Manhattan High football opened its postseason the same way it opened its season \u2014 with a win over Garden City.<\/p>\n
Behind a veteran performance from senior quarterback Finn Watson, the Indians rolled to a 47\u201315 victory Friday night at Bishop Stadium, advancing to the second round of the Class 6A state playoffs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no question we didn\u2019t play our best tonight,\u201d Schartz said. \u201cBut the positive thing is that we survive and advance, and we can continue to try to get better. We have that opportunity because we did win the ballgame.\u201d<\/p>\n
Watson accounted for three total touchdowns \u2014 two rushing and one passing \u2014 while leading an offense that found rhythm early and never looked back.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe did some good things,\u201d Schartz said. \u201cWe still have to work on some reads and understanding, but he made a few checks and did some good things. We protected the ball \u2014 and that\u2019s the difference in the game. Our two losses all came down to turnovers, so we protected the ball, moved the ball and were able to put it in the end zone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Junior Joe Mortensen added a rushing score, finishing with 10 rushes for 88 yards as a running back and wildcat quarterback.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re minus Mclain Aslin, and he was our speed and our running quarterback, Joe played quarterback as a freshman, and he\u2019s a good athlete. He\u2019s come in over the last few weeks and learned that quarterback position as best he could with some short reps and limited time, and he continues to get better. He\u2019s definitely a weapon for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
EJ Massenburg broke a 33-yard touchdown run, and Greyson Wassenburg hauled in a 21-yard touchdown catch to seal the victory offensively.<\/p>\n
\u201cGreyson\u2019s been real steady,\u201d Schartz said. \u201cHe played tackle for us last year and got his chance to play tight end this year. He\u2019s just real steady \u2014 a leader out there. He does a great job blocking, and he\u2019s quite an excellent receiver as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the other side of the ball, Manhattan\u2019s defense delivered another complete effort, forcing key turnovers and holding Garden City to a single score until the final seconds.<\/p>\n
Junior Michael Hamm\u2019s interception in the red zone midway through the second half helped swing momentum for good. Senior Evan Middleton scooped up a fumble and sprinted 80 yards for a defensive touchdown as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvan\u2019s a very good athlete, and he\u2019s a good football player,\u201d Schartz said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter what he\u2019s doing \u2014 offense, defense or special teams \u2014 he can do it all.\u201d<\/p>\n
The win extends Manhattan\u2019s dominance of opening-round playoff victories under head coach Joe Schartz and reinforces its midseason resurgence \u2014 a team that looks more and more like a contender with each passing week.<\/p>\n
Garden City (1-8) entered as the No. 13 seed but was battle-tested all season against a high-quality Western Athletic Conference schedule. The Buffaloes gave Manhattan fits at times, but ultimately, the Indians proved to be the superior team.<\/p>\n
\u201cGarden City is a good football team,\u201d Schartz said. \u201cTwo kids that really stand out for them are No. 6 and No. 7 (Drew Strecker and Jhett Price) \u2014 very physical, good football players. It was tough sledding at times.\u201d<\/p>\n
After seeing time early, star senior JJ Dunnigan exited with an injury.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe rolled his ankle a lot. But hopefully, with some time off, we\u2019ll see how he is next week,\u201d Schartz said.<\/p>\n
How it happened<\/p>\n
After a defensive stop to start, Manhattan\u2019s offense struck first with a methodical opening drive that chewed up much of the first quarter. Mortensen capped the 12-play march with a 1-yard quarterback keeper, finishing the drive with five carries for 44 yards to give the Indians a 7-0 lead with 0:59 left in the first.<\/p>\n
The next time Manhattan touched the ball, it didn\u2019t take long. On the Indians\u2019 first play of the second quarter, Massenburg broke free for a 33-yard touchdown run, and Kha\u2019Mario Davis added the two-point conversion to stretch the lead to 15-0 with 10:55 remaining.<\/p>\n
