Manning rallies from 16-0 deficit to beat East Clarendon 36-30 to win region opener

Manning – Manning High School came out of the locker room for the second half of its home football game with Clarendon County School District rival East Clarendon on October 2 at Ramsey Stadium in a difficult position. EC dominated the first half and held a 16-0 halftime advantage.

Any momentum or mojo EC had or enjoyed was gone in about six seconds. That’s how long it took MHS kickoff return specialist CJ Robinson to get his hands on the kickoff and take it 80 yards for a touchdown. Manning tacked on the 2-point conversion to make it 16-8, and suddenly it was the Monarchs riding the momentum wave, and they never really let it get away.

MHS tied the game at 30-30 with just over six minutes left in the contest, forced a turnover and then won it on a 6-yard jet sweep pass from quarterback Lovell Stevenson to Robinson with just over a minute to go for a final score of 36-30.

Robinson’s TD kickoff return was his fifth of the season even though teams normally choose not to kick to him. The Monarchs had moved Robinson up on the kickoff return team in hopes he could get the ball as East Clarendon was kicking short.

However, Kennedy chose to put him deep to start the second half and the Wolverines did not notice. They kicked it to Robinson and he worked his magic. Running back Destin Thames ran for the 2-point conversion and just like that the Wolverines’ lead was cut in half at 16-8.

“That gave us a boost of energy,” Robinson said. “Our energy had been down. We went to the locker room and I said, ‘Hey, I got you boys. If they kick it to me opening kickoff, I’m gone.’ “

MHS head coach Reggie Kennedy couldn’t deny the timeliness of Robinson’s return.

“Out of six ball games, he’s returned it for a touchdown five times,” Kennedy said. “We needed it at that time though. He gave us a little spark to start the second half, and it helped us to turn things around in the second half.”

It was the Region 6-AA opener for both teams.

With a region that features Marlboro County and Dillon, ranked third and fourth, respectively, in the High School Sports Report AAA poll, winning the opener was of utmost importance.

“In this region every win’s a good win,” Kennedy said. “I told them every Friday is going to be a dogfight. I told our kids that before we came out, and I reminded them again at halftime.”

The Monarchs improved to 43-3 on the season and 2-0 in regin play with a 34-28 win over Lake City on October 9. They travel to 5-1 Dillon on October 16. They play host to 2-5 Waccamaw on October 23 and close out the year at home against 7-0 Marlboro County on October 30.

East Clarendon went up 23-8 with 8:11 remaining in the third quarter. However, MHS responded with an 8-play, 60-yard scoring drive that ended with Stevenson scoring on a 13-yard run to make it 23-14 with 4:39 to go in the third.

That was really the start of a dominating running game for the Monarchs in the second half. They ended up rushing for 206 yards on 33 carries in the final 24 minutes. Isaiah Baxter had 72 yards on eight carries, Stevenson had 66 yards on 11 totes, and Thames had 55 yards on 10 carries.

Thames scored on a 5-yard run and then ran for the 2-point conversion to pull Manning within a point at 23-22 with 10:29 to go in the game. However, EC returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown to push the lead to 30-22.

Manning tied the game with 6:27 to go when Baxter scored on a 5-yard run and ran in the conversion. The Monarchs forced a fumble and recovered it at the Wolverine 34-yard line.

Manning was facing third down and goal at the 6 when Robinson grabbed a short shovel pass to score on a jet sweep with 1:08 left for the winning points.

“We did a good job of refocusing our guys,” Kennedy said. “We spent more time on the mental part of the game at halftime rather than drawing up plays.

“I think we made some good adjustments on both sides of the football but, more importantly, the effort of our kids was much better in the second half.”