The Manchester Blue Devils are on the road again on Monday and play against the Bowdon Red Devils at 7:00 p.m. on December 11th. Keep an eye on the score for this one: both teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
It can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but Manchester had no problem doing just that on Friday. They were the clear victor by a 35-13 margin over the Trojans. Considering Manchester has won eight matches by more than 21 points this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
Qua Cooper was a one-man wrecking crew for Manchester as he rushed for 171 yards and three touchdowns on only ten carries. The team also got some help courtesy of Darius Favors, who rushed for 67 yards and a touchdown on only nine carries.
On the other side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Manchester's defense and their five sacks. The heavy lifting was done by Cash White and Justus Terry who racked up five sacks between them.
Meanwhile, Bowdon had already won 11 in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 34 points), and they went ahead and made it 12 on Friday. They secured a 35-31 W over Schley County.
Bowdon's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Jordan Beasley led the charge by rushing for 140 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 8.8 yards per carry. Beasley was no stranger to the big play, taking off on a dash that went for 50 yards. Kyler Mcgrinn was another key contributor, rushing for 118 yards.
Manchester's victory bumped their record up to 11-2. As for Bowdon, their victory was their 13th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 12-2.
Manchester won a game that couldn't have been any closer in their previous matchup back in August, slipping by Bowdon 21-20. The rematch might be a little tougher for Manchester since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
