Season Recap:

Manhattan football is heading into the 6-A football playoffs coming off of an impressive regular season. The Indians went 7-1 with notable wins against Garden City, Junction City, Seaman and won a share of the Centennial League title. 

Wichita North:

MHS football will open their postseason campaign at home this Friday vs Wichita North. North has struggled to get wins this year with their only victory coming against Wichita Southeast. Manhattan has pitched a staggering four shutouts this season so expect them to dominate and out-physical a weaker Wichita North team. On the offensive end, Manhattan will need to successfully establish the running game. Senior running back Vinny Smith has had a breakout season this year and when he has a good day, the team has a great chance at winning the game. It is imperative Manhattan gets Smith involved from the start to put the game away early. 

Key Players:

As stated earlier, Smith’s importance to this team is unparalleled. He has had an outstanding senior year with numerous 100+ yard games including a 200-yard showing vs Seaman on senior night. Smith has totaled 18 touchdowns so far this season. 

The tandem of senior defensive linemen Talique Houston and Josh Adeniji will be central to the Indians’ defense throughout the playoffs. Their explosiveness on the d-line will be important as the Indians face tougher, more pass-heavy offenses. Getting pressure on the quarterback is crucial because it makes the opposing quarterback think faster which could lead to turnovers. The more time a quarterback has to execute, the more time you give the receivers to get open. If Houston and Adeniji can get pressure on the quarterback, it will benefit the whole defense. 

Looking Forward:

As playoff competition improves, Manhattan will have to improve as well. They will not be able to run through every team like I suspect they will in this first round matchup vs North. They will have to incorporate variety into the offense from the beginning of the game against a team like Derby in order to succeed. Manhattan’s lone loss of the season against Washburn shows why this variety is so important. The Washburn defense bottled up the running game and made MHS one dimensional through the air which made the usually potent run offense of Manhattan nonexistent. An offense that keeps the defense guessing will always be more effective than a monotonous offense. Manhattan will have to keep that in mind as the playoffs progress so they can make a deep run this postseason. The pieces are there, they just need to execute.