Manchester hasn't had much luck against Bluffton recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The Manchester Squires will host the Bluffton Tigers at 7:00 p.m.
After dropping their season opener at home, Bluffton is headed out to face a Squires squad ready to give their home crowd a win. Manchester took a 19-14 hit to the loss column at the hands of Northwestern. The contest was a 7-7 toss-up at halftime, but the Squires couldn't quite close it out.
Reiss Gaerte put forth a good effort for the losing side as he picked up 80 receiving yards and a touchdown, and also rushed for 30 yards. He was no stranger to the big play, connecting with a big catch that went for 65 yards.
Meanwhile, Bluffton blew past Fort Wayne Blackhawk Christian, posting a 39-6 victory at home. With the Tigers ahead 33-0 at the half, the match was all but over already.
Bluffton found their leader in underclassman Axton Beste, who threw for 188 yards and three touchdowns while completing 81.8% of his passes.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Bluffton was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 212 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since back in September of 2023.
Bluffton didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Coleson Teeple and Alex Mechling.
Manchester was taken down by Bluffton 56-14 in their previous meeting back in August of 2023. Thankfully for Manchester, Braxton Betancourt (who threw for 131 yards and three touchdowns while completing 83.3% of his passes, and also punched in a touchdown on the ground) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
