/seasons/2022/contrib/20230110ucfpi0

Manchester Falls Short Against Rival Anderson in Season Finale

More news about: Manchester

ANDERSON, Ind. - The Manchester football team traveled to rival Anderson University on Saturday, November 12th during the 2022 season finale and Bronze Ball Game. The Spartans fell short to the Ravens by a score of 12-19. 

The Black and Gold struck first, scoring a touchdown in the second quarter on a 10 yard pass from Eric James to Justin Abiagom (Chicago, Ill., Mt. Carmel). The Spartans would take a 6-0 lead after a failed extra point attempt. 

Anderson was quick to answer, scoring a touchdown on a 1 yard run by Ben Gaston on 3 plays. The Spartans were unable to answer a strong defensive showing for the Ravens after Anderson scored on a safety and a 25-yard interception by Jerry Addo-Boateng to take the 16-6 lead going in to halftime. 

David Smith (Indianapolis, Ind., North Central) scored the second touchdown of the day for MU on a 1-yard run, cutting Anderson's lead 19-12.  However, the Ravens would come out on top after a 34-yard field goal by Jesch Mateo pushed Anderson to a 19-12 lead in the fourth quarter. 

Anderson put up 274 total offensive yards during Saturday's contest. Raven's quarterback Roosevelt Norfleet III finished 11-18 on the day for 86 yards. Gabe Lawler led AU with 104 yards on the ground while Ben Gaston added 1 touchdown. 

Quarterbacks Eric James (Indianapolis, Ind., Decatur Central) and Colin Turner (Goshen, Ind., Goshen) finished the day with 120 combined passing yards for Manchester. David Smith led the Black and Gold with 70 rushing yards and 1 touchdown. Defensively, the Spartans were led by Je'Kwan Williams (Marion, Ind., Marion) with 6 solo tackles and 1 sack on the day while Jamaal Hubbard (Russelville, Ala., Russelville) added 1 forced fumble and 8 total tackles. 

The Ravens claimed the Bronze Ball trophy following Saturday's win. Last time Anderson won the coveted Bronze Ball was in March of the 2020-21 season. 

Manchester concludes the regular season with an overall record of 1-9 and 0-7 in HCAC Play. 

Dec. 15: All times Eastern
Final
Cortland 38, at North Central (Ill.) 37
@ Salem, Virginia
Video Box Score Recap Photos
Dec. 9: All times Eastern
Final
North Central (Ill.) 34, at Wartburg 27
Box Score Recap
Final
Cortland 49, at Randolph-Macon 14
Box Score Recap Recap Recap Photos
Maintenance in progress.