Manual football uses defense to stymie reigning 3A state champ Central

Nate Bryan

Special to Courier Journal

DuPont Manual's offense is still in early season form, but junior defensive lineman Darren Miller and the Crimsons' defense look postseason ready.

Miller had two sacks in the first three quarters to quell Central drives and the Manual offense finally got something going after halftime in a 7-0 win over the reigning Class 3A state champion Yellowjackets on Friday night in both teams' season-opening games at Manual Stadium.

After being held to just 25 yards of offense on 16 first-half plays, the Crimsons had a 50-yard scoring drive on their opening possession of the second half. The drive was set up on a 7-yard sack by Miller, which forced the Yellowjackets to punt from the end zone.

"Phenomenal," Manual coach Scott Carmony said of his defense. "Man, they played hard and they played their butts off. They played so much better than last week in our scrimmage, and that's what we're always looking for. We're looking for improvement every week and boy, they did."

Sophomore running back JuWuan Northington was the catalyst on the drive with a 9-yard run to get the Crimsons to the Yellowjacket 4. One play later, he went off tackle left to break up the shutout and junior Patrick Holdener tacked on the extra point with 7:09 left in the third quarter.

Central's offense came out clicking, with the Yellowjackets' first five plays going for at least 5 yards. The drive stalled as Manual junior Eli Blakey forced a fumble and the Crimsons' Ramont Townsend recovered it at the Manual 34.

"We couldn't stay on schedule," Central coach Marvin Dantzler said. "We'll move, move, move, and then do something silly, like jump offsides or hold. Once we clean that up, I think we'll be fine."

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Miller's first sack came on third down on Central's second possession, forcing Central to punt. The Crimsons held on fourth-and-one on a fake punt direct snap on the third possession and Manual junior defensive back Darius Brown had a red-zone interception on Central's fourth and final possession of the first half.

Things didn't get much better for Central after halftime. Miller's second sack forced a punt on the Jackets' first possession and Manual forced a turnover on downs on the second.

"That's what we have to do and that's what we had to do and that's what we preach," Carmony said. "Keep hanging in there and don't give up the big play. Don't get the ball thrown over top of your head. Make them grind it out and let's force some fumbles."

Central forced Manual to punt early in the fourth quarter and looked like it was waiting for the ball to bounce through the end zone, but Manual senior DeAaron Robinson pounced on it at the Central 1.

"Just the idea that we can move the ball, you're happy. Because if you couldn't move it at all, then you're really frustrated," Dantzler said. "Now we've got to clean up the mental mistakes and it's a lot of self-inflicted (mistakes). You know you never want to lose, but it was 7-0 and we had our chances."

Manual became the first team to hold Central without a touchdown since Pleasure Ridge Park's 42-3 win over the Yellowjackets on Oct. 28, 2016. The Crimsons became the first squad to shutout the Yellowjackets since Male's 36-0 win over Central on Sept. 10, 2010.

Coincidentally, it was Manual's second straight regular-season shutout. The Crimsons ended the 2018 regular season with a 14-0 win over Eastern before falling to North Hardin in the first round of the Class 6A state playoffs.

"We tell our kids all the time that if you hold them to zero (points), we are never going to lose," Carmony said. "And they played lights-out against a really, really good football team. They (Central) come at you hard."