The Manchester Academy Mavericks jumped out to an early lead and almost pitched a shutout this past Friday night, defeating cross-county rival Benton Academy 34-8.
Benton narrowly missed being shutout after Waylen Dewitt scored with under two minutes to play in the blowout.
MA’s Brendan Thrasher completed 1-of-4 passes for seven yards.
Rushing leaders for the Mavs were Jake White with 24 carries for 196 yards and two touchdowns, Joseph Beidleman with five carries for 27 yards and Ethan White with seven carries for 16 yards.
Archer Choate was a beast on defense, racking up 24 tackles for the game.
Bodie Martin had seven tackles, Sam Bunch six, Jake White four, and Ethan White three.
Micah Guttery had three tackles and also a fumble recovery for a score.
Beidleman also had a fumble recovery.
For Benton, Waylen Dewitt totaled 105 rushing yards and a touchdown.
Clayton Saxton had two receptions for 34 yards and 12 yards rushing.
Kendall Walker had 10 solo tackles, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery and Parker Nelson had six.
With the win, Manchester improved to 1-4 and leaves Benton as the only team in the county still searching for a win.
“It was good for our guys to get this win because they have continued to work extremely hard,” said MA head coach Tic Beckwith.
Manchester hosts Greenville Christian this week while Benton was forced to cancel their matchup with Myrtle due to a limited number of players.
This marks the second game this season the Raiders have had to forfeit a game due to injuries and lack of depth.
