As the players walked out of the locker room following the game, they were greeted by a scene befitting a funeral. Everywhere they looked there were somber faces and shoulders ready to be cried into. While some went and found their loved ones to hug, others went to the field to think of what could have been.

They could have been state champions, could have finished the season undefeated, could have left Bishop Stadium for a final time with a win.

All of those dreams came crashing down against Washburn Rural (7-3), as Manhattan High (9-1) lost its first game of the season 24-21 Friday night, ending its run in the playoffs. The loss was also the first to Washburn Rural since 1992.

“Kids have worked extremely hard and sacrificed,” head coach Joe Schartz said. “Coaches worked extremely hard and sacrificed. Anytime when you invest in something, as much as these kids have and coaches have, it hurts, but on the flip side of that, I don’t want these kids to ever change.”

MHS started the game off well enough, driving the ball down the field. However, their chances quickly died as senior quarterback Ian Trapp threw an interception to end the drive.

Trapp finished the game 4-8 passing for 26 yards and one interception.

Washburn capitalized on the MHS mistake, marching 68 yards for a touchdown, giving the Junior Blues the early lead at 7-0.

Manhattan would not go quietly into the night, though. On their next drive, the Indians responded with a touchdown of their own. The drive was kept alive on the feet of Trapp and senior running back Iverson Robb. They contributed on all but one of the plays, with Trapp finally running the ball into the endzone.

Trapp would run for 159 yards on 29 attempts and two touchdowns in the game, while Robb ran for 75 yards on 18 attempts.

Generating offense was not a problem for the Indians. Their problem was finishing drives.

“We were still moving the ball and having success,” Schartz said. “It’s just two opportunities that I can recall that we needed to convert, and we didn’t.”

Washburn Rural did not have that problem. After punts from both teams, Rural got the ball back, needing only 36 yards for a touchdown. It quickly converted, scoring on a 32-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Jordan White. The touchdown put the Junior Blues ahead 14-7.

Their lead did not last very long, as senior Tariq Gerald returned the kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown to tie up the game.

“[I] saw the hole,” Gerald said. “My teammates were blocking very well, and they were trusting me to return the kickoff return. Most of the time I was just thinking that it takes a team to do what we need to do when we need to get back in the game.”

Neither team would score in the remainder of the half, leaving the halftime score at 14-14.

After a Rural punt to open the second half, Manhattan began the drive to what would become the defining moment of the game. MHS marched the ball down to the four-yard-line on the feet of Robb and Trapp. After running three plays, the Indians were left with a fourth-and-goal on the one-yard-line. Like they had done many times before, the Indians trusted the ball to the offensive line, letting Robb run behind them to try and push into the endzone. This time, they were unsuccessful, falling short by mere inches.

Inches that MHS would be unable to recover from.

Even so, there was no second guessing from the Manhattan sideline.

“We never thought about doing anything different,” Schartz said. “No sense of second-guessing it now, that’s what football’s about. You need to get a yard, and we went for it.”

Washburn took advantage of MHS’ inability to score by converting a score of their own. On its way to a field goal, Rural was helped by two big Manhattan penalties. A defensive pass interference and a late hit gave Rural 30 extra yards. Even so, Manhattan was able to keep Washburn out of the end zone, forcing a field goal to give Rural a 17-14 lead.

The Indians got the ball back, needing to score to stay in the game. Instead, they were only able to manage one first down, before punting the ball away.

Washburn needed only five plays to get down to the one-yard-line, with 27 yards coming off of White’s feet. Unlike MHS, Rural was able to punch the ball in, scoring a touchdown to give it a 10 point lead with 6:16 left.

Throughout the night, MHS had trouble stopping White, often requiring two or three tries to bring him down. While part of the problem was the defense’s mistakes, White also looked different that earlier in the season.

“[White] improved a lot [from the earlier game],” junior linebacker Nik Grubbs said, “and a lot of the runs for big gains came from missed assignments.”

Manhattan’s most important drive of the night began at the 32-yard line, needing 68 yards for a touchdown. A 50-yard run from Trapp on the second play of the drive gave the Indians the boost they needed, putting the ball on the 14-yard-line. MHS would get the ball down to the one-yard-line again, this time on a second-and-goal.

On the last offensive play in his high school career, Trapp pushed into the endzone for one final MHS touchdown. The touchdown got MHS back within three, at 24-21.

It would be too little, too late, as Washburn would run out the final 3:49 of the game. For the first time in 22 tries, the Washburn Rural Junior Blues had beaten Manhattan High.

In the loss, Schartz was reminded of the importance of high school athletics.

“This is a tough lesson for [the kids],” Schartz said, “but it’s one that athletics provides for us. That’s why athletics are part of the educational process. It’s tough on these kids, and I wish it could be different, but these kids are going to come out the other side a better man.”