EMPORIA – In a defensive slugfest on a bitterly cold day, the Manhattan Indians were as stiff as the northwest wind in Emporia. Manhattan (11-2) pitch a shutout and captured the school’s fourth state title, defeating the Olathe Northwest Ravens 27-0 at Welch Stadium on Saturday.
The Indians held the Ravens (9-4) to a mere 132 yards on 44 plays (3.0 yards per play) and only nine first downs, of which four were a result of Manhattan penalties.
“The defense did really well and maintained that shutout,” Manhattan head coach Joe Schartz said. “The defense has come through for us all year.”
That defense was led by junior linebacker Maximus Evans-Pryor (12 tackles, 9 solo) and senior Brady Durtschi (8 tackles, 5 solo)
Both teams struggled to finish drives in the first quarter. The Ravens’ opening drive ended with an interception at the 6:01 mark. Manhattan’s first possession took the remaining time left in the quarter, ending with the turnover on downs as the clock expired.
Big plays made the difference for Manhattan on both sides of the ball. After the Ravens went 3-and-out on their second drive, it looked like they would stop the Indians again. But senior quarterback Finn Watson broke loose for a 31-yard dash to paydirt on 4th and 3, giving Manhattan a 7-0 lead at the 6:27 mark of the second quarter,
After the Ravens stalled out again, Watson connected for a 68-yard strike to his favorite target, fellow senior JJ Dunnigan, and a 14-0 lead with 15 seconds left in the half.
“It was everything you want to do as a senior,” Watson said. “There was never any doubt. I think we have the best defense in the entire state and I knew they had my back.”
Manhattan delivered the knockout punch on its first drive of the second half. After Watson recovered his own fumble on their first play from scrimmage, sophomore McCain Aslin took the handoff on the next play and scampered for 23 yards to the Indians 49.
After another Aslin run to the 50, Watson found Dunnigan again. While the pass was slightly underthrown and deflected by a Raven player at the 10, Dunnigan grabbed the ball out of the air and found the end zone for an insurmountable 20-0 lead.
“We got the ball to JJ and he did the rest,” Coach Schartz said of his senior wide receiver headed to the University of Miami (Fla) next season. “He made a great play on that ball.”
The Indians would add one more score late, a 5-yard Watson scamper with 1:58 left in the game, for the final margin.
It was the second state title in four seasons for the Indians, who lost a heartbreaker to Gardner-Edgerton 36-33 last season to put a halt to a previously-undefeated season.
This year, the Indians battle injuries early and started the season 4-2, including losses to rival Junction City (28-14 in week 4) and a rout to Wichita Northwest (40-13 in Week 6). But they were healthy from there on out, and the defense dominated, helping them outscore opponents 305-59 the rest of the way and posting three shutouts, including Saturday’s title tilt.
“We just took it one day at a time,” Schartz said. “Many teams don’t have the expectations of our program and start griping at each other around week 6,” he added. “For us, we were just getting healthy and we used that motivation (from the early season losses) to motivate us.”
Dunnigan said Manhattan was able to recover from early-season disappointments through mental and physical toughness, including prep for the state championship.
“Our mental toughness helped,” he said. “All week it’s been cold and we’ve been out practicing for two hours and used that to fuel us.”
Northwest was led on the ground by senior Bryce Randall (12 carries for 27 yards) and senior tight end Quinn Sullivan (5 catches for 57 yards).
Manhattan 27, Olathe Northwest 0
Manhattan (11-2): 0 – 14 – 6 – 7 | 27
Olathe Northwest (9-4): 0 -- 0 – 0 – 0 | 0
MHS ONW
First Downs 16 9
Rushes-Yards 42-280 29-49
Passing Yards 111 83
Comp-Att-Int 3-4-0 5-15-1
Total Offense Plays-Yards 46-391 44-132
Fumbles returns-yards 0-0 0-0
Punt returns-yds 1-3 0-0
KO returns-yds 1-16 4-62
INT returns-yds 1-2 0-0
Punts (No-Avg) 0-0 1-36
Fumbles-Lost 2-0 0-0
Penalties-Yds 9-95 2-10
Poss Time 26:21 21:39
3rd down conversions 6 of 9 3 of 11
4th down conversions 1 of 3 2 of 5
Red Zone (Scores-Chances) 1-3 0-2
Manhattan
Rush: Watson 17-142 yds, 2 TDs; Davis 13-69 yds; Aslin 4-34 yds; Vornes 4-29 yds; Henry 1-6 yds; Dunnigan 1-5 yds; Mortensen 2-5 yds
Passing: Watson 2-3-0, 118 yds, 2 TDs; Mortensen 1-1-0, (-7) yards
Receiving: Dunnigan 3-111 yards, 2 TDs; Middleton 1-0 yds
Olathe Northwest
Rush: Randall 12-27 yds; Douglas 6-12 yds; Connell 2-8 yds; Manzella 1-3 yds; Comfort 3-1 yd; Skoczek 1-1 yd; Sullivan 1-0 yds; Hefley 3-(-3) yds
Pass: Comfort 3-8-1, 51 yds; Hefley 2-5-0, 32 yds; Connell 0-2-0, 0 yds
Receiving: Sullivan 4-57 yds; Hefley 1-26 yds
Scoring
MHS: Watson 31 run (Balderson kick), 6:27, 2Q
MHS: Dunnigan 68 pass from Watson (Balderson kick), 0:15, 2Q
MHS: Dunnigan 50 pass from Watson (Balderson kick blocked), 9:54, 3Q
MHS: Watson 5 run (Balderson kick), 1:58, 4Q
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