Manhattan vs Junction City

MANHATTAN – Just before picking himself up off the field at the end of a 5-yard run, Vinny Smith repeatedly pounded the turf at Manhattan's Bishop Stadium in frustration.

Not that he hadn't gone for more yards on the play, but that the run ended with the ball in the hands of Junction City's Donque Williams.

His second fumble of the night, Smith knew he was going to draw the ire of Manhattan coach Joe Schartz. But even more so, he was mad at himself.

"It was more of how much this game means to me," Smith said. "I was born in JC, went to Junction City through elementary and middle school before moving here my freshman year. We lost last year, so I really wanted to get that trophy back. Fumbling, twice, that was a crushing blow."

Turns out, Smith wound up with a bit of redemption that was an even bigger crushing blow to Junction City's bid to retain the Silver Trophy awarded annually to the winner of the rivalry game. With Manhattan holding a nine-point lead late in the fourth quarter, Smith ensured there would be no Blue Jay comeback, busting a 58-yard touchdown run with 2:19 left that clinched the Indians' 37-21 victory.

"Once I got in the open field and saw nothing but the open corner, I was like, 'I'm taking it to the crib,'" Smith said of his run that capped a 147-yard, three-touchdown performance against his former school. "I had to bounce back."

The victory not only moved Manhattan's record to 2-0 on the season, but also gave Schartz his 100^th career victory with the program. And he said having it come against Manhattan's arch rival, with his son, Keenan, quarterbacking the Indian offense, just made hitting that milestone even more special.

"It's memorable with it being in the Junction City game," Schartz said. "It's a special group of seniors who have worked very hard to make themselves good football players. I'm proud of all of them and I'm proud of my son being part of the moment as well."

When practice rolls around next week, Schartz will undoubtedly remember the three turnovers his team committed in the game and drill his team about being better in that area. But he'll also remember that none of the those miscues proved costly with the Blue Jays unable to convert any of them into points.

Junction City wasn't so fortunate with its turnovers. Not only did the Blue Jays commit five – two lost fumbles and three interceptions – the timing and location of the three that came in the first half ultimately proved to be too much to overcome.

"It was bad; those three in the first half there just didn't give us a chance to stay with them," Junction City coach Randall Zimmerman said. "It gave them such good field position and just really hurt us."

Junction City fumbled on its opening possession, giving Manhattan the ball at the Blue Jay 38 less than two minutes into the game. Three plays later, Smith scored on an 8-yard touchdown run for a quick strike.

The Blue Jays had an immediate answer for that score, however, as senior quarterback David Rowell hit TJ Jones in the flat and the speedy junior turned the corner and sped 45 yards for a touchdown to tie it 7-7.

After Manhattan answered with another three-play scoring drive set up by a 54-yard kickoff return from Smith – Da'Shawn Edwards capping it with a 3-yard TD – Junction City coughed it up again late in the quarter when Jones lost the handle on a double-pass attempt, Manhattan's Josh Adeniji pouncing on the loose ball at the Blue Jay 12.

The Indians again turned it into a short-field touchdown with Keenan Schartz's 5-yard bootleg pass to Joe Hall on fourth-and-3 putting the Indians up 21-7.

"That was a big play," Joe Schartz said of the touchdown, which came on the first play of the second quarter. "Coaches gave it to me from the box, saying they weren't doing a great job of watching the boot. But then they moved 17, Keegan McConnell – their best player – out there and Keenan did a great job and got enough on it because Joe was wide-open in the end zone."

Junction City came right back with another touchdown drive, Rowell capping it with a 4-yard touchdown run. But a third turnover – Colby Klieman's interception of Rowell at the Blue Jay 32 – led to more Manhattan points as Grant Snowden booted a 42-yard field goal with 20 seconds left in the half for a 24-14 halftime lead.

"Our defense was very opportunistic and they're continuing to improve," Schartz said.

Manhattan pushed the lead to 30-14 on a 2-yard run by Smith midway through the third quarter, but Junction City didn't go away despite losing Rowell to a hand injury in the third quarter. Xavion Felton moved from tailback to quarterback and tossed a 38-yard touchdown strike to Tyree Holloway in the final minute of the third quarter to make it a nine-point game.

In a rivalry game that's seen just about everything and has had 11 of the last 12 meetings decided by single digits, Junction City seemed to poised to generate another thrilling finish when Michael Boganowski picked off Schartz early in the fourth.

But the Indian defense came up with a pick of its own three plays later and after Smith's fumble gave it back to the Blue Jays, they picked off Felton a second time. Smith then broke his clinching run and the trophy returned to Manhattan.

"You always know it's going to be crazy in this game," Schartz said. "It just kind of turned into a turnover battle and we were fortunate to come up with more. It means a lot to these kids, this community. We had a lot of adversity, but we hung together and fought through it."


MANHATTAN 37, JUNCTION CITY 21

Junction City (1-1) … 7 … 7 … 7 … 0 … -- … 21

Manhattan (2-0) … 14 … 10 … 6 … 7 … -- … 37

Manhattan – Smith 8-yard run (Snowden kick)

Junction City – Jones 45-yard pass from Rowell (Field kick)

Manhattan – Edwards 3-yard run (Snowden kick)

Manhattan – Hall 5-yard pass from Schartz (Snowden kick)

Junction City – Rowell 4-yard run (Field kick)

Manhattan – Snowden 42-yard field goal

Manhattan – Smith 2-yard run (kick failed)

Junction City – Holloway 38-yard pass from Felton (Field kick)

Manhattan – Smith 58-yard run (Snowden kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing – Junction City: Rowell 11-75, Felton 11-29, Jones 4-12, Banks 5-minus 5, Holloway 2-24. Manhattan: Smith 21-147, Schartz 16-83, Edwards 4-21, Hall 1-0, Snowden 1-4, Bowles 2-4, Houston 2-4.

Passing – Junction City: Rowell 2-7-1, 77 yards, Felton 3-10-2, 59 yards. Manhattan: Schartz 8-12-1, 69 yards.

Receiving – Junction City: Jones 3-98, Holloway 1-38. Manhattan: Hall 3-7, Frey 1-3, Hahn 2-29, Bowles 1-11, Smith 1-19.