Thrown Down
Spartans ‘out-manned’ by physical Manhattan squad; EHS drops out of playoff hunt
By Michael Ashford
Saturday, October 21, 2006
There was really only one explanation for Emporia High’s 24-7 loss to Manhattan Friday night at Bishop Stadium.
“We got manhandled,” EHS sophomore quarterback Taylor Euler said. “That was a team that you could tell made the sacrifices and got in the weight room every day in the summer. They just out-manned us and threw us around. We took some shots and that wore us down.”
The Indians (5-3 overall, 2-0 district) physically pounded the Spartans for four quarters, using lengthy, time-consuming drives to eat away at the clock and the Spartan defense en route to piling up 260 yards of total offense, 176 yards of which came on the ground.
“They were just so big. We couldn’t move them at the line of scrimmage — they were just so big and physical,” EHS coach Bill Lowe said. “I’m not faulting our kids for their effort, they just got physically out-manned.
“I was worried about it all week after seeing (Manhattan) on film. The kids fought hard and I’m not questioning their fight or want-to.”
In dropping the Spartans (5-3, 0-2) to their second straight loss and out of the state playoffs, the Indians held Emporia High to just 176 total yards of offense, including just 23 yards on 11 carries from junior running back Edd Noonan.
“It was getting frustrating,” Noonan said. “They were a lot bigger and stronger than we were. We were moving the ball all right on offense, we just couldn’t seem to find the end zone.”
About the only thing working offensively for Emporia High came by way of Euler’s feet. He rushed for a game-high 117 yards on 20 carries, accounting for 160 of Emporia’s 176 yards on offense when combined with his 43 passing yards.
“He made plays,” Lowe said. “Taylor fought his guts out and made some big plays. He used his athletic ability and did a nice job. We had some kids who were fighting hard.”
Manhattan jumped out to a 7-0 lead on its first possession thanks to 44-yard return by Brad Briggs on the opening kickoff that set up the Indians at the Spartan 36-yard line. The Indians used 11 plays — all runs — to find the end zone when Manhattan quarterback Cole Bachamp scored on a 1-yard TD run.
Emporia High responded early in the second quarter when senior receiver Billy Malone snagged a high-thrown pass from Euler at the Indian 1-yard line and took it into the end zone for a nine-yard touchdown to make it 7-7 with 10:30 left in the first half.
After each team had a drive stall, Manhattan scored again, this time on a drive aided by a rare pass play.
On second-and-8 from the Indians’ 49, Bachamp dropped back and lofted a lazy pass down the middle of the field for Freddie Meggs, who was covered stride-for-stride by Emporia High’s Robert Keisler. But when Keisler turned to see the pass, he stumbled, which allowed Briggs to adjust to the ball and come up with the catch at the 5-yard line.
Two plays later, Brandon Hall ran it in from four yards out, putting Manhattan up, 14-7.
“They just made a few more big plays,” Lowe said.
EHS nearly scored just before the half on a wild play that was called back because of a penalty.
With just 41.9 seconds left in the half, the Spartans began their final drive of the half at their own 30. Euler then sprinted 43 yards to put EHS within striking distance with two timeouts left.
Three plays later, facing a fourth-and-11 at the Indians’ 28-yard line and with three seconds left in the half, Euler dropped back and almost immediately felt pressure from the Manhattan defensive line. Euler scrambled to his left and dodged defenders until he finally found a wide open Mark Kolmer at the goal line. But Euler’s second TD pass of the night was not meant to be, as Euler was about three yards beyond the line of scrimmage when he threw the pass to Kolmer, negating the play and ending the half with Manhattan ahead, 14-7.
Regardless of the missed scoring opportunity, EHS went into halftime only down by one score, which at the time gave the Spartans some confidence.
“We felt strong the whole way through,” senior Bryce Shaver said. “We know that we’re a great team in the second half, and we wanted to come out and show that to Manhattan.”
But it was Manhattan that proved to be the better second-half team, as the Indians added a third-quarter field goal and a touchdown with 22 seconds left while holding Emporia High scoreless the rest of the way — allowing just 76 total yards and four first downs — to send the Spartans packing with their dreams of a playoff berth crushed.
Emporia High was unable to capitalize on a third-quarter interception by Corey Bacon, as Euler threw a pick of his own two plays later, and a pass interference call in the end zone on Brandon Childs set up Manhattan’s final touchdown. Meanwhile, Hall finished with 113 yards rushing on 28 carries, while Bachamp added another 60 yards on the ground on 19 carries.
“They were just more fired up than us in the second half,” Shaver said. “We kept fighting the whole way through, but we’ve got to fight harder. That’s something we just didn’t fix.”
The Spartans wrap up their season next Friday at home with a matchup finale against Junction City.
Euler said he wished the circumstances were different for the 18 seniors who will play their final game in an Emporia High uniform that night.
“You definitely feel terrible for the seniors. This is one of the best senior classes to come through Emporia in a long time, so you feel terrible for them,” Euler said. “But Manhattan is one of the best teams in the state, and we were with them for three and a half quarters. It shows us that we can play with the best teams in the state easily. It makes the future bright. Maybe next year, we win a game like this.”