Finishing the regular season in dominant fashion, the Manhattan Indians football team (6-2) mowed down the Washburn Rural Junior Blues (5-3) 43-0 at Bowen-Glaze stadium in Topeka on Oct. 24, setting up a #4 vs #13 matchup in the first round of the playoffs against Garden City (1-7) on Halloween.
“I shared with them a quote from Jeremiah Love, Notre Dame running back, just last week about being physical and wanting to dominate your opponents,” head coach Joe Schartz said. “And so, there’s no doubt that our kids went out of the locker room and just did just that. We were physical, and we dominated.”
The Centennial League rivalry, on a wet and chilly evening, began Washburn Rural’s way. The Junior Blues recovered the Indian’s fumbled opening kickoff return, giving Washburn possession at the 26-yard line. Washburn, who was without their starting quarterback, continued to push toward the goal-line benefiting from an MHS penalty, but never put points on the board, as senior Evan Middleton came up with a big sack on fourth down. This tough and gritty defense came up strong the whole rest of the game for Manhattan, energized by the return of many players back from injuries over the last few weeks.
“We’ve got healthy and people are playing back in their original positions,” Schartz said. “When we had injuries and people were out, people were playing out of positions. But the biggest thing is Garrison Vikander and Evan Middleton are back up on the defensive line, which helps a bunch. And we have our full squad of DBs back with JJ [Dunnigan] and Nisbyc [Johnson]. And so, we get that defense back playing together.”
On the ensuing drive, the Indians wasted no time scoring, finding the end zone on a 78-yard dart from senior quarterback Finn Watson to Dunnigan. The drive lasted just two plays and less than a minute.
“JJ is a great athlete, you know, I trust him,” Watson said. “And if he’s [in] one-on-one coverage, I got to give him a chance.”
All half, the Indians offense lit up the scoreboard. Junior Joseph Mortenson punched in two short-yardage rushing touchdowns and Watson ran the ball in for six as well. Meanwhile, the Manhattan defense continued to hold firm, sending the game to half with the Indians on the high side 29-0.
In the second half, MHS tacked on two more touchdowns; one by senior running back Kha’Mario Davis and a second rushing touchdown for Watson, cementing the Indians second-consecutive shutout and their fifth game north of 40 points this season.
“We were pressuring the quarterback a bunch and showing him different looks, and bringing lots of different blitzes and you could tell,” Schartz said. “That was the game plan, and we executed it well.”
A week prior, the Indians dismantled the Topeka High Trojans on Senior Night 50-0. Senior Night honored the 24 seniors, one of which was Dunnigan, who announced Oct. 27 that he is decommitting from the University of Kansas.
“Some guys here I’ve played with since middle school, pretty emotional for us, but I’m excited to see what the future holds for us,” Dunnigan said.
Transitioning into the postseason, the Indians have their eyes set on first-round opponent Garden City, who the Indians beat 43-13 in their season opener. If the Indians win Friday they will get to host a second playoff game, since they are the four-seed in the 6A west bracket. Playoff time brings a different mentality than the regular season for the Indians.
“No safety net now, all gas, no brakes,” Middleton said. “We can’t let up. A loss can send us home. So we just have to keep playing how we’ve been playing, and we’ll find a way to the State Championship.”
