WABASH – The Manchester Squires entered Friday night’s opening round of sectional play with a three-game win streak.
The Wabash Apaches would earn their third consecutive victory if they could get past the Squires.
The stage was set for what would be a classic matchup between the Wabash County rivals.
In a high school football game that featured five lead changes and four turnovers, the Squires squandered an 11-point fourth quarter lead and saw their season end as the Apaches prevailed 30-27.
“Hats off to Wabash for making plays when they needed to,” said Manchester coach Greg Miller. “We had chance to put them away, and we just did not do that. When the opportunities come your way, you need to take advantage of that.”
For Wabash, senior wide receiver Austin Vinopal hauled in three touchdown passes from junior quarterback Devin Higdon.
There was no scoring in the opening quarter, but the Squires got on the board first by way of a 20-yard run from Devon Rooney.
After Higdon and Vinopal’s first touchdown connection, Manchester regained the lead on a 56-yard pass play from senior quarterback Hayes Sturtsman to Trey Clark.
Clark had four receptions for 94 yards and was the team’s leading receiver.
Manchester extended its lead on a 28-yard touchdown run from junior halfback Delton Moore in the third quarter. Moore finished with 88 yards on eight carries.
With 7:43 remaining in the fourth quarter, Sturtsman punched the ball in from 12 yards to give the Squires a 27-16 lead. While things looked great for the visitors, Wabash didn’t go away.
The Apaches scored 14 consecutive points with less than five minutes remaining in the game, and the Squires turned the ball over three times in that span.
With the win, Wabash moves on to face the Woodlan Warriors, who are coming off a 68-0 opening-round win over Prairie Heights.
The Squires finished the season with a record of 4-6.
WABASH 30, MANCHESTER 27
M 13 0 7 7 – 27
W 8 0 8 14 – 30
M W
1st downs 17 14
Rushing yds 187 86
Passing yds 157 207
Comp-Att-Int 13-25-1 13-28-0
Total yds 344 293
Fumbles lost 2 1
Penalties/yds 3-10 6-34
Punts/avg. 3-39 5-40
First Quarter
M – Devon Rooney 20 run(kick failed), 6-0
W – Devin Higdon 45 pass to Austin Vinopal (2-point conversion), 8-6
M – Trey Clark 56 pass from Hayes Sturtsman (Klayton Hendrix kick), 13-8
Second Quarter
M – Delton Moore 28 run (Hendrix kick) 20-8
W – Higdon 31 pass to Vinopal (2-point conversion), 20-16
Fourth Quarter
M – Sturtsman 12 run (Hendrix kick), 27-16
W – Higdon 7 pass to Vinopal (conversion failed), 27-22
W – 4-yard run (2-point conversion), 30-27
MANCHESTER STATISTICS
Rushing: Moore 8-88, Sturtsman 10-58, Rooney 5-25, Josh Shepherd 5-10, Andrew McAtee 1-6.
Passing: Sturtsman 13-25-157 yards, 1 TD, 1 Int.
Receiving: Clark 4-94, Moore 3-35, Rooney 3-17, Parker Yard 2-13, Shepherd 1-(minus 2).
