By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
In a monstrous clash that included four ties and a couple of lead changes between Class 6A powers Washburn Rural and Manhattan, Rural celebrated its Homecoming in classic fashion, ending reigning state champion Manhattan's 16-game winning streak with a 35-28 Centennial League win at Bowen-Glaza Stadium.
Washburn Rural's defense celebrates Friday's 35-28 Centennial League win over reigning Class 6A state champion Manhattan, which had its 16-game win streak snapped. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Washburn Rural junior Wilson Miller (2) is congratulated by his teammates after his third-quarter pick-six Friday night against Manhattan. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
"Manhattan and Junction City have been ruling the roost for a long time,'' Washburn Rural coach Steve Buhler said. "For us to be able to do this and to compete and win a game against a team like Manhattan, these kids have worked really hard for this moment.
"Our kids just keep battling and that's what we keep preaching to them. This is a very talented bunch of guys we've got and I think the more they get in these situations and are successful the better we're going to be. A win like this one kind of cements for the kids in their minds that they're good enough to compete with good teams in the state.''
Junior King Leonard set up the game-winning touchdown with Washburn Rural's third pass interception of the night, giving the Junior Blues the ball at the Manhattan 31-yard-line.
Rural senior quarterback Branton DeWeese gained 8 yards to the Indian 23 and then DeWeese found a wide-open Blake Recinos and the junior out-raced the Indian defense to the end zone for the game-winner with 25 seconds remaining.
"We scored on spot,'' Recinos said of the game-winning play. "We had a trips right spot and you just had a little out route and you've got to get up and make a play. That's as open as it gets in most cases.
"All that was going through my mind is just get to the end zone. This was a true team effort.''
Leonard's pick followed a pair of earlier interceptions from junior Wilson Miller, including a third-quarter pick-six that gave Washburn Rural (4-0 overall, 1-0 in the league) a big momentum boost.
"If it wasn't for our defense getting a pick-six and that big interception late in the game, I don't know if we come out with that one but that was great effort from both sides of the ball, not just offense, not just defense but the whole team,'' Recinos said.
But even after Recinos' TD, Buhler and his team had to sweat out the final few seconds before the Junior Blues could celebrate.
Manhattan returned the kickoff to its 36-yard-line, picked up 6 yards on a pass play to tick the clock down to seven seconds and then caused the Washburn Rural faithful a few anxious moments when Manhattan quarterback Carter Aslin hit Charles Morgan with a short pass that went 50 yards before Rural finally corraled him at the Junior Blues' 8-yard-line as time ran out.
"If you watched the pursuit of our guys, they weren't going to let it happen,' Buhler said. "They were going to run him down. I was just thinking, 'OK, we've got the angles,' and I'm looking at the clock to make sure he ran far enough that he look seven seconds off and we were done. It's just effort to the end on both sides.''
Washburn Rural drew first blood on a 24-yard touchdown pass from senior Branton DeWeese to senior Titan Osburn with 8:42 left in the first quarter (Miller kick), but Manhattan answered with a 10-play, 80-yard scoring drive, capped by a 2-yard Carter Aslin plunge at the 5:10 mark of the first (TJ Ward kick) to pull even.
Rural took advantage of a fumbled punt by the Indians that gave the Junior Blues the ball at the Mahattan 31-yard-line, with Rural scoring seven plays later on a 2-yard shovel pass from DeWeese to senior JC Heim with 9:04 left in the half (Miller kick) to put Rural up 14-7.
Rural had another scoring shot after a short Manhattan punt gave the Junior Blues the ball at the Indian 36, but Rural turned the ball over on downs at the Indian 20.
The Indians then went on a 15-play, 80-yard scoring match to tie the game with 20 seconds left in the half, with Aslin hitting senior Dwayne Newby for a 16-yard score (Ward kick).
Manhattan forced a Washburn Rural punt on its the Junior Blues' first possession of the second half and the Indians put together a 12-play, 94-yard scoring drive, taking their first lead of the night at 21-14 on a 25-yard TD pass from Aslin to junior Rylan Vikander (Ward kick).
Rural was forced to punt for the second straight time to give the ball back to the Indians, but Miller picked off an Aslin pass and returned it 21 yards for a touchdown and kicked the extra point to tie the game at 21 with 1:22 left in the third quarter.
Miller picked off Aslin again on the Indians' ensuing drive and Washburn Rural drove 37 yards in seven plays for the go-ahead touchdown, a 6-yard TD pass from DeWeese to junior Lafayette Thompson (Miller kick) that gave the Junior Blues a 28-21 advantage.with 9:25 remaining.
"We were in zone and I was just reading the quarterback's eyes,'' said Miller, who is in his first season of high school football after switching over from soccer. "He's looking at his target the whole time -- we watched that on film -- so we just jumped it.''
Miller not only came up with the two interceptions but went five of five on extra-point kicks.
"This is a big one for us,'' Miller said. "It's a big rivalry for us, so we love to take this one. There's always next week so we're just going to come back harder next week.''
Manhattan needed just three plays to earn the fourth and final tie of the night, with Aslin connecting with Newby for a 60-yard score with 7:17 left (Ward kick), setting the stage for the exciting final few minutes.
Aslin ran for a game-high 148 yards on 29 carries and threw for 230 yards on a 14 of 27 performance, with the three interceptions. Newby caught four passes for 80 yards while Morgan had four catches for 76 yards.
Washburn Rural senior quarterback Branton DeWeese threw for four touchdowns in Friday's 35-28 win over Manhattan. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
DeWeese was 10 of 19 passing for 117 yards and ran for 41 yards on nine attempts.
Sophomore TJ Minikwu carried the ball 14 times for a team-high 60 yards before leaving the game with an injury.
Washburn Rural faces another tough Centennial League test next Friday, traveling to Junction City, while Manhattan will be at home to face Emporia.
WASHBURN RURAL 35, MANHATTAN 28,
Manhattan (3-1, 1-1) 7 7 7 7 -- 28
Washburn Rural (4-0, 1-0) 7 7 7 14 -- 35
Washburn Rural -- Osburn 24 pass from DeWeese (Miller kick)
Manhattan -- Aslin 2 run (Ward kick)
Washburn Rural -- JC Heim 2 pass from DeWeese (Miller kick)
Manhattan -- Newby 3 pass from Aslin (Ward kick)
Manhattan -- Vikander 25 pass from Aslin (Ward kick)
Washburn Rural -- Miller 21 interception return (Miller kick)
Washburn Rural -- Thompson 6 pass from DeWeese (Miller kick)
Manhattan -- Newby 60 pass from Asin (Ward kick)
Washburn Rural -- Recinos 23 pass from DeWeese (Miller kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing -- Manhattan: Aslin 29-148, Morgan 14-51, Hudley 2-1. Washburn Rural: Minikwu 14-60, Thompson 9-45, DeWeese 9-41, Heim 8-29, Team 1-(minus)-4.
Passing -- Manhattan: Aslin 14-27-3, 230 yards. Washburn Rural: DeWeese 10-19-0, 117.
Receiving -- Manhattan: Newby 4-80, Morgan 4-76, Dobson 2-28, Vikander 1-25, Jones 1-14, Clark 1-5, Summerlin 1-2. Washburn Rural: Thompson 3-19, Osburn 2-40, Recinos 2-33, Roth 1-13, Hayes 1-10, JC Heim 1-2. .
Punting -- Manhattan: Aslin 2-38.0; Vikander 1-22. Washburn Rural: Creager 4-37.0.
