Happy Homecoming, Manning defeats Mullins 33-6

By Neill Kirkpatrick

Special to the HSSR

Manning – It was homecoming at Manning with many festivities going outside Ramsey Stadium while inside the Stadium the 10^th ranked Monarchs made sure everyone went home happy as the scored on their opening drive and never looked defeating the 15^th ranked Mullins Auctioneers 33-6.

“I think we set the tone early with that first drive. That was the one thing we talked about all week was to get off to a better start than we did last two weeks,” said Manning head coach Reggie Kennedy.

Coach continued, “I feel like we left a few out there (Points) overall I thought we played well.”

The win put the Monarchs in the drivers set for the region 7AA title with a 3-0 record. Everyone else in the region has at least two losses. By winning the region title the Monarch’s would host the first two rounds of the class AA playoffs. They are 6-1 overall.

The Auctioneers dropped their second straight game after a 6-0 start to the season. They also fell to 2-2 in region 7 AA. Turnovers have been the biggest culprit during the two-game slide.

After the game, a subdued Mullins head coach Marc Lowery said, “The opening the drive was the only drive that they dominated us at the line of scrimmage. We settled down and that did not happen the rest of the game. But, we had the interception in the endzone, snap over the head and the fumble on our first offensive play. We have to stop hurting ourselves to get this turned around. Defensively, I thought we played well after the first drive.”

Manning quarterback JaRae Mitchell scored on the Monarch’s possession and Jeffery Ceasar added the two-point conversion making it 8-0.

Mullins took over at their 23-yardline. On the first play Tyron Allen burst up the middle for an 8-yard gain but when he was hit he coughed up the ball and the Monarchs recover the ball at the Auctioneers 31-yard line.

Manning had great field position but on third down, Manning running back Jontavious Canty bounced the run outside where he was met with a bone jarring tackle from Mullin’s Darrius Page. The hit caused Canty to fumble the ball and Page recovered it for Mullins at the 31.

The Auc’s took over and proceeded to move the ball down field behind the arm and legs of quarterback KaNazzion Bethea as he had a run of 27 yards and completed two passes for 18 yards moving the ball to the Manning 17. However, on third down Manning's Jaron Hammett came off the edge to sack Betha for a seven-yard loss and on fourth down the Auc’s came up 8-yards short and they turned the ball over on downs.

Taking over at the 18 Manning moved down field behind the running of Joshua Cooper and the passing combo of Mitchell to Ceasar. The Monarchs had a first and goal at the Auc’s 8-yardline. On third down the Aucs Zayan Grant sacked Mitchell for a six-yard loss and Mitchell’s fourth down fell incomplete for a turnover on downs.

The rest of the first half saw each offense move the ball only to turn it over on downs until 2:35 to go in the half.

The Auc’s punted the ball from their 18 out the 50 where Manning’s C.J. Robinson fielded the ball and then raced untouched to the end zone for a 50-yard return. The return pushed the lead to 14-0. The two-point conversion was no good.

“The punt return was big play. I wanted us to get one more before have and C.J. came up with a big play,” said Manning coach Kennedy.

Manning tried to get one more before the half moving the ball to Auc’s 34 with :31.3 seconds to go. The Auc’s stopped the drive with sacks by Jamell Crawford and Ayntwain Crawford to end the half.

After the half Manning came out with intent of putting some distance between them and the Auc’s. First , the forced a Mullins three and out and then starting from the 48 they needed 12-plays to cover the 52-yards to go up 20-0 when Mitchell connected again with Ceasar for a 20-yard touchdown completion on fourth and goal.

Mullins took over at the 22 and moved the ball quickly into Manning territory behind the running of Bethea and an 18-yard completion to Justin Reaves put the ball at the Manning 30.

On first down, Bethea launched a pass down the left side into the end zone where Ceasar intercepted the pass at the goal line and then returned the ball up the left side where he outran everyone for a 100-yard interception return for a touchdown. The two-point conversion was no good but the lead was now 26-0.

After the score Mullins answered in four plays. On two of the plays Bethea hit Grant twice with second one covering 55-yards and a touchdown. The two-point attempt was no good but the lead was cut to 26-6 with 10 minutes to go in the game.

Canty would closed out the scoring when he bolted up the middle then cut to the left and raced 71-yards for the games final score. The point after was good for the final score of 33-6.

Mullins will look to get back on the winning track as they host East Clarendon (5-2/2-1) and then they wrap up the regular season at Kingstree (2-6/2-2).

Manning will host Atlantic Collegiate Academy (1-5/1-2) before finishing the season on the road at Marion and Lake City. The Monarchs win two of three and they will be Region 7 AA champions.