It isn’t always the case, but the winner of a football game is sometimes the team with the most big plays.

The Manhattan High football team found that out the hard way Friday night.

Aided by two scoring plays that covered more than 60 yards each in just the first quarter, Topeka High (7-0, 6-0) cruised to a 41-14 win over Manhattan (4-3, 4-3) Friday night in Topeka.

One was a 69-yard rush from senior Mike McCoy, who totaled 161 rushing yards on the game. The other was a 72-yard rush from fellow senior Saylor Caraway, who added another 107. Head coach Joe Schartz said the big-play factor made the difference.

“They regained control of the game with two big plays, [which] were their first two scores,” Schartz said. “They made some big plays and put some points on the board.”

Turnovers were a problem for both teams, as the Indians and Trojans committed three each, but on its first two drives of the second frame, Manhattan lost the ball twice. Junior quarterback Ian Trapp threw an interception, and senior Reece Kohn later fumbled a pass from Trapp. The Trojans led 28-7 midway through the second.

Schartz said the turnovers were a result of changing things up on offense out of necessity.

“You get to the point where nothing’s working offensively, and you try to take some chances,” Schartz said. “That’s what we had to do, is take some chances, and some of them resulted in turnovers.”

Only one of the three Topeka turnovers proved costly. After a fumbling on his team’s first drive of the game, junior quarterback Corey Thomas threw a pick late in the first quarter, which turned into seven MHS points. Trapp hooked up with junior Parker Beer on a 26-yard touchdown pass, putting the Indians on top, 7-6.

But Topeka responded with Caraway’s long touchdown rush, and with two redzone scores in the second period, the Trojans took a 28-7 lead into halftime.

The third period was a stalemate. Manhattan and Topeka both punted twice after drives that failed to enter the opponent’s territory, but the Indians got the ball on the Trojan side of the field as the quarter came to a close. A pass interference call on Topeka moved Manhattan to the 21-yard line, and Trapp then took it 13 yards into the endzone. The Indians trailed by just two scores, 28-14, early in the final period.

Topeka High answered by draining eight minutes off the clock on its ensuing series. The drive ended in a touchdown, when Thomas found the endzone from eight yards out, and Schartz said the drive deflated his team.

“We got within two scores there, and it would have been nice to have a quick stop, but they did what they had to do to win the game,” Schartz said. “They milked the clock with an eight minute drive and didn’t give us much of a chance to get back in the game.”

Things didn’t get any easier for MHS following the long Topeka drive, as Trapp fumbled inside his team’s 20-yard line. The Trojans scored quickly on McCoy’s nine-yard touchdown rush, giving Topeka the final points of the game with a 41-14 advantage on the scoreboard.

Manhattan’s next contest is a district road tilt with Lawrence Free State on Friday. After Beer injured his shoulder Friday night, in addition to injuries the team is already dealing with, Schartz said the focus will be evaluating the injury situation.

“It’s going to be tough,” Schartz said. “We’ve got some kids with some injuries. We’re going to have to reassess where we are, see who can get healthy, and if some of them can’t get healthy, some other people are going to have to step up.”