The Manchester Squires will face off against the Maconaquah Braves at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Manchester comes in on three and Maconaquah on seven.
Manchester's defense heads into the matchup hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Friday. They took their contest with ease, bagging a 42-0 victory over Whitko. The Squires might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won four games by 28 points or more this season.
Reiss Gaerte had an outrageously good game as he rushed for 105 yards and one touchdown. He was no stranger to the big play, turning on the jets for a run that went for 53 yards.
Manchester's run defense was locked in: Whitko could only muster three yards per carry. The team can thank Landen Bean for the heroic effort on defense: he. Manchester didn't have any issues in that department, having averaged 9.3.
Manchester didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off three passes before the game was over. It was truly a group effort as Cody Carroll, Hunter Hamilton, and Gaerte picked up one apiece.
Meanwhile, Maconaquah was able to grind out a solid win over Lewis Cass on Friday, taking the game 21-13. The 21-point effort marked the Braves' lowest-scoring matchup of the season, but in the end it didn't matter.
The match pitted two dominant backs against one another in Marcell Sims and Gavin Smith. Sims had a great game and gained 151 total yards and a touchdown. Meanwhile, Smith did his best for the losing side, rushing for 115 yards and one TD.
Manchester's victory bumped their record up to 5-2. As for Maconaquah, their win bumped their record up to 7-0.
The upcoming contest will be a clash of competing strengths. Manchester has deployed a run-first offense that has averaged 255.9 rushing yards a game. Meanwhile, Maconaquah has preferred to attack from the air: they average 299.3 passing yards per game. So which strategy will prevail on Friday? There's only one way to find out.
Manchester came up short against Maconaquah when the teams last played back in October of 2022, falling 26-18. Will the Squires have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more football content.
