Manchester Academy’s junior fullback Ethan White had a career performance last Friday night, scoring four touchdowns to lead the Mavericks to a 53-14 win over St. Aloysius.
The Mavs improved to 4-5 with the win with one game remaining (at Centreville) on the regular season schedule.
White scored on touchdown runs of four, five, and 44 yards while also scoring on an 83-yard kickoff return. He also had six tackles and an interception on defense.
“Ethan had a great game for us on both sides of the ball,” said MA head coach Bryan Dendy. “We were proud of our kids. We came out and played with a lot of intensity. We thought our defense set the tone and our offensive line blocked well.”
White and the Maverick offensive backfield were beneficiaries of that blocking to the tune of 243 rushing yards as a team. White led the way with 99 yards on 15 carries, followed by Tobias McGee with six carries for 68 yards, Joseph Bidleman with 48 yards, Adam Edgar with 13 yards, Jack Miller with 10 yards and Brendan Thrasher with five.
The Mavs opened the game’s scoring with a pair of rushing touchdowns – a 15-yarder by McGee and a 44-yard touchdown by White – to take a 12-0 lead. Later in the quarter, McGee returned an interception 83 yards for a score and a 20-0 first quarter lead.
The Flashes opened the second quarter with a 14-yard scoring run, but White scored touchdowns two and three on the night on a four yard run then a five yard run. Both extra points failed but the Mavs held a commanding 34-6 lead at the half.
The Mavs turned to the air for their next score as quarterback Trasher connected with Edgar for a 40-yard touchdown, giving the Mavs a 40-6 lead. The Manchester defense bent for just the second time of the night and allowed St. Al to score again on a one yard run, but White responded on the ensuing kickoff with his 83 yard return for a score. Ninth grader Joseph Beidleman, who recently was called up to the varsity team, gave MA fans a glimpse at the future when he scored the game’s final touchdown from 30 yards out.
The Maverick running attack did most of the heavy lifting on the evening, however, Thrasher did complete 4-of-5 passes for 82 yards and a touchdown. White had three receptions for 42 yards and Edgar had the one for 40 yards and a score.
Defensively, Sam Bunch’s eight tackles was a team-high followed by White and Garner Burton with six. Bodie Martin and Jack Miller each recorded five tackles, while Dean Tyson had four. White, McGee and Grant Nixon each had an interception in the win.
