NORTH MANCHESTER – Last week, the Manchester Squires earned their first win of the season in a convincing 38-16 drubbing of Wabash. Head coach Greg Miller and his Squires were hoping to carry that momentum into Friday’s home game against the Peru Tigers.
Down 21 points in the fourth quarter, the Squires put up a furious rally but were denied a second-straight win, as the Tigers survived 41-40 at Manchester High School.
“I’m proud of our guys and the way they continued to play,” Miller said of his Squires (1-3). “Peru is a tough offense to face, and it was a very physical game.”
For the Tigers (1-3), it was an exciting first win of their season.
“It’s not easy to start at 0-3. You start to question a lot of things,” said Peru coach Bob Prescott. “We’ve had some personnel issues that made it tough on us, but our kids continued to hang tough and they get better every week. There’s a big weight lifted off of their shoulders, and there’s no pressure now.”
There were plenty of on the field Friday, as Peru and Manchester combined for 37 penalties for 324 yards. However, a 300-yard rushing performance from Peru senior halfback Jordan Rader helped the Tigers overcome their setbacks.
“Rader was a hard runner, and we had trouble bringing him down,” said Miller.
As a whole, the Tigers rushed 74 times for 495 yards and five scores.
Aside from all of the offensive stats amassed by Peru, Manchester did see some good individual performances. Despite completing just 36 percent of his passes, senior quarterback Hayes Sturtsman threw four touchdowns and was intercepted once. Sturtsman also carried the ball nine times for 29 yards and a score.
All four of Sturtsman’s touchdown passes were caught by different receivers, including Andrew McAtee (4 rec., 123 yds, TD), Trey Clark (1 rec., 28 yds, TD), Remington Trick (1 rec., 12 yds, TD) and Parker Yard (1 rec., 6 yds, TD).
Also impressive was junior halfback Delton Moore, who rushed 13 times for 109 yards and a touchdown for the Squires.
The Squires will face Wabash County rival Northfield in North Manchester next week. The Norse are coming off of a 41-28 win over the Tippecanoe Valley Vikings.
NORTH MANCHESTER –
PERU 41, MANCHESTER 40
P 15 0 12 14 – 41
M 6 0 14 20 – 40
P M
1st downs 26 16
Rushing yds 495 187
Passing yds 71 184
Comp-Att-Int 9-25-1 4-8-1
Total yds 566 371
Fumbles lost 1 2
Penalties/yds 15-181 22-143
Punts/avg. 1-40 6-38
MANCHESTER STATISTICS
Rushing: Delton Moore 13 carries, 109 yards, TD, Devon Rooney 1-43, Hayes Sturtsman 9-29, TD, Andrew McAtee 1-6; Passing – Sturtsman 9-25-184 yards, 4 TDs, 1 Int.; Receiving – McAtee 4 catches, 123 yards, TD; Trey Clark 1-28, Remington Trick 1-12, Rooney 1-9, Moore 1-6, Parker Yard 1-6.