Garden City responded shortly after with a big play of its own. Ryder Carr hauled in a tipped pass for a 65-yard touchdown reception, cutting the deficit to eight. Manhattan answered with a 24-yard field goal from Prescott Balderson just before halftime, extending the advantage to 18-7 at the break.<\/p>\n
Outside of the long scoring play, Manhattan\u2019s defense held firm through the first two quarters, limiting Garden City\u2019s ground game to just 10 yards and forcing several short drives. The Indians\u2019 offense controlled possession early, while the Buffaloes bent but didn\u2019t break late in the half.<\/p>\n
Manhattan set the tone out of halftime with another sustained scoring drive. Watson finished it off himself on a 1-yard touchdown run, pushing the lead to 25-7 with 5:16 left in the third quarter.<\/p>\n
The defense came up big on the next possession as Hamm intercepted a pass in the red zone to halt a Garden City threat. The Indians capitalized immediately \u2014 Watson added another rushing score, this time from 8 yards out, and connected with Middleton on the two-point conversion to make it 33-7 with 9:35 remaining.<\/p>\n
Manhattan sealed the win later in the quarter when Watson found Wassenburg on a 21-yard touchdown pass, capping a dominant second half that put the game out of reach.<\/p>\n
With the score 40-7, the exclamation point came next. Middleton scooped up a fumble and sprinted 80 yards for a defensive touchdown with 3:24 left in the fourth, stretching the lead to 47-7 and putting an emphatic finish on Manhattan\u2019s playoff opener.<\/p>\n
Garden City\u2019s Drew Strecker added a 14-yard touchdown catch with 22 seconds left, but it was far too late to make a difference. The Indians ran out the clock moments later to close a convincing 47\u201315 victory at home.<\/p>\n
As the No. 4 seed, Manhattan (7-2) will host again next Friday, welcoming No. 5 Wichita Southeast, which beat Heights on Friday.<\/p>\n
MANHATTAN 47,<\/p>\n
GARDEN CITY 15<\/p>\n
Manhattan (7-2) \u2014 7; 11; 7; 22; \u2014 47<\/p>\n
Garden City (1-8) \u2014 0; 7; 0; 8; \u2014 15<\/p>\n
SCORING SUMMARY<\/p>\n
Manhattan \u2014 Mortensen 1-yard rush TD, PAT good by Balderson, 0:59 1Q<\/p>\n
Manhattan \u2014 Massenburg 33-yard rush TD, 2 pt. good by Davis, 10:55 2Q<\/p>\n
Garden City \u2014 Carr 65-yard TD reception, PAT good, 9:14 2Q<\/p>\n
Manhattan \u2014 Balderson 24-yard FG, 0:16 2Q<\/p>\n
Manhattan \u2014 Watson 1-yard rush TD, PAT good by Balderson, 5:16 3Q<\/p>\n
Manhattan \u2014 Watson 8-yard rush TD, 2 pt. good Watson to Middleton, 9:35 4Q<\/p>\n
Manhattan \u2014 Wassenburg 21-yard TD pass from Watson, PAT good by Balderson, 5:19 4Q<\/p>\n
Manhattan \u2014 Middleton 80-yard fumble return TD, PAT good by Balderson, 3:24 4Q<\/p>\n
Garden City \u2014 Strecker 14-yard TD reception from Heavner, 2 pt. good, 0:22 4Q<\/p>\n
INDIVIDUAL STATS<\/p>\n
Passing \u2014 Manhattan: Watson 8-10-92-1. Garden City: Heavner 15-28-200-2-1<\/p>\n
Rushing \u2014 Manhattan: Davis 11-103, Watson, 12-58-2, Mortensen 10-88-1, Evans-Pryor 3-32. Garden City: Yanez 4-11, Brunson 8-8.<\/p>\n
Receiving \u2014 Manhattan: Dunnigan 1-11, Vornes 3-15, Wassenburg 3-55-1, Crocker 1-18. Garden City: Strecker 3-60-1, Price 6-31, Carr 2-95-1.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Manhattan High football opened its postseason the same way it opened its season \u2014 with a win over…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24804,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[8918,15954,15952,11582,11581,11583,11584,15953,75,84,83,8919,11587,9,24,11586,8920,8917,8921,63,11580,11585,8916,4027,11579,15955],"class_list":["post-24803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-manhattan","tag-american-football","tag-american-football-competitions","tag-american-football-playoffs","tag-champion-seasons-in-american-football","tag-college-football-conference-seasons","tag-gridiron-football","tag-gridiron-football-variants","tag-interception","tag-manhattan","tag-manhattan-headlines","tag-manhattan-news","tag-national-football-league","tag-ncaa-division-i-fbs-football-teams","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nfl-playoffs","tag-nfl-seasons","tag-nfl-teams","tag-nfl-teams-seasons","tag-nyc","tag-quarterback","tag-seasons-in-american-football","tag-seasons-in-american-sport","tag-team-sports","tag-touchdown","tag-two-point-conversion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24803","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24803"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24803\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}