We’ve improved a lot, we got things going a little more offensively and played more physical, but we still made key mistakes at bad times, still not executing at certain times, and that’s just killing us right now, but it’s all part and parcel to our inexperience.”
Floyd, one of the few experienced players on this year’s team, said, “We executed more than last game, had a better offense, and played harder.”
Floyd scored Manual’s only touchdown of last night’s game, and had this to say, “It felt good but we lost so it doesn’t matter.”
In two weeks, the team will face Western High School at Manual Stadium for the third game of the season.
