The Jefferson Panthers will be staying on the road on Saturday to face off against the Manhattan Tigers at 1:00 p.m. on November 11th. The matchup should be an exciting one, as these teams are ranked near one another in Montana (Jefferson is ranked 17th, while Manhattan is ranked ninth).
Jefferson extended their postseason success on Saturday against Lincoln County. They pulled ahead with a 33-32 photo finish over the Lions. This was one game where the offenses had no trouble playing at a high level.
Jefferson's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Jack Johnson led the charge by rushing for 46 yards and two touchdowns. Johnson hasn't dropped below two rushing touchdowns for three straight games. Hunter Stevens also helped out with an impressive 95 receiving yards.
Meanwhile, Manhattan had already won eight in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 30.9 points), and they went ahead and made it nine on Saturday. They breezed by Shepherd at home to the tune of 46-0. The result was nothing new for Manhattan, who have now won nine contests by 22 points or more so far this season.
Jefferson is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five contests, which provided a nice bump to their 7-4 record this season. As for Manhattan, they pushed their record up to 10-1 with that win, which was their sixth straight at home.
Jefferson lost to Manhattan on the road by a decisive 24-10 margin when the teams last played back in October. Can Jefferson avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
