Game Leaders
Team Stats
Passing Yards
Rushing Yards
Turnovers
Time of Poss.
NORTH MANCHESTER, IND. – An impressive run by the Manchester University offensive unit continued in the 2014 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference opener Saturday, Sept. 20.
The Spartans, improving to 2-1 overall and 1-0 in the conference, posted 55 points on the Carl W. Burt Memorial Scoreboard to the delight of a crowd of just under 3,000 fans enjoying a beautiful September afternoon. The point total, part of a 55-7 win over visiting Earlham College (0-3 overall, 0-1 HCAC), marked MU's seventh consecutive contest of scoring 20-or-more points.
After the home side marched 75 yards in 12 plays to pay dirt on its opening drive, a ball-controlling Earlham College squad, coupled with back-to-back stops from the Quaker defense, kept the score at 7-0 into the second stanza. Enter junior quarterback Logan Haston (Avon, Ind.) and sophomore wide receiver Matt Wirick (Granger, Ind.).
With MU sitting on its own 20 after a Quaker punt sailed into the end zone, Haston hit Wirick on a flat pass. Wirick broke away from a tackle attempt at the line of scrimmage and was off to the races, beating EC's defense to the end zone. The 80-yard scoring play helped spark the Spartans' attack, as they would score on their next eight possessions.
The Haston-Wirick quick strike was just one of many big plays. Their combination struck again later in the second stanza, this time for a 33-yard touchdown, while sophomore wide receiver and return specialist Dakota Nelson (Fairland, Ind.) made his presence felt, too. Nelson weaved through the Earlham College special teams' defense for an 85-yard punt return score in the third period as part of a two-touchdown day. Junior defensive back Taylor Anglemeyer (Wakarusa, Ind.) got in on the action, too, recording one of the Black and Gold's two takeaways with an interception that he took 33 yards to the end zone in the fourth quarter.
MU finished the day with 512 total yards. The team's run of consecutive 20-point-plus games wasn't the only string to continue, as Haston's 14-of-20, 276-yard, four-touchdown pass effort marked his third straight 240-yard plus passing game. He's the first Spartans' signal caller to do so since Joe DeCraene achieved the feat in 2005. Wirick took in 113 of those yards on two catches, while Nelson had five receptions for 83 yards as part of a 200-yard all-purpose day. Haston was also the leading rusher with nine carries for 81 yards, while freshman Hunter Hardee (Fishers, Ind.) averaged 10 yards a carry as part of a seven-rush, 70-yard output.
The Spartans' defense unit also turned in strong numbers. They sacked Quaker quarterbacks' Brennan Laird and Matt Couch a combined five times and turned in two takeaways while limiting the visitors to under 300 yards of offense. An underclassman trio of freshman linebacker Tyler Katschke (Winamac, Ind.), sophomore defensive back Nathan Birk (Indianapolis, Ind.) and sophomore linebacker James Altherr III (Tipton, Ind.) topped the tackle charts with eight (Katschke) and seven each (Birk and Altherr).
Manchester University continues HCAC action Saturday, Sept. 27. They travel to Mt. St. Joseph University in Cincinnati, Ohio, for a 1:30 p.m. kickoff.