Manning opens football season 1-1 with two exciting games
Monarchs lose to Crestwood 32-27 in opener before topping Scott's Branch 43-32
Manning – The Manning High School football team is 1-1 after its first two games of the season. The Monarchs could be 2-0, but they also could be 0-2.
And that just isn’t conjecture. The lost came in the season opener by a 32-27 count to Crestwood. The Knights held on to squeeze out the victory.
The victory was 43-32 over Clarendon County School District foe Scott’s Branch. Manning scored two touchdowns in the final 1 ½ minutes to claim the triumph.
As a veteran head coach is wont to do, the Monarchs’ Reggie Kennedy is taking the wild start all in stride.
“You’d rather be 2-0, but we’re 1-1,” Kennedy said. “We had a chance to win both games though. I’m proud that we were able to find a way to win at the end against Scott’s Branch.
“I’ve seen the team making progress over the first two weeks though. We just have to keep on doing that. If we continue to do that, I think we’re going to be pretty good down the stretch.”
The win over Scott’s Branch came about because of the legs of CJ Robinson. Scott’s Branch scored with less than two minutes remaining at Manning’s Ramsey Stadium to take the lead as it went for its second straight victory after beating the Monarchs 40-38 last season for the first time in an estimated 60 years.
Scott’s Branch chose to kick it deep to Robinson on the ensuing kickoff. Robinson, who was an All-Region 7-AA selection as a kick returner, wide receiver and cornerback last season and returned a kickoff for a touchdown against Crestwood the week before, gathered in the kick and returned it for the go-ahead touchdown with around 1:30 left.
“CJ just did a great job on the return,” Kennedy said of Robinson, who returned 15 kickoffs for 340 yards, a 22.7 per-return average, and one
Touchdown last season. As a cornerback, he had two interceptions, returning one for a touchdown, caused two fumbles, had six pass deflections and 29 tackles. On offense, he had 43 receptions for 843 yards and 13 scores.
Manning put the game away when Scott’s Branch fumbled while trying to put together a scoring drive, and the Monarchs had a short return for a touchdown.
The game against Crestwood had much of the same feel. Manning trailed by less than a touchdown with just over a minute to play, but had fourth down and goal at the Knights’ 1-yard line. Crestwood made a stand and seemingly put the game away when running back Calvin Wofford broke off a 90-yard scoring run.
However, the Monarchs weren’t done just yet. Quarterback Lovell Stevenson connected with Isaiah Baxter for a 24-yard touchdown pass to make it 32-27 with nine seconds left. Crestwood finally secured the game by recovering the onside kick on the ensuing kickoff.
Crestwood had jumped out to a 14-0 lead when Robinson broke loose for his first kickoff return for a touchdown of the season. He took it 90 yards and that got the Monarchs back in the game at 14-6 and in gear for a wild contest.
That was the halftime score, but the Monarchs got the football to begin the second half. Manning put together a scoring drive that ended with Baxter scoring on a 24-yard run. Stevenson ran for the 2-point conversion to tie the game at 14-14.
Crestwood pushed the lead to 26-14 before Manning tried to rally for the victory. A 50—yard completion from Stevenson to A'maija Dow moved the Monarchs inside the Knights’ 10-yard line. That set up a 6-yard scoring run by Stevenson, and the extra point made it 26-21 early in the fourth quarter.
A 36-yard run on a reverse by Robinson had Manning inside the Crestwood 10 with less than four minutes remaining. That’s when the Knights made the defensive stand, holding up Stevenson on fourth down at the 1.
When Manning played Sumter in the FTC Jamboree on August 14 and lost 21-0, Kennedy said he was disappointed with his offense that night. However, he thinks it is performing better now.
“We had played pretty good prior to the jamboree, and I think we got things back into gear after the jamboree,” Kennedy said. “We haven’t changed the schemes a whole lot, if any at all. The guys just came back and we got back into our rhythm.”
Stevenson is in his second year starting at quarterback. Kennedy thinks the senior is doing a good job.
“Vell is playing well,” Kennedy said. “He’s doing a good job of managing the offense, and he is doing a good job of running the football too. I would like to see him improve a little bit more in the passing game, but I feel like he is going to make plays for us.”
Kennedy is hoping the defense will improve, mainly in limiting the number of penalties it is having called against it.
“I think we’re hurting ourselves a whole lot,” he said. “We’ve got to find a way to get off the field.”
Also, Kennedy believes the Monarchs have to get better when it comes to punting the football.
“We’ve got to turn the field and make them go farther to go score,” he said. “We can’t be giving them the short field so much.”
Manning goes on the road for the first time when it travels to Winnsboro to take on Fairfield Central on September 4.
The Monarchs will kick off their Region 6-AA schedule at home against East Clarendon on October 2. That will be followed by road games at Lake City and Dillon and home games against Waccamaw and Marlboro County.
