Manchester Academy’s football resurgence hit a small bump in the road on Friday night when they fell 42-17 to non-conference foe Pillow Academy
The loss to the AAAA school brought Manchester’s record to 3-2 overall and 2-0 in the conference.
According to Manchester Academy head football coach Bryan Dendy, the coaching staff will have to do a better job in bigger games.
“We played against a quality opponent on Friday night,” Dendy said. “We have to do better coaching our kids and preparing them for games.”
Things were looking up early for Manchester in the contest.
The Mavs got deep into Pillow territory before Andrew Byrd kicked a 40-yard field goal gave the Mavericks a 3-0 lead.
The Mustangs, however, would not remain silent.
They scored their first touchdown of the game soon after, making it a 7-3 game after the first quarter.
Back-to-back touchdowns in the second quarter by Pillow, including a missed PAT, made the score 20-3 at the half.
At the beginning of the third quarter, Pillow scored once more, and this time, they went for 2-points and were successful, giving them a 28-3 lead.
Manchester came back in the third quarter with a 42-yard TD pass from Kinkead Dent to Cody Carson, cutting the score to 28-10.
But Pillow came right back and returned a punt later in the quarter for a score, pushing the score to 35-10.
Manchester tried valiantly to come back with a 38-yard TD pass from Dent to Will Fouche, but Pillow scored one final touchdown right after, making the final 42-17.
Though the Mavericks lost, Dendy believes the extremely difficult non-conference schedule has served his team well.
“I definitely think the strength of our schedule has prepared us for the conference games,” Dendy said. “We’ve played some quality opponents. They’ve definitely made us better.”
Kinkead Dent completed 10-of-25 passes for 185 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
On offense, Will Fouche hauled in three passes for 69 yards and a touchdown, and on defense, he had three tackles.
Cody Carson caught a 42-yard touchdown in the losing effort.
Blayke Dendy and Warner Griffin each had nine tackles in the loss to Pillow.
Owen McCloskey picked off a pass in the defeat.
Andrew Byrd punted six times for an average of 43 yards per kick and nailed a 40-yard field goal.
Manchester will attempt to get the train rolling again on Friday night when they host Central Hinds Academy.
Central Hinds is 4-1 on the year after dropping their first game of the season 32-31 to reigning state AA champs Wilkinson County Christian on Friday night.
Dendy believes Central Hinds has one of the best players they will face this season.
“Central Hinds is really good,” Dendy said. “They have some good skill guys. They have a quarterback that is probably the best player in our league. They run the spread. They throw it around some, but they like to run it with their quarterback. This will be a game with playoff implications.”
Kickoff between the Mavericks and Cougars is set for 7 p.m.
