The Manti Templars will head out on the road to face off against the Juab Wasps at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Manti will roll into the match after a wild two-game stretch: they only put up seven points last Friday, then bounced right back against North Sanpete on Friday. Manti took their game at home with ease, bagging a 47-10 victory over North Sanpete. The Templars pushed the score to 47-3 by the end of the third, a deficit the Hawks cut but never quite recovered from.
While passing duties were split, you can't argue with the impact Maison Starkweather and Carter Mason both made on the matchup. Starkweather threw for 318 yards and five touchdowns while Mason gained 196 total yards and four touchdowns. The dominant performance also gave Mason a new career-high in rushing yards. Another player making a difference was Tala Taulapapa, who gained 82 total yards and two touchdowns.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Manti was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 209 rushing yards. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 81.3 rushing yards per game earlier this season, but in their last three contests they've averaged 170.
Manti's defense made their presence known, laying out the QB three times. Lincoln Alder was especially locked on to North Sanpete's QB and sacked him twice. Alder is also on a roll when it comes to total tackles, as he's now made six or more in the last three games he's played dating back to last season.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Juab). They blew past Carbon, posting a 48-6 win on the road. The team's explosion on offense also rewarded the Wasps with their most commanding win of the season.
Manti's victory was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 7-2. As for Juab, the win was the third in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 5-4.
Everything came up roses for Manti against Juab in their previous matchup back in October of 2023, as the squad secured a 47-10 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Manti since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
