The Manhattan Indians football team (1-0) routed the visiting Garden City Buffaloes (0-1) 43-13 in their first game of the season Friday at Bishop Stadium, leaving the Buffaloes scoreless through the first three quarters.
“It was great,” senior linebacker Evan Middleton said. “[Defense] definitely set the tone for the whole game, and we kept it going. Pedal to metal.”
After a slow first drive, the Indians offense ignited on their second drive, which was capped off by a 65-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Finn Watson to senior running back Kha’Mario Davis.
“As soon as I caught it, I saw a hole, and I just hit it,” Davis said.
Davis, who went on to score another touchdown later in the game, missed a chunk of last season after injuring his ankle in week 7 against Topeka High, making his touchdowns even more meaningful.
“I felt happy and felt fulfilled, like all my hard work was paying off,” Davis said.
Sophomore McLain Aslin entered the game at quarterback at the start of the Indian’s third offensive drive. The Indians marched down the field and Aslin ran the ball into the end zone for his first ever touchdown on Varsity, putting MHS up 14-0 going into the second quarter.
“Friday night is a different beast and whether it’s a young quarterback or any underclassmen on the field, they got to get their feet wet,” head coach Joe Schartz said.
Aslin and Watson split quarterback reps throughout the entire game, a strategy that Schartz plans to continue to roll with.
“Both of them got significant playing time,” Schartz said. “We’re going to need both of them as [the season] goes along.”
McLain, who finished the game with 100 rushing yards, is the younger brother of Carter Aslin who was the Indians starting quarterback the past two seasons before graduating last spring.
“I think McLain by the time he becomes a senior, will probably be a little bit bigger than Carter,” Schartz said. “McLain has some athletic skills and some speed to run the football, and he has a very good arm as well, but he’s just lacking in some experience.”
Aslin and Watson both added rushing touchdowns to the board in the second quarter, increasing the Indians lead to 28-0 at halftime.
The Indians brought the same energy into the second half and defeated the Buffaloes by 30 points in front of a packed home crowd.
“It feels great just knowing that our whole school is out here supporting us,” Watson said. “Love everybody here.”
The Indians made 21 first downs to the Buffaloes’ nine despite the Indians star two-way-player JJ Dunnigan being sidelined with a hamstring injury.
“He’s continuing to progress. Right now he’s day-to-day, and we hope that he’ll be able to play next week,” Schartz said.
The Indians now look ahead to Friday when they will go toe-to-toe with Lawrence Free State, who is coming off a 35-34 victory over the defending State Champions Gardner-Edgerton, in a stunning upset.
“Definitely going to be a tough game. They have a pretty heavy offense,” Middleton said. “We’ve seen them before, so it should be good.”
