Kickoff near the end of the first half. Photo by Fritz Swanson.

by Marsha Chartrand

“Big plays for both schools played a huge role in the outcome of the game on Friday,” said varsity Coach Ben Pack. “One of the bigger statistics in a football game is fourth-down conversions. Forcing a team to turn the ball over on downs plays a huge role in the outcome of the game. Michigan Center was 4 for 4 and we were 0–3 on fourth-down conversions. In addition to that, we turned the ball over three times, twice on fumbles and one interception, to their one fumble. These factors outweighed our offensive yardage.” (Manchester had 363 yards rushing to MC’s 131.)

That was the major story of the Michigan Center game on October 13. Manchester came out strong in the first quarter, outscoring the Cardinals 7–0, on an 11-yard rush by Blake Sloan supported by a PAT by Jeff Sangster. But the second quarter was a different story altogether, as Michigan Center scored 28 points on four touchdowns, all followed by successful PATs.

The Dutch tried to recoup in the second half, and came back with another TD by Sloan in the third quarter, but Center responded with another touchdown of their own to leave Manchester trailing 35–13 at the end of the third. During the last quarter, Alexander Woods picked up a four-yard pass from Kannon Duffing to bring the score up to 35–19, but the Cardinals grabbed a 50-yard kickoff return to score another touchdown followed by PAT. The Dutchmen got in one final score, on a rush from Sloan with a two-point conversion by Luke Blumenauer, to bring the final score to 42–27.

“On the majority of plays, we played the best we have played all year,” Pack commented, “however, turnovers and lack of conversions played a major role in the outcome of the game. These are things that are fixable and will be addressed in practice this week.”

Sloan continued to roll this week, racking up 302 yards rushing. Bubba Duffing, Landon LaVigne, and Jozef Sprunk played stellar blocking during the night. “Our offensive line gets better each week and has been able to adjust the blocking schemes based on the defensive alignments,” said Pack.

Kannon moved closer to a school record for career passing yards, connecting on 9 of 13 passes for 125 yards. Tommy Johnson was his main target hauling in four passes for 79 yards. Tommy also rushed for 55 yards for a career-high night. The lone receiving touchdown came in the fourth quarter by Woods; but Kannon also found Blumenauer in the end zone for the two-point conversion.

Gunner Carson and Phoenix Hulswitt continued to be a presence in the secondary, registering multiple tackles and breaking up multiple passes. “Phoenix has played solid all season and has a very high ceiling for growth,” Pack noted.

The JV and Middle School teams both turned in solid performances last week, beating Grass Lake. The Middle School will conclude its season this week on Wednesday versus Vandercook Lake, while the JV head to Michigan Center. Go, Dutch!

Photo by Sara Swanson.