|
|
|
At last, Manchester High School will host a home football game
|
By MATT MONTAVON Sports Writer
|
The wait may have been longer than expected, but the Manchester Greyhounds are looking forward to taking the field tonight for their first varsity home football game in nearly 30 years.
Delays in stadium construction forced the Greyhounds to play scheduled home games with Northwest, Southeastern and Sciotoville East on the road, but the team will play its home opener tonight at 7:30 at Manchester High School. As part of the festivities, former football players and coaches are invited back for a tailgate reception at 5:30 and will be honored at halftime.
"We have a few different things planned," said head coach Nick Neria. "But to actually be able to turn on those lights, get out on that field and sit in those bleachers, that will be the big thing."
Though Neria and many members of the Manchester community are looking forward to the game, no one is as excited as the players, who finally get a chance to play in front of a home crowd.
"All I can do is control the level of excitement for our boys, and I know they can't stand it any more," Neria added. "They're ready to get out there. They've been pushed back three times for their first home game, so there will definitely be some big-time emotion for those guys. It'll also be a nice change of pace not having to get on a bus to ride an hour or more to play a game."
When the game kicks off, the 0-6 Greyhounds will have their work cut out for them with Grove City Christian. The Eagles outscored their opponents 188-21 during a 5-0 start before falling 34-12 last week at Troy Christian.
"They've played a lot of teams similar in size to us and they've pretty much been dominant in all those games except the loss," Neria said of tonight's opponent. "In the films we've seen, it doesn't look like they've struggled much. We're going to have to play four full quarters of football instead of a half or three quarters like we've been playing so far."
If the Greyhounds are going to compete with Grove City Christian, they will have to contain junior running back Jessie Barnes, who earned all-district honors last year after running for 1,358 yards and 19 touchdowns.
"They've got definite speed at running back," Neria said, "and they'll try to use that to get outside and then work the cutback lanes."
The Greyhounds' problems so far have occurred on the defensive side of the ball, where they have allowed an average of 61.2 points per game. On offense, however, they have been able to move the ball consistently, averaging 417 yards and 26 points per game.
"We've run for 1,300 yards and thrown for almost 1,200 so we've been pretty balanced," Neria said. "Just being able to spread people out and try to take advantage of what they're giving us has been our main game plan."
The key to the offense has been dual-threat quarterback Dawson Little, who has gone 82-of-147 passing for 1,185 yards and 14 touchdowns while rushing for another 531 yards and three scores.
"Dawson's already thrown for 14 touchdowns to five interceptions which is pretty good for any quarterback," said Neria. "He makes a lot of plays happen with his ability to move. He's quite an athlete and he makes everyone around him better."
Also impressive is how the Hounds' offense has continued to function with the loss of key players. Before going down to injury, Dylan Hanson and Adrian Henderson accounted for 443 yards from scrimmage and five touchdowns in the season opener at Green. However, Ian Watterson (358 yards rushing, 348 yards receiving, 8 total TDs) and Tyler Grooms (385 yards receiving, 5 TDs) have stepped in nicely.
While Hanson is still a few weeks away, Neria expects Henderson and a few others to be back this week to provide some much needed depth.
"We'll have a few guys back so we're not going to be so dependent on everybody playing both ways," Neria said. "We're starting to spread out a little more and let guys focus on one side of the ball a little bit more. Once we're at full strength we'll still have guys going both ways but it won't be 11 guys going both ways like it was for about four or five weeks there."
Win or lose, Neria and his team are just hoping to give their home fans an effort to be proud of.
"We see glimpses every week but we don't know how long we're going to see it," Neria said. "We're just looking forward to the opportunity to play in front of our home crowd and play four full quarters of football." |
|
|
Reader Comments
Comments are limited to 200 words or less.
Add your own comments:
|
|
|
Jobs
Homes
Cars
Print Ads