Notre Dame rolls past Manchester 55-0 –
By Mark Carpenter –
After last Friday night’s high school football contest at Spartan Stadium, it may not be a stretch to say that the Manchester Greyhounds were having some coach Herman Boone flashbacks. The Greyhounds ran into a buzz saw, otherwise known as the Portsmouth Notre Dame Titans, and it was not a pretty sight. The Titans ran roughshod over the defenseless Hounds, scoring touchdowns on their first seven offensive possessions, then adding another on defense as they rolled to a 55-0 victory.
After beginning the season at 2-2, the Greyhounds have hit hard times on both sides of the ball, losing five straight and being outscored by a combined 261- 12. On an Oct. 19 night at the historic Portsmouth stadium, the Hounds had no answers for the Titans, who had also struggled this season but got well fast against Manchester.
The host Titans received the opening kickoff and began at their own 45, and it took just one snap to get all the points they needed as running back Logan Emnett took a hand off and sprinted 55 yards for the score. The extra point kick was good and Notre Dame led 7-0.
With Kyle Reaves at quarterback, the first Manchester offensive possession ended in a three-and-out and after the ensuing Rylan Bailey punt, the Titans needed just one snap again, with Emnett this time racing 73 yards for the TD and a Mays extra point made it 14-0 just over two minutes into the game. After another Greyhound punt, Notre Dame took four plays to travel 59 yards, getting a 31-yard touchdown run from Jake McGuire that combined with another Mays extra point left the home team in total control and up 21-0.
Nothing got better on the offensive side for the Hounds as another three-and-out and punt ultimately led to another Notre Dame score, this time a 17-yard run by Braiden Haney, decked out in the #45 jersey (“Rudy”). Mays finally missed an extra point but the home teams till led 27-0 with 3:26 left in the opening period.
Senior Avery Reed stepped in at quarterback on the next Manchester possession, which started promising with a nine-yard Jacob Johnson run, but ended on the next play with a fumble recovered by the Titans, who capitalized three snaps later with another Emnett touchdown run and a two-point conversion run that made it 35-0, still in the first quarter. The Greyhounds got the ball back and generously gave it right back to the home team on another fumble and a 34-yard McGuire run plus the extra point ended the first quarter at 42-0 Notre Dame.
Less than three minutes into the second stanza after another Bailey punt, the Titans struck again on a 25-yard Emnett scoring run and Mays extra point that made it 49-0 with 8:40 left in the half and at that point officials and coached decided to jump start the running clock rule. The Hounds got a nice 13-yard pass from Reaves to Nathan Rife on their next possession, their initial first down of the half, but three plays later, McGuire picked off a Reaves pass and took it 55 yards untouched to paydirt for a 55-0 halftime lead for Notre Dame.
The running clock and quarters shortened to eight minutes were instituted as the second half began, which meant that the two quarter went very rapidly, with the Titans using their bench players extensively, a luxury that Manchester head coach Dustin Cook just doesn’t have. The highlight of the half for the Hounds was their defense forcing a fumble, which was recovered by Levi Gilvin, but the ensuing drive ended in a punt and the game clock mercifully ran out on a 55-0 Notre Dame victory.
For the Hounds, the loss dropped them to 2-7 on the year, with one game left in the regular season, an Oct. 26 trip to Eastern Pike, their fourth consecutive road game to finish the 2018 campaign. Kick off is set for 7 p.m. on Friday.
