Manchester senior Braylon Rickett had a career night for the Greyhounds as they defeat Green on September 5. On offense, Rickett had 213 yards rushing and three touchdowns while on defense he added 16 tackles and a pair of interceptions. (Photo by Mason Gilliam)
First 3-0 start since 2013
Manchester freshman Carson Horner is wrapped up by a Green defender in action from last Friday night. Horner scored the final touchdown in the Greyhounds’ 46-12 victory, moving them to 3-0 on the season. (Photo by Michael Vermillion | H-D Media)
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
For the first time since the 2013 season, the Manchester Greyhounds football squad has started the season with three consecutive wins. The Hounds picked up number three on Friday, September 5 when they traveled to Franklin Furnace Green and handed the host Bobcats a convincing 46-12 defeat. The win improved Manchester to #7 in the Division VII,. Region 28 computer rankings, when the top 12 teams at the end of the season advancing to the OHSAA playoffs.
The Greyhounds had a huge night on both sides of the ball with the offense racing to a 40-6 halftime lead and the defense slamming the door constantly on the Green offense. It was a career night for senior Braylon Rickett, who racked up 213 rushing yards, with rushing and receiving touchdowns, while adding 16 tackles and two interceptions on defense.
“I couldn’t be any prouder of our guys,” said Manchester head coach Justin Schmitz. “Our toughness and physicality set the tone for the whole game.”
“Offensively all the credit in the world goes to our big dogs up front. They created some great running lanes and gave our quarterback plenty of time to make his reads and distribute the ball. Braylon ran like a man possessed all night.”
The game didn’t start on a high note for the Greyhounds. With 8:15 to go in the first quarter, Green’s Caleb Nutter picked off a pass from Manchester quarterback and took it in for the pick-six to give the host Bobcats a 6-0 lead, but it didn’t last long. The rest of the first quarter and half half was ALL Greyhounds. Manchester scored 28 points in the final six and a half minutes of the opening period, beginning with Rickett hauling in a scoring pass from Brown and adding a Joel Blythe two-point run for an 8-6 advantage.
After Rickett picked off his first Bobcat pass of the contest, the Hounds wasted no time in capitalizing, getting a TD run from Blythe to make it 14-6. The Manchester defense made a stand and forced Green punt the the Hounds; Hunter Raines ran all the way to the house and with a Brown conversion run, the lead ballooned to 22-6. To cap off an impressive first quarter, a Rickett touchdown jaunt gave the visitors a commanding 28-6 margin.
As their defense continued to throttle the Bobcat offense, the Hounds added on at the 7:45 mark of the second stanza on a touchdown scamper from Brown and then with 1:07 left in the half, Blythe hauled in a scoring pass from Brown and the two teams went to the halftime break with the Hounds in control and up 40-6.
The third quarter was a defensive struggle with neither team scoring and the Greyhounds turning the ball over two times. Early in the final period, the Bobcats got on the board again on a scoring pass to Leland Blevins and the final points of a victorious night for the Hounds came on a scoring run from freshman Carson Horner with 1:03 to play, making the final 46-12 in favor of the visitors.
After the win, Coach Schmitz had a lot of praise for his players and team as a whole.
“Joel (Blythe) had some great catches tonight and had some big runs for us,” said the MHS head coach. “Levi (Hargis) takes a lot of pride in being our ground and pound back. He got us those tough yards when we needed them all night.”
“Our defensive unit is one of the best our school has ever seen. They’ve completely bought into our schemes and it shows on Friday nights. It’s a beautiful sight watching those blue jerseys swarm and shut down these offenses.”
Green dropped to 0-2 with the loss while the Hounds will look to make it four in a row this Friday (September 12), again on the road to battle the Sciotoville East Tartans. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. at East High School.
