The Manhattan Indians football team completed their climb to the summit, turning their dream of winning a 6A State Championship into reality. When the lights were brightest, the Indians delivered, shutting out the Olathe Northwest Ravens 27-0 on Nov. 29 and claiming their second title in four years.
“We train for this every single day. I couldn’t be more proud,” senior running back Kha’Mario Davis said. “It’s the best feeling in the world.”
The Indians sealed the deal at Welch Stadium in Emporia after coming up short in last season’s title game by just three points in the very same building.
“I told my brothers last year, after we lost the first one, we will come back and win it this time,” senior defensive back Nisbyc Johnson said.
The Indians’ defense notched the first shutout in a Kansas 6A title game since 1995.
“Defensively, pitching a shut out in the State finals doesn’t happen all the time,” defensive coordinator Lucas Aslin said. “…[We] try to make a team one dimensional. We try to stop the run. We knew they were going to run a lot.”
For junior linebacker Max Evans-Pryor – the team’s leading tackler this season – sticking to his team’s mantra made the Indians’ defense unbreakable.
“Our motto all year round was ‘bend, don’t break,’” Evans-Pryor said. “Breaking is when they score a touchdown, and we didn’t want that to happen.”
As the first to win two State titles, Joe Schartz is now the most decorated head coach in program history.
“When we won it in 2022 it had been 33 years,” Schartz said. “One thing that I really appreciate now is when we did win in 2022 these seniors were freshmen, so we get to keep that streak alive and get people working for that State Championship knowing what it takes to win one.”
The title finish coincides with athletic director Michael Marsh’s last year before retirement. Marsh says he’s grateful for the success and hard work he has seen across multiple sports this fall.
“We’ve had such a fantastic fall,” Marsh said. “Going into my last year as athletic director, it’s just amazing what my coaching staffs have been able to do with the kids at this school. They all work together and they’re all one… As athletic director I just feel blessed.”
Neither team scored in the first quarter. The Ravens’ first drive was cut short by senior Brady Durtschi, who came up with an interception. The Indians first offensive drive ended when they failed to convert on fourth down. But after the Ravens punted it back to them, the Indians weren’t willing to fall short again.
On fourth down, senior quarterback Finn Watson not only crossed the first down line, but made it into the end zone for a 32-yard rushing touchdown, putting the first points of the game on the board.
“Our O-line is just amazing,” Watson said. “I mean, the way that they can create gaps for me or the running back, whoever it is. I have so many good things to say about that.”
Later in the second quarter, Watson uncorked a long ball to senior JJ Dunnigan for a 68-yard score.
“I see [senior] Evan [Middleton] in front of me, he pancaked with a great block,” Dunnigan said. “All I had to do was make a couple defenders miss and take it to the house.”
The Indians sent the game to half leading 14-0.
Since the Indians won the toss and deferred, they had possession to start the second half, with an opportunity to open the flood gates on Olathe Northwest. Once again, Watson delivered to Dunnigan, who made a circus catch for a 50-yard touchdown.
“Finn made a good read,” Dunnigan said. “When the safety came down he threw it up, it was a perfect pass. [A defender] was hanging on to me a little bit, but I came down with it and got in the end zone.”
A missed point-after made the score 20-0. The clock began to tick on the Raven’s season, as they failed to score. In the fourth quarter, MHS stuck the championship dagger straight into the Ravens heart. A 5-yard Watson rushing touchdown that solidified the win. Now it was time to hoist up the trophy and celebrate.
“We’re not the biggest, we might not be the fastest, but we will get it done no matter what it is,” Evans-Pryor said. “We’re the most hard working team, and it shows right now that we went in, went out and held them to zero.”
Hitting the championship mark appeared to be a longshot to some after the Indians fell 40-13 to Wichita Northwest in week six of the regular season. That loss, however, made the Indians stronger.
“We just knew we had to come out more aggressive with a stronger mind, and that’s what we did after that loss,” senior Garrison Vikander said.
For Schartz, the hardest part of the season was “just overcoming injuries.”
“We had 13 starters that were injured [at one point in the season]. So overcoming those injuries is the biggest battle,” Schartz said.
Following a 6-2 regular season, The Indians knocked out Garden City 47-15 at District. Sent home Wichita Southeast 45-6 at Regionals. Took down #1 seeded Maize 55-31 at Sectionals. And stuck it to rival Derby 38-7 at Sub-State, a home game that few saw coming since Manhattan was the west bracket fourth-seed.
“We just knew we were [a] dominant defense,” Vikander said. “And holding Derby [to] seven really helped motivate us, so we can hold them if we just did our jobs.”
When an entire team is invested in a season and the community rallies around them, amazing things happen.
“Hard work works,” Schartz said. That’s what I told them in the locker room after the game here. There’s lots of hard work from lots of people, a lot from the players and the coaches and the parents and all the support staff. We got a great team all the way through.”
