Manhattan has gone a perfect 5-0 against Garden City recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Friday. The Indians will be playing in front of their home fans against the Buffaloes at 7:00 p.m. Manhattan's defense has only allowed 12.8 points per game this season, so Garden City's offense will have their work cut out for them.
Manhattan is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Kansas' top teams: Washburn Rural, who was ranked 22nd at the time (Manhattan was ranked tenth). The Indians' defense stepped up to hand the Blues a 43-0 shutout on Friday. Considering the Indians have won five games by more than 29 points this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
Finn Watson
| 10/24/25 @ Washburn Rural | 146 |
| 10/10/25 @ Northwest | 140 |
| 09/05/25 vs Garden City | 133 |
| 09/12/25 @ Lawrence Free State | 127 |
| 09/26/25 vs Junction City | 122 |
Finn Watson went supernova, rushing for 136 yards and two TDs on only 15 carries, while also throwing for 146 yards and one touchdown on perfect 6-for-6 passing. Those 146 passing yards gave him a new career-high.
They were just one part of a punishing run game: Manhattan was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 239 rushing yards. They are a perfect 5-0 when they've run for more than 200 yards.
On the other side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Manhattan's defense and their three sacks. Caleb Manwarren refused to say out of the backfield, picking up 1.5 sacks all by himself. He was another major factor on D, picking up 1.5 sacks, forcing one fumble, and making five total tackles.
Meanwhile, Garden City was not able to break out of their rough patch on Friday as the team picked up their fifth straight defeat. They were outmatched by Great Bend and fell 41-14. The Buffaloes were down 41-7 at the end of the third quarter, which was just too much to recover from.
The victory made it two in a row for Manhattan and bumps their season record up to 6-2. Those wins came thanks in part to their defensive effort, having only surrendered a grand total of 0 points in those games. As for Garden City, their loss dropped their record down to 1-7.
Everything came up roses for Manhattan against Garden City when the teams last played back in September, as the squad secured a 43-13 victory. In that contest, the Indians amassed a halftime lead of 28-0, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Friday.
