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One and done: Manchester drops playoff game to Grass Lake, 22-30

Manchester senior running back Collin McCaffrey gets tackled in the first quarter of Friday playoff loss to Grass Lake.

by Tyler Scott

A brutal struggle with turnovers abound. A chance for revenge, squandered. The re-match between Cascades Conference foes, this time in the playoffs, ended again in disappointment, and brought the Flying Dutchmen varsity season to a close.

Manchester lost to the Grass Lake Warriors 22-30 in the pre-district round of the MHSAA 11-man football playoffs in Grass Lake on Friday.

Two interceptions by the Warrior defense set the tone early.

“Turnovers … if you have them, you’re in trouble – especially in a game like this,” said Flying Dutchmen head coach Mike Blumenauer. “We had a great drive to start the game. If we could have finished the deal there, I don’t know if the game would have been different but it would have been a lot tighter than what it was.”

On the aforementioned first drive, senior Manchester quarterback Tyler Horky connected with junior wide receiver Hayden Taylor on three passes, and senior running back Collin McCaffrey, who did not play in the first game against Grass Lake (week eight of the regular season) due to injury, was picking up solid rushing yards.

With the ball on the Grass Lake 19-yard line, junior Warrior defensive back Josh Sherwood stepped in front of a Horky pass, intercepted it, and returned it for a touchdown. After stopping the two-point conversion attempt, the Flying Dutchmen were behind 0-6 late in the first quarter.

“Playing (Manchester) a couple weeks ago, we saw some of their key routes,” said Warrior head coach Randy Cole. “We sat on one, and Josh Sherwood made a great play on it and took it back for six (points). That was huge.”

Then began a long drought where both teams struggled to move the ball.

Grass Lake turned the ball over on downs inside the red zone multiple times. Despite the struggles on offense, the stalwart defense of the Flying Dutchmen kept the score close.

In the second quarter, senior Warrior defensive back Carson Canning intercepted another Horky pass, which immediately led to a Grass Lake rushing touchdown on the legs of junior running back Trenton Holden – and the score differential grew to 14-0.��

For a vast majority of the game, Manchester offense seemed stuck in its own end of the field. No plays were gaining much ground, and even several punts landed short. The turnovers gave Grass Lake the early lead. Being mired in bad field position only made it harder for the Flying Dutchmen to change the momentum of the game.

“We’re a little banged up,” said Blumenauer. “We don’t have our starting tight end. Our quarterback is about 70 percent (healthy), and we’re undermanned to begin with. I’m not making excuses, but it just had an effect.”

Manchester did not score until the third quarter – after Grass Lake fumbled the ball on its opening possession of the second half. After a series of old-school, between-the-tackles running plays, senior Flying Dutchmen running back Nick Phillips ran for a touchdown.

Eventually the Warrior offense woke up. Senior wide receiver Winston Higgins reeled in a big pass from senior Warrior quarterback Carson Farley that set up another Holden touchdown run. Then Farley found senior receiver Carson Canning and Sherwood for two more unanswered touchdown passes

Farley finished 9-23 passing for 219 yards and two touchdowns. Holden gained 143 rushing yards on the night and scored twice. Higgins had six catches and 127 receiving yards.

The Flying Dutchmen Defense was somewhat short staffed due to injuries.��

“We have a young man over there who a ninth grader. He battling, and then we had a sophomore over there on (Higgins)” Blumenauer said. “Again, we don’t have a lot of people, so I couldn’t be more proud of how they battled.”

Manchester finally found a few big plays when McCaffrey ripped off a 35 yard touchdown, then junior defensive lineman Jeff Carpenter returned a Grass Lake fumble for a touchdown with two minutes left in the game,��but it was too little, too late. In total, McCaffrey ran 20 times for 89 yards and a touchdown.

The Warriors will play in the district finals playoff round next week against Onsted.

“You know in the playoffs you take the wins any way you can get them,” said Cole. “That wasn’t pretty tonight – but you know Manchester played real hard. We have a lot of things to clean up for next week, but we’re happy to win and advance.”

Tyler Scott covers football for the Manchester Mirror. He also hosts Weekend Afternoons on Michigan Radio (NPR)

by Sara Swanson

Sara Swanson is an editor, writer and a founder of the Manchester Mirror.