Maconaquah Schools

The Manchester Squires defeated the Maconaquah Braves, 22-20, in junior varsity action Monday night. After the young Braves failed to cash in on their opening drive, reaching the Squire 18, they got the ball back midway through the first quarter after forcing a punt and taking over at the Manchester 29. After a loss of five, Kacen Toepfer carried to the 24 setting up a third-and-five situation. Tre Rader carried a 23-yard Brayden Stamper pass to the one before being shoved out of bounds. Toepfer scored from the one on the next play giving Mac a 6-0 lead at the 1:58 mark. Maconaquah's next possession once again saw the Braves reaching the red zone at Manchester's four-yard line. The Braves came up empty after back-to-back rushing losses and a pair of incompletions. The Squires took over with four minutes left in the opening half and took an 8-6 lead with 65 ticks remaining on a 62-yard pass play and successful conversion run. Trailing 8-6, Rader returned the ensuing kick to his own 48. After Stamper scrambled to the Squire 43 he hit Rader with a short five yard toss to the 38. A holding penalty on the pass play moved Mac back to the 48. Another Stamper-to-Rader five-yarder moved it back to 43. With the clock winding down, Stamper hit a wide-open Tru Brown over the middle with a pretty 43-yard TD pass on the final play of the half. Toepfer's conversion run gave the Braves a 14-6 lead at intermission. The only scoring the third quarter came with 1:55 on the clock when Manchester nailed the Braves for a safety, forcing an 8-8 deadlock. Taking over at the Mac 39 after the free kick, the Squires took advantage and used just six plays before regaining lead, 16-8. with 8:47 left in the game. Maconaquah's next possession began at it's own 42 after Rader returned the ensuing kick 18 yards. Back-to-back passes from Stamper to Brown (nine yards) and Rader (seven yards) moved the Braves to the 42. After consecutive five-yard runs by Toepfer netted the Braves a first down at the 32, Rader took a short pass from Stamper . . . broke several tackles at the 25 and darted to the endzone for a 20-16 Mac lead with 5:26 left in the game. Manchester then took the kickoff and began its winning drive from its own 42. Aided by two major penalties, the Squires covered the distance in eight plays and took the lead for good, 22-20, with 1:45 remaining. The Braves final drive came up empty when Stamper was sacked with a 13-yard loss on fourth down at his own 26. Manchester took a knee twice in the final 55 seconds to preserve the win. Stamper completed 12 of 20 passes good for 179 yards. Rader caught six passes for 100 yards, while Brown hauled in a pair for 52. Toepfer led the rushing attack with 53 yards on nine carries. Weylon Thompson and Chandler Mofield topped the tackle charts with 13 and 12 stops respectively. Brown had six and Toepfer added five. Hayden Ringeisen was in on four tackles, while Wyatt Rorvik and Blane Scarlett each got three. Maconaquah is now 3-3 on the year.