This battle between River Valley receiver Mason Browning (5) and Manchester corner Ronnie Elam resulted in Browning controlling the pass and scoring a touchdown in the match up on October 21 at Veterans Stadium. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
Manchester drops home finale to River Valley
A big hit by a Rover Valley defender resulted in a fumble by Manchester’s Braiden Brown in action from the regular season finale at Veterans Stadium on October 21. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
The 2022 football season came to a close on Friday, October 21 for the Manchester Greyhounds as the Hounds played host to the River Valley Raiders at Veterans Stadium in Manchester. The Raiders were a late replacement on the Manchester schedule and presented a tough task for the home team, being a very talented Division V team.
That difference showed up early and often on Friday night, taking a 16-0 lead after one quarter and then cruising to a 55-12 win to spoil the Greyhounds’ home finale under first-year head coach Justin Schmitz.
It didn’t take long for the explosive River Valley offense to establish their dominance as the Raiders marched 59 yards in 11 plays on their first possession, getting a 10-yard touchdown run from Michael Conkle and a two-point run from Andrew Huck to go up 8-0 less than three minutes in.
The first Manchester offensive possession of the game went nowhere and resulted in a turnover on downs that gave the Raiders the ball at the Greyhound 46. Two snaps later, the visitors were in the end zone again . A pass from quarterback Justin Stump in the direction of receiver Mason Browning resulted in a fight for the ball between Browning and Manchester corner Ronnie Elam and after the ball was juggled around it fell into the hand of Browning who took it in for the score. A two-point run from Conkle made it 16-0 Raiders.
After a Manchester punt, the Greyhound defense forced a turnover, a River Valley fumble recovered by the Hounds’ Brendan Barnes but the ensuing Manchester drive ended when a 4th and 3 play from the River Valley 8 fell short by inches. The Raiders took over at their own 7 and proceeded to drive 93 yards in a long 15-play drive, aided by a pair of fourth down encroachment calls on the Greyhound defense that kept the drive alive. With 9:36 to go in the second quarter, a 3-yard run bu Conkle plus a conversion pass to Browning gave River Valley a 24-0 advantage.
The following Manchester possession saw a Lucas Smith pass picked off by the Raiders and the guests quickly converted that into another score, getting a TD pass from Stump to a leaping Andrew Loveday to extend the lead to 30-0. After a Manchester punt, the River Valley offense continued to roll, going 67 yards in just three plays, getting a 51-yard touchdown run from Conkle, who broke numerous tackles and made a nice cut back on his way to the end zone. An extra-point kick was wide, leaving the Raider lead at 36-0.
Things just continued to slide downhill for the Greyhounds as they fumbled the ball away on their next possession and the Raiders quickly cashed in again with another Stump scoring pass. Again, the extra point was no good but the home team stared at a 42-0 deficit that was about to get worse in the half’s final minute. When the Hounds got the ball back, a Smith pass was intercepted by Browning who returned it 40 yards for the score. The extra point kick by Conkle was good and at the intermission, it was all Raiders, 49-0.
The opening of the third quarter was not pretty for the home team either. With Smith sidelined for the rest of the game after taking a crushing hit late in the first half, Joel Blythe took over under center and fumbled on his first snap and the result was a “scoop and score” for the Raiders’ Andrew Huck that made it 55-0.
That was the final points for the visitors that night and they certainly had plenty while the Greyhounds finally got on the board late in the third quarter. The Manchester offense drove 43 yards in eight plays, getting an 18-yard touchdown run from Kayden Butcher that made it 55-6.
Normally a running clock fourth quarter is uneventful but for one Manchester senior, a lifelong memory was made. With 8:30 left in the game and on what would be the final carry of his high school career, Greyhound senior Aaron Lucas took a hand off 76 yards to the house, closing his outstanding career in style in the end zone. The Lucas touchdown put a brighter shine on an otherwise dismal night for the Hounds as they ended their 2022 campaign with the 55-12 loss.
The first year under Coach Schmitz ended in a 3-7 overall record and the program bids farewell to five seniors- Aaron Lucas, Chase Francis, Lucas Smith, Braiden Brown and Quentin Lucas.
“This season was a different experience for me but it was a lot of fun,” said coach Schmitz. “The relationships that I’ve built with these kids is going to last a lifetime and we had some of the best senors I could have ever asked to go out with. I could not have asked for a better group of leaders of men, these guys came to work early and they were late leaving, great examples to our underclassmen. I can’t say enough good things about them.”
Next season will be even more different as they become football members of the SOC.
“That’s going to give us some stability and a chance to get our plWe’reayers out there and recognized more,” says Coach Schmitz. “We’re losing some key pieces but we have kids coming up from the junior high program that are going to be decent players. We’re going to keep the scheme simple, we’re going to run the ball and kill the clock and win the turnover battles.”
