Saturday, August 26th the Manchester Youth Football League season officially began when our Manchester Raiders traveled to the Eagles Nest in Shelbyville where the Eagles hosted their season/home opener.
The Pee Wee Raiders stared the day of with a 35-13 win over the Eagles. Defensively, the Raiders had players all over the field making tackles all day, #13 Nathan Bogart and Christian Hazelwood helped the team with at least 12 tackles between the two. But it was the Raiders offense that was almost untouchable as #33 Hayes Shemwell led the team with over 135 yards rushing, and two touchdowns. Helping add to the score was #22 Cingston Dupree, #6 Braxon Wilder and #9 Kaleb “Boogie” Morris each with a touchdown. The o-line allowed the Raiders offense to rush for well over 250 yards in the win.
The Div 1 Raiders played tough in their 18-0 loss to the Eagles. The Raider offense was led by #00 Gavin Smith with over 35 yards rushing. The defense had several player making tackles throughout the day; #15 Jacoba Fells led the way with seven tackles, #00 Gavin Smith with 5 tackles, #23 Braxton Garner had three tackles (1 for loss) and a fumble recovery.
In Div 2, the Raiders played great on both sides of the ball; #4 Carlos Martinez, #23 Alex Franks and #11 Kaleb Dodson had a solid day on defense where plays were basically being made by everyone on the field. On offense, it was a community effort for the Raiders. #10 Logan McClanahan and #7 Tyler Martin scored a touchdown apiece, running alongside them were #8 Aiden Furlow, #5 Gabriel Hambly and #9 Zander Gomes all combining for over 150 yards rushing. Unfortunately, the Raiders lost a heartbreaker in the waning seconds of the game as the Eagles scratched by to win 19-14.
The Div 3 Raiders had a tough 39-0 loss to the Eagles Saturday. #15 (Mad) Max Valaitis led the Raiders with almost 50 yards rushing with Jacob Barlow close behind with 30 Yards rushing and almost 50 yards on two kick-off returns. #22 Braden Davidson connected with #5 Jaiden (Joker) Foster on a beautiful 17 yard pass into triple coverage. Defensively, Barlow again led the way with 7 tackles while #40 Johnathan Akers had 5 tackles (1 for loss) and #7 Nathan Frasier had 4 tackles (1 for loss) and a sack.
Your Manchester Raiders are off next weekend as the celebrate Labor Day weekend with friends and family. The Division 2 and Division 3 Raiders will resume action on Saturday September 9th, in Lewisburg where they will take on the Marshall Co. Elite. The Div 2 Raiders play at 11am and Div 3 Raiders start at 12:30. Pee Wee and Div 1 will have a bye week due to Marshall Co. not having teams in those age divisions.
Darryn Strickland’s Weekly MYFL Report
