Football hands Seaman their second loss of the season, stays undefeated

Advith Natarajan, Staff Writer

On an emotional senior night, Manhattan defeated Seaman 48-21, improving to 5-0 on the season. 

“It is a special night for the seniors,” head coach Joe Schartz said. “They got acknowledged for all of their hard work for four years and [I am] very proud of the senior group for the leadership that they have provided.”

The Indians started slow, allowing Seaman to march down the field on their first drive and take a 7-0 lead. Manhattan’s first drive, on the other hand, was the opposite. Seaman bottled up the running game and a miscommunication on the snap led to an early punt by the Manhattan offense. 

“They had us on our heels,” Joe said. “And it took us a while to establish ourselves.”

Manhattan responded quickly, forcing a turnover on downs. The forced turnover was followed by a 65-yard running touchdown by senior running back Vinny Smith. 

“The first drive did not start very well,” junior quarterback Keenan Schartz said. “But after that, my team and I, we fought through adversity, and [senior] Vinny [Smith] broke the big run … after that we just took off from there.”

After Smith’s touchdown, the Manhattan defense started to assert its dominance, forcing two fumbles and a pick-six. The offensive unit did the same, totaling over 300 all-purpose yards, 200 of which came from Smith. 

“I think this might actually [be my] first 200-yard game or close to it,” Smith said. “It feels great to do it all here on senior night with my guys. We have been at this for four years, one last ride we will not get this night back so we ended it with a win.”

Manhattan will take on Washburn Rural at Bishop Stadium this Friday.