Preview: Manchester Red Hawks vs. East Hartford Hornets
The Manchester Red Hawks will head out on the road to face off against the East Hartford Hornets at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Manchester will be strutting in after a win while East Hartford will be coming in after a loss.
Even though Manchester has not done well against Wethersfield recently (they were 0-4 in their previous four matchups), they didn't let the past get in their way on Friday. Manchester simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat Wethersfield 60-20 on the road. The match was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 34-14.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Manchester to victory, but perhaps none more so than Emanuel Sampel, who threw for 293 yards and five touchdowns while picking up 13.3 yards per attempt. Jayden Kennedy also helped with three touchdowns in total.
Meanwhile, East Hartford pushed their score all the way to 34 on Thursday, but even that wasn't enough to win. They received a tough blow as they fell 51-34 to New Britain.
East Hartford's defeat came about despite a quality game from Drayvn Roberts, who threw for 209 yards and three touchdowns while completing 75% of his passes, and also punched in a touchdown on the ground. The team also got some help courtesy of Yaxier Rivera, who rushed for 138 yards on only 14 carries.
Manchester's win bumped their record up to 6-2. As for East Hartford, their loss dropped their record down to 5-5.
Keep an eye on the end zone in Friday's game as the pair haven't had much trouble getting there this season. Manchester commands a daunting offense this season, having averaged 5.2 touchdowns per game. However, it's not like East Hartford struggles in that department as they've been even better at 6.7 per game. With these two high-octane teams facing off on Friday, fans should be in for an exciting offensive matchup. Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
Manchester came up short against East Hartford in their previous meeting back in November of 2022, falling 34-28. Can Manchester avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
