The Little Giants won their home-opener after coming from behind in the first half to tie the game at 21-21 at halftime.
Manchester opened the scoring in the game with a 12-play drive in the first quarter to take a 7-0 lead. The Little Giants answered with a five play drive that was capped by a 19-yard touchdown run by sophomore running back David Sutherland (Champaign, IL/Centennial) (photo right), the first score of his career. The Little Giants took a 14-7 lead when junior quarterback Jake Knott (Lafayette, IN/Jefferson) found tight end Nick Dawson (LaFontaine, IN/Wabash Southwood) for his first career TD on a four-yard pass.
The Spartans put the next two scores on the board to take a 21-14 lead before Wabash answered with a one-yard run by Knott to finish off a 10-play, 65-yard drive to send the two teams to the locker room at halftime tied 21-21.
It was all Wabash in the second half as Knott opened the scoring with his second rushing touchdown of the game, followed by a TD reception by Sutherland to put Wabash in fron 35-21. Sophomore Josh Bronaugh (Crawfordsville, IN/North Montgomery) added a 34-yard touchdown reception from Knott, and kicker Olmy Olmstead (Alexandria, OH/Granville) added a 23-yard field goal to his 6-for-6 performance on extra points to put the game in the win column for the Little Giants.
Knott finished 21-33-0 passing for 238 yards and three TDs. He added five carries for 53 yards and two TDs for 291 yards of total offense. Tight end Ryan Short (Indianapolis, IN/Perry Meridian) had eight receptions for 77 yards to move to 14th on the career receiving yardage list for Wabash. Short’s 1,244 career yardage total moved him past Pete Metzelaars and Nick Crnkovich. Short also passed Crnkovich to move to 13th on the career receptions list with 107.
Senior receiver Kurt Casper (Greenwood, IN/Center Grove) had five receptions for 61 yards. He moved into sixth place on the career receiving yardage list with 1,968 yards, passing Tony Altavilla. Seven Little Giant players had receptions in the contest.
The Wabash defense had four sacks and forced one turnover. Sophomore Stu Johnson (West Lafayette, IN/Harrison) led the defensive effort for the Little Giants with 11-1/2 tackles and one interception. Senior Brad Taphorn (Indianapolis, IN/Cardinal Ritter) had 1-1/2 sacks for six yards, Connor Kuba (Westfield, IN/Westfield-Washington) added a sack for three yards, Nate Boulais (Indianapolis, IN/Ben Davis) had a sack for two yards, and Blair Hammer (Carmel, IN/Carmel) combined with Taphorn for a sack, as well. The Little Giant defense held Manchester to just 82 yards rushing, and 285 yards of total offense, while the Wabash offense finished with 404 yards of total offense.
Wabash will be in action again next Saturday as the Wheaton Thunder will travel to Byron P. Hollett Little Giant Stadium for a 1 p.m. (EST) contest.