MANCHESTER, NH – It was a game that meant nothing and a game that meant everything. And it was quite a game in spite of anything else.
On Friday afternoon, Manchester Central defeated Manchester Memorial, 27-24, an instant classic between two teams with a long history with each other and little recent success otherwise.
Friday’s contest served as an extremely early Thanksgiving game between the two rivals, after their scheduled regular-season game was cancelled due to COVID-19. Central finished the regular season 1-5 and Memorial finished 1-6, with each team’s sole win coming against Spaulding, which finished the season 0-9.
However, none of that mattered on Friday in what was probably the best-played game of the year for either team.
Memorial struck first, as senior Braden Hafeman connected on a swing pass with sophomore Martin Alisandro on the Crusaders’ first drive of the day. Memorial couldn’t add the extra two points, and Central would take the lead on the first play of the second quarter as junior Jayden Hann found junior Tyler Ceasar for a one-yard touchdown pass, followed by a successful extra-point try.
That drive proved to be the only Central drive of the first half that lasted more than four plays, with Memorial dominating time of possession early in the contest. However, Memorial couldn’t regain the lead until 7:12 left in the half, where Hafeman capped off a nine-play drive with a one-yard dive into the end zone.
The two-point conversion after that score was also unsuccessful, giving Memorial a 12-7 lead heading into the half. Central ran for -7 yards in the first half, but Memorial was unable to compensate for the Little Green’s complete abandonment of the ground game, with Central starting the second half with an 11-play drive, with passes or sacks making up nine of those plays. Ultimately the two rushing attempts came on the final two plays of that drive, a pair of 11-yard runs by Hann with the second ending in a touchdown.
Unlike Memorial’s first two scores, Central managed to make the two-point conversion, and the Little Green brought the lead up to 20-12 in short order, as Central senior Aiden Kelley forced a fumble that would be brought to the end zone by junior L.J. Gerald.
Connor McFarland capped Memorial’s response on the next drive as the Crusaders took six plays to march 74 yards down the field, with McFarland providing the final 17-yard rush for the score. However, Memorial still could not find a two-point conversion and Memorial found itself down, 20-18.
There the game stood, with just over 11 minutes left in regulation, and with Central unable to eat up the clock due to its broken run game, Hann connected on four straight passes and almost connected on a fifth straight in the end zone that Kelley just couldn’t quite keep his hands on. Fortunately for Central, junior Owen Kelley would manage to hold onto the ball on Hann’s next pass, finding the end zone on what was a 29-yard pass. Central added an extra-point to obtain a 27-19 lead, but the Crusaders were not ready to give up.
Moving from their own 33-yard line, Memorial needed five plays to get one more score, with Hafeman finding freshman Collin Beaulieu on a 25-yard pass. Again, the two-point conversion was unsuccessful, but it proved academic.
Central found itself with just under three minutes of the game left to burn and no ability to run the ball, with Hann managing to complete three short passes that couldn’t give the Little Green a first down. Only a fake punt and a favorable measurement saved Central on fourth down, effectively ending the contest.
Central Head Coach Ryan Ray credited Memorial’s defense with stopping his team’s run game, but didn’t stop there.
“Rivalry games mean everything in sports, and Memorial/Central is a great rivalry that’s had its roller coaster ups and downs over the years. For us to be cancelled in the middle of the season for protocol reasons, it was a big disappointment,” said Ray. “This was our best football game of the year. Win or lose, it was our best football game of the year and it really meant a lot to the guys to play a really good football team that is tough as nails.”
Memorial Head Coach Rob Sturgis believed that while his team held control all day on offense, it all came down to Central making more plays.
Still, he was proud of his squad.
“I’m really proud of our linebackers, that’s where most of our seniors are and they really withstood the challenge,” said Sturgis. “And it worked out to the point where they were throwing it at the end of the game where they needed to run the ball.”
“I told the kids that we really finally as a team responded, we finally took challenges and kept going and the fact that we didn’t give up even though we were down by nine, that was huge,” he added.
