Regular season ends for Dutchmen with 30–7 loss to Reading
The Flying Dutchmen prepare to take the field at Friday night’s crossover game in Reading. Photo courtesy of Shannon Fether.
by Marsha Chartrand
A warm, beautiful fall night set an outstanding stage for the clash of two storied high school programs, Manchester vs. Reading, on Friday night for the Big 8 Crossover game.
“Reading High School is among the best high school programs in the state, and their stadium is a throwback to community high school football,“ said varsity football coach Ben Pack.
The Dutch offense got in gear early, scoring on its first series by a bootleg pass from QB Kannon Duffing, hitting Alexander Woods in the end zone for their first (and only) 20-yard touchdown. The PAT kick by Derek Huff was successful, putting Manchester on the scoreboard first for a 7–0 lead. “Our offense was able to move the ball well the entire night,“ Pack commented, “however, we sputtered once we got into the red zone.“
Meanwhile, however, Reading started racking up points starting immediately after the Manchester TD, including a 53-yard touchdown pass followed by a two-point conversion before the first quarter ended. In the second quarter, two more touchdowns complete with two-point conversions left the Rangers with a 24–7 lead at halftime, and a third-quarter 74-yard run finished up the scoring at 30–7.
“Penalties were our nemesis,“ Pack said. “We must eliminate the holding penalties. These negated multiple big plays. We will continue to focus on running our feet to stay on blocks.“
He added, “Our defense played well at times throughout the game. We stopped their running game numerous times, but gave them big plays off passes. After we stopped their first drive with an Andrew Campbell interception, I thought we would be strong the entire night; however, big pass plays broke us. Our young kids improve weekly, however they should be playing more like juniors, rather than sophomores, at this time of the year. They will hit hard stopping run plays but need to grow when defending the finesse-type plays.“
Gunner Carson led the team in rushing with 97 yards. “Our tailbacks ran hard and played very well,“ Pack noted. “Wyatt Carson and Blake Sloan combined for an additional 157 yards.“
Jaxon McGuigan led the team in receiving, catching seven passes for 61 yards, and also broke another school record for receptions in a career, 136. “Jaxon now owns all but two school receiving records,“ Pack said.
Continuing to praise the younger team members, Pack said, “Our JV team finished a very successful season, 6–2. Our JV base players combined with the varsity 5th-quarter players and did an outstanding job week after week. I am happy with the progress players showed during the season developing their position skill sets. This is the beauty of having a specific coach for each position. The JV base players were rewarded by being called up to the varsity for the remainder of the season.“
With the regular season complete, it is on to the playoffs.
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