Manning beats Lake City 40-12 to win second straight Region 7-AA title

Manning – Following Manning High School’s 26-12 loss to East Clarendon on September 26, Monarchs head coach Reggie Kennedy stood in the drizzling rain on EC’s Shad Hall Field not chastising his team, but instead offering words of comfort.

    Kennedy told his players that the loss in their Region 7-AA opener didn’t mean their goals were out of reach, stating no one was going undefeated in the region.

    Perhaps 31 years as a head coach makes one a soothsayer. No one did go undefeated in Region 7, but one team did lose just once and that was MHS.

    Manning won its final five region contests and secured its second straight region title on Friday with a 40-12 victory over Lake City at Ramsey Stadium.

    “I thought if this team every grew up we could be a good, solid football team,” said Kennedy, whose team improved to 7-3 overall. “It’s probably one of the most talented groups we’ve had since I’ve been at Manning (his seventh season). We were just real young and we had to learn how to win on Fridays. Once we learned how to win, learned how to finish, we’d be a championship football team.”

    The Monarchs dominated the game in the trenches. They rushed for 462 yards on 61 carries. Senior running back Jontavious Canty led the way with 275 yards and three touchdowns on 31 carries. He also ran for two of MHS’ five 2-point conversions.

    The Panthers had a chance to turn the region finish into a big mess with a win over the Monarchs. Though just 3-6 overall, they were 3-2 in the region. A win would have left it and MHS at 4-2, the winner of the Kingstree-Atlantic Collegiate Academy 4-2 and East Clarendon 4-2 with a victory over winless Marion.

    LC started the game as though it might make a run at it. It needed just two plays to take a 6-0 lead. Running back Jordan Dobson broke off a 39-yard run on the first play for a first down at the Manning 20-yard line. He scored on the next play, giving Lake City the lead just 48 seconds into the game.

    Atter that, it was all Monarchs. They answered with a 9-play scoring drive. A 20-yard completion from quarterback Lovell Stevenson to brother Lovon Stevenson set MHS up for a first down and goal at the Panthers 4. Canty scored on the next play and Lovell Stevenson threw to Dontavious Canty for the 2-point conversion to make it 8-6 with 7:31 left in the first quarter.

    Manning forced LC to punt after three plays on its ensuing possession, taking over at its 30. The Monarchs needed eight plays to reach the end zone with Jontavious Canty scoring on a 7-yard run. He then ran for two to make it 16-6 with 3:17 to go.

    Panthers head coach Jamison Estep said he wasn’t really sure what happened with his team after the first two plays.

“The real question is what wasn’t an issue,” said Estep, whose team ended up getting the region’s fifth seed in the state playoffs and will play at Hampton County in the first round on Friday. “After the first drive, Manning came right back and ran the ball down our throat. The defense stayed on the bus apparently. After that, Manning made some adjustments and we just couldn’t execute and finish on offense.”

LC drove to the Monarch 34 before losing a fumble. MHS was facing fourth and two at its 47 when it decided to go for a first down. Instead, it got a touchdown as Canty broke through the line and went 53 yards to paydirt on the final play of the first quarter. He added the conversion run to make it 24-6.

Lake City responded with a nice drive, moving to a first and goal at the Manning 7. However, on the 10^th play of the drive, quarterback Amari Hanna was intercepted by defensive back Isaiah Baxter.

“Throughout the game we moved the ball, moved the ball, moved the ball and then shoot ourselves in the foot,” Estep said. “Offensively, we’ve just got to get tougher. That’s been our issue all year. When we do what we’re supposed to do we’re pretty good. That didn’t happen tonight.”

The Monarchs took over at their 3 and drove to the Panthers 7 before turning the ball over on downs. Jontavious Canty ran for 95 yards on the drive on nine carries with the big run being a 40-yarder. He finished with 224 rushing yards in the first half.

Canty, who led MHS in rushing and tackles from his linebacker post last season, was sidelined for the first month with a dislocated hip. He missed the first five games of the season on offense and the first four on defense. Kennedy said there’s no doubt his presence has made a huge difference.

“I’ve watched them grow up and it started playing well, especially when we got Jon back,” the head coach said. “When we were starting to play well is when we were gelling well on both sides of the football.

“I’m just so happy for him,” Kennedy said of Canty, who has rushed for 587 yards and nine touchdowns on 89 carries. “The way he bounced back from what he went through with the dislocated hip. He’s a kid that does everything we ask him to do, day in and day out on and off the field..”

No one scored in the third quarter, but Manning put the game away early in the final quarter.

Tyrell Nelson scored on a 20-yard run and Lovell Stevenson ran for two to make it 32-6 with 10:33 remaining in the game. Stevenson scored the Monarchs’ final touchdown on a 14-yard run with 3:30 left. Javonte Brock ran for the 2-poiint conversion to make it 40-6.

LC got its final touchdown with 11 seconds left in the game on a 6-yard scoring pass from Hanna to RJ Matthews.

Lovell Stevenson rushed for 70 yards on nine carries while completing 3 of 5 passes for 45 yards. Daniel Robinson had 44 yards on eight carries, and Nelson had 37 yards on five carries.

Linebacker Ethan Lowder led Manning with nine tackles. Jontavious Canty had eight tackles, two of them for a loss.

The Monarchs will play host to Academic Magnet, the No.5 team from Region 6, in the first round on Friday. As long as it wins, MHS will be at home through the first three rounds.

“It’s a key to play at home,” Kennedy said. “We learned that last year (when Manning reached the lower state championship game). That 12^th man, playing at home. It just felt good doing it. We knew if we won region, we’ve got first three rounds at home. It puts us in a pretty good bracket, in a pretty good situation.”