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| Jimmie Clark, right, ran for 110 yards as part of the Bulldogs' 251-yard evening on the ground. Adrian athletics file photo by Mike Dickie |
NORTH MANCHESTER, Indiana -- Manchester opened its new stadium by holding Adrian in check for a half, but the Bulldogs blew the game open in the third quarter and ran away with a 41-10 victory.
The win evens Adrian's record at 1-1, with one fall game left on the schedule. Manchester ends its fall at 0-2, having been outscored 98-10.
Jimmie Clark ran for 110 yards on just 10 carries and Steven Moses added 88 yards on just nine carries in the victory.
The Bulldogs scored on their first three possessions to take a 12-0 lead just 12 seconds into the second quarter. Junior Cooper West sandwiched field goals of 35 and 29 yards around a 19-yard TD run from Moses at the 5:42 mark of the first quarter.
Manchester's Andrew Kibler chipped in a 19-yard field goal just before the conclusion of the first half to get the Spartans on the scoreboard for the first time on the season. The kick came at the end of a drive which started on the Manchester 9 and featured an impressive 14-yard catch by Levar Lesure to get the Spartans into Adrian territory. Bryce Tomasi hit Desmond Rogers to set the Spartans up first-and-goal at the 7, but Kyle Minder brought down Rogers on the next play for a loss of 5 and Manchester was eventually forced to settle for the field goal.
The third quarter was all Adrian, as the Bulldogs got 9 and 37 yards from Clark on the first two plays of the half and Jack Wurzer finished the drive with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Luke Heide. That made it 19-3. On the next possession, Manchester got down to the Adrian 35 and went for it on fourth-and-6, but JaJuan Stokes got to Bryce Tomasi, sacking him and knocking the ball loose. DeAndre Jennings picked it up at the 40 and was gone, 60 yards for the touchdown to extend the Bulldogs' lead.
A three-and-out later, Adrian got the ball back and Clark had another 40 yards on two plays and his touchdown plus a two-point conversion run by Moses made it 34-3, putting the game out of reach.
Manchester scored its first and only touchdown of the fall when Dylan Paul found Lesure for a 5-yard TD pass against the No. 2 two defense to cut the lead to 34-10.
Tomasi took most of the snaps for Manchester and finished 22-for-34 for 158 yards. In relief, sophomore Dylan Paul was 5-for-14 with three interceptions. Wurzer threw for 231 yards on just 8-for-14 passing and three TDs, Palus caught two TD passes that accounted for 48 yards, and Smith made his freshman debut with game highs of five receptions and 136 yards. Adrian's Jack Wurzer went 8-for-14 passing for 105 yards and the one touchdown.