MHS Blue Devils Get First Win of Season

By JOHN KUYKENDALL
The Manchester High Blue Devils earned the first victory of the season Friday night by defeating the Macon County High Bulldogs in a shoot -out by a score of 47-46.
The Bulldogs got the scoring started quickly by returning the opening kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown. Macon County attempted a two-point conversion but the Blue Devil defense held and the Bulldogs had a slim 6-0 lead.
Disaster struck for the Blue Devils on the return kick after starting a drive that was going well, a fumble recovered by the Bulldogs ended the drive and Macon County took over the football on the Manchester 41-yard line and found the end zone with 9:27 left to play in the first quarter. This time, the Bulldogs converted on a two-point play to take a 14-0 lead, but the Blue Devils came firing back.
A good return gave the Blue Devils the football on their own 48-yard line and began a solid 52-yard drive capping it with a 34-yard touchdown run by Kartavis Gamble. The Blue Devils did convert on the extra point attempt but had cut the Bulldog lead to 14-6 with about seven minutes let to play in the first quarter.
The Manchester defense gave the Blue Devils another quick scoring opportunity when they force the Bulldogs to fumble and broke loose into the end zone to score. The extra point attempt failed but the Blue Devils had cut the Bulldog lead to 14-12.
The Blue Devil defense came up big again on the return kick to give Manchester the first lead in the game. Forcing a turnover at the Macon County 19-yard line, it only took the Blue Devils seven plays to find the end zone and capped the drive with a 4-yard touchdown run by Gamble. This time, Darrius Favors would not be denied on the two-point conversion and Manchester had taken a 20-14 lead.
The Bulldogs fired back on the return kickoff. A good return set up a 53-yard touchdown run by Macon County. The Bulldogs attempted a two-point play that failed but the score was tied at 20-20 with two minutes left to play in the first quarter.
A penalty for holding wiped out a 53-yard touchdown run by the Blue Devils on the return kickoff before the first quarter came to a close with the score tied and the Blue Devils still driving.
Eventually, the Blue Devils punted and the Bulldog offense struck with a good return, a long pass and a 3-yard touchdown run to regain the lead. Again, the Bulldogs attempted a two-point conversion that was unsuccessful but had taken a 26-20 lead.
On the return kickoff, the Bulldogs had a personal foul call giving Manchester the football at their own 37-yard line. It only took the Blue Devils two plays to score when Favors broke loose on a 58-yard jaunt to score. Brady Daniel split the uprights on the extra point attempt and Manchester had regain the lead by a score of 27-26.
The lead didn’t last long, the Bulldogs completed a 80-yard drive with a 37-yard touchdown pass with about seven minutes left to play in the first half. The Bulldogs converted on a two-point play and regained the lead with the score standing at 34-27 in favor of Macon County.
The Blue Devils had a good return on the kickoff and took over the football on their own 41-yard line and Favors set the tone for another scoring drive taking the football all the way to the Macon County 26-yard line on the first play. Favors capped the drive with a 15-yard touchdown run and Daniel tied the score with his second extra point of the night, 34-34.
The Bulldogs managed to run the clock out on the return kick and the half came to a close with the score tied.
The Blue Devils were forced to punt the football away on the team’s first offense possession of the second half and Lady Luck played a cruel joke on the team when the Bulldogs had a pass called complete but it was obvious the football touched the ground before the receiver made the catch, but that set the Bulldogs up for another score when on the next play Macon County scored on a 54-yard run. The Bulldogs couldn’t convert on the two-point play but had regained the lead by a score of 40-34 with 8:57 left to play in the third quarter.
The Blue Devils were called for unsportsman like conduct giving the Bulldogs an advantage on the kickoff. Macon County attempted an onside kick but the Blue Devils recovered the football on their own 34-yard line
Play got a little physical in the third quarter and both teams received penalties that affected drives. It was not until the fourth quarter that either team found the end zone again.
The Bulldogs recovered a fumble on the Blue Devil 22-yard line and began another scoring drive that ended with a 41-yard touchdown run with about four minutes left to play in the game. Another two-point play by the Bulldogs failed, but Macon County had taken a 46-40 lead.
The never say die Blue Devils seemed rejuvenated. Taking the return kick at their own 42-yard line, Manchester started the final scoring drive of the game. Eleven plays later and the clock at less than 10 seconds, Dre McGhee found the end zone from 4-yards out. The Blue Devils called on Daniel for his third extra point attempt and he split the uprights again giving Manchester a 47-46 lead and the victory.
The Bulldogs gave it a good old college try but the clock expired and the young Blue Devils had earned the team’s first victory of the season. The Blue Devils improve to 1-2 on the season and the Bulldogs fell to 0-4.
Today, Thursday, Sept. 11, the Blue Devils will travel to Columbus to play the Spencer Greenwave at 7 p.m.
Spencer will be looking for the team’s first victory of the season. The team is 0-3 on the season and coming off a 41-13 loss to the Griffin High Bears last week.
The Greenwave defense has allowed opponents to score an average of 38.87 points per game this season while the offense is struggling an is only averaging scoring 6.7 points per game.
This should prove to be another exciting and physical fame for the Blue Devils.