by Gary Andrews

It was the tale of two halves for the Manchester football team Friday, as they needed a 20 point second half comeback to defeat county foe Northfield 23-20.

Northfield would totally dominate the first half, holding the Squires to just three points on a Ross Messer field goal with just 7 seconds left in the half.

Northfield would put the only points on the board in the first quarter on a Alec Wells 7 yard touchdown run with 52 seconds remaining to lead 6-0. Jared Short would run in the two-point conversion and Northfield led 8-0.

Both defenses would dominate in the second quarter with the only points coming on the Ross Messer field goal to make it 8-3 at the half.

By Gary Andrews

The Southwood varsity and junior varsity volleyball teams went on the road to invites Saturday.

The varsity competed in the Penn Invitational, going 2-2 on the day. The Lady Knights defeated Lake Central 27-25, 25-19, lost to Northwood 23-25, 20-25, lost to Homestead 23-25, 11-25 and beat Ft. Wayne Snider 25-23, 25-22.

Kaitlyn Murphy led in kills for the day with 26. Lexi Brickner added 16 with 7 blocks. Sami White had 47 assist, Amy Bowman 24 service points, 4 aces,

The junior varsity went 2-1 at the Lafayette Cental Catholic Invite. The Knights lost to Catholic 25-21, 26-28, 10-15, beat West Lafayette 25-16, 25-9 and defeated Faith Christian 25-13, 25-11.

Katie Stouffer led in kills with 21. Delayne Gentry added 20 and Bailey Lundmark 19. Brooke Elliott served 6 aces, while Makenna Dawes led with 13 digs. Bailey Lundmark had 9 blocks. Stouffer added 6.

by Gary Andrews

The Southwood Knights were 2-0 in county play and were in control of their own destiny to win the county title as they traveled to Wabash Friday to take on the Apaches. A win would seal the out right title and the Knights wasted no time letting everyone know they meant business. The Knights would jump out to a 17-0 first quarter lead on their way to a 51-7 win.

Wabash would get the ball first with the Southwood defense forcing a four and out. The Knights would go to the air to start, mounting a 10 play, 80-yard drive that was aided by three Wabash penalties and capped off by a Nathan Hollars 36 yard touchdown run to lead 7-0 with 7:02 on the clock. On the Apaches second possession, the Knights forced a fumble on the second play with Ryan Barton recovering on the Wabash 24. The Wabash defense would keep the Knights out of the end zone, forcing a 34 yard Zach Hobson field goal and the Knights led 10-0 with 5:00 remaining. On the next Apache possession Austin Schlemmer would pick off a Wabash pass on the 24 and the Knights were in business one more time. After a pass from Robbie Cole to Danny Goff put the ball on the five, Hollars would find the end zone again and the Knights led 17-0 after one.

By Gary Andrews

The Wabash Varsity Volleyball team came in second at the Maconaquah Invite on Saturday.  Results for the day are as follows:

Wabash lost to Tri-Central 21-25, 25-22, 12-15

Wabash defeated Maconaquah 25-22, 22-25, 15-13

Wabash defeated Blackford 25-20, 25-18

In the crossover game for the championship Wabash lost to Blackhawk Christian 12-25, 16-25

For the day:

Lyndsie Thomas had 47 kills

Kyleigh Hampton had 32 kills

Claire Cromer had 18 service points, 47 digs and 70 assists

Kristin Cromer had 31 service points with 8 aces and 46 digs

Shelby Stone had 10 points and 49 digs

Shai Parrett had 10 points and 49 digs

Wabash will travel to North Miami on Wednesday to finish out conference play.

In Match 1: Oak Hill will play Manchester. In Match 2: Cass will play Southwood. In Match 3: Wabash will play North Miami. In Match 4: Northfield will play the winner of Match 1. In Match 5: the winner of Match 2 will play the winner of Match 3. In the championship match: the winner of Match 4 will play the winner of Match 5.

by Gary Andrews

The boys and girls TRC cross country meets were held at Manchester Thursday with Rochester taking both team titles. Northfield took second in both meets, while the Southwood girls finished third. Manchester's Matthew Fahs-Brown was the individual champion in the boys’ race with Northfield's Jenna Halderman winning the girls race.

The first races of the day were the junior varsity races, with Northfield's Tori Givens winning the girls race, followed by teammates Catherine Tracy and Kalanu Watson Dunn. Alexis Vernon of Manchester was 6th, followed by Autumn Johnson, Sapphire Fiddler, Marie Wallner.

Northfield's Heath Miller was second in the boys’ race. Also for Northfield Matt Carey 7th, Brad Bever 8th, Zack Clouse 9th, Mason Zolman 11th, Brandon Frank 12th. Jose Delgado of Wabash 13th, Tyler Evans 15th. Stevie Metz of Southwood was 18th.

The boys’ varsity race was next with Manchester's Matthew Fahs-Brown winning in 16:53.

Northfield was 2nd 59 points:  Devin Tracy (2) 16:57, Austin Frye (4) 17:40, Joe Burcroff (5) 17:48, Austin Andrews (22) 19:08, Noah Augustus (26) 19:33, Keegan Knepp (28) 19:43, Caleb Coe (33) 20:19.

By Gary Andrews

It was a good old-fashioned shootout at Northfield Friday between MSD rivals Southwood and Northfield. In a game that wasn't decided until the final buzzer, the Southwood Knights pulled off a 40-34 win to go 2-0 in county games and now control their own destiny for a county title.

After Southwood went four and out to start the game, the Norse would put the pedal to the medal on their first possession. Starting on their own 22 the Norse would go on a 15 play drive that was aided by two Southwood offside with Carter Frieden taking it in from 6 yards out with 4:05 remaining to give Northfield a 6-0 lead. The Knights would answer the call, riding the back of Nathan Hollars, who had two big runs to march down the field. With the ball on the 18, Robbie Cole would find Jacob Lloyd to the 8. Two plays later Cole would find the end zone on a 3 yard run and with a Zach Hobson kick led 7-6 with 1:07 to play.

After the kick off, Shane Vigar would brake loose for the Norse for a 69 yard TD, only to have it called back on a holding call. Not letting the call get them down the Norse went back to work. On the second play after the hold, Alec Wells would race 45 yards to the Southwood five when time expired in the quarter with the Knights leading 7-6.

The IHSAA announced the football sectional draw for Friday, Oct. 25.

1A: Northfield (3-5) vs South Adams (2-6) at Northfield, Southwood (5-3) at Fremont (2-6)

2A: Manchester (2-6) at Bremen (5-3), Wabash (0-8) at Prairie Heights (4-4),