Manchester falls to Grass Lake 8-25, remains one win from playoffs

Editor’s Note: This week’s Flying Dutchmen Varsity Football Coverage sponsor is the Manchester Men’s Club.

Grass Lake junior quarterback Carson Farley runs past the Manchester Defense to pick up a first down in the third quarter.

A five-game winning streak, broken – and still no guarantee of a playoff appearance.

Such is the state of affairs for Manchester, after travelling to Grass Lake Friday and losing to the Warriors 8-25 in the final Cascades Conference matchup of the regular season.

Grass Lake (7-1, 6-1) took advantage of good field position to score quickly on its first drive. A few short plays later the Warriors intercepted Flying Dutchmen senior quarterback Tyler Horky, returned the ball to the ten yard line, then scored again on offense.

“That’s a damn good football team,” said Manchester head coach Mike Blumenauer. “We knew we were going to have our hands full. We’re dinged up a little bit. … If we’re healthy I think we can compete. But right now we’re not healthy.”

Late in the second quarter, Grass Lake succeed at converting a 4th and goal from the 13-yard line with a high pass from Farley. Warrior receiver Antoni Malinowski out-jumped the Manchester defender covering him, and landed with the touchdown reception.

By halftime, Manchester (5-3, 5-2) was staring at a 0-19 deficit on the scoreboard.

On several occasions the Warriors successfully made long third- and fourth-down conversions on offense – frustrating a Dutchmen defensive unit that played tight man-to-man coverage in the passing game and routinely put pressure on Grass Lake junior quarterback Carson Farley.

“We have to take advantage of those situations,” said Blumenauer. “We had a lot of missed tackles tonight. We just have to play better football overall.”

Without their starting running back, Manchester struggled to find ways to score. The Dutchmen found some room to run, gaining 147 total yards on offense largely by way of the ground game. Senior running back Jacob Kurgin led the team with 48 rushing yards from 14 attempts.

The hard part was stringing together enough positive plays to move down the field and get to the end zone.

“We just had some untimely penalties. We’d make a mistake; we’d miss a block. We just could never get momentum,” said Blumenauer. “Their defense had quite a bit to do with that I would say, but it’s not like we can’t compete with Grass Lake.”

The lone Dutchmen touchdown came when Horky ran the ball into the end zone from the one yard line with 4:48 on the clock in the final quarter. Horky finished with 32 rushing yards and touchdown on 11 carries, and two interceptions and 30 yards off 9/20 passing. Manchester junior receiver Hayden Taylor picked up 35 yards on four pass receptions.

Senior Dutchmen running back Collin McCaffrey was in uniform but did not play against the Warriors after appearing to sustain an injury last week against Hanover-Horton. It effected the efficiency of the Dutch offense. Blumenauer says there is a chance McCaffrey could return and play next week.

Farley’s completed passes were often tightly contested. The Manchester defense allowed just one touchdown in the second half. Kurgin shined in man-to-man matchups at his linebacker position, breaking up several would-be completions, to the consternation of Grass Lake.

“We sputtered a little bit more than we would have liked to,” said Warriors head coach Randy Cole. “Credit to their defense. … we hit it every once and awhile, but they kept great pressure on the quarterback too.”

Next week the Flying Dutchmen play at home against Homer (6-2, 5-2). Manchester must win this final regular season game in order to guarantee a spot in the playoffs.

Tyler Scott covers football for the Manchester Mirror. He also hosts Weekend Afternoons on Michigan Radio (NPR)

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by Marsha Chartrand

Marsha Johnson Chartrand, a founder, writer, and copy editor with the Manchester Mirror, is a 50-year resident of Manchester. She has a long history of volunteer and community involvement.