With 1:47 left on the clock, junior Holden Lind ran to the right side of the field and gave Hays High School a go-ahead touchdown to go up 30-27. But 105 seconds later, the Manhattan Indians capped off a 65-yard drive on a pass from Carter Aslin to JJ Dunnigan, and the visiting Indians would go on to get their third victory of the season by a score of 34-30 on Friday, Sept. 20 at Lewis Field Stadium.
The game started off very slowly for both teams as Hays High punted twice, and Manhattan fumbled the ball on their first offensive play of the game. It wasn’t until Manhattan scored on a 79-yard touchdown pass from Aslin to Dunnigan with 8:31 to go in the first quarter that the two teams started to open things up. Hays High ran a long, 11-play drive afterwards that was capped off with a 30-yard touchdown run by Lind, and Hays High scored again in just 48 seconds on their next offensive possession as Lind caught his third receiving touchdown of the year after Manhattan ran a drive that ended with an interception and deep return by junior cornerback Caleb Thompson that concluded the first quarter.
Both teams punted after the Hays High touchdown at the start of the second quarter, and Manhattan got another big touchdown pass. This one was from 78 yards out to Jaydin Hudley, but the extra point was no good, so Hays High remained in front 14-13. Hays High only ran four plays on their next drive as they ran down the field, and senior quarterback Carter Graham completed his second touchdown pass on the night as junior Jarek Purdy climbed the ladder to make the catch for the final score of the first half as both teams punted the ball on their final two possessions of the half, and Hays High led 20-13 at the break.
Manhattan tried getting something going as they received the opening kickoff of the second half, but their drive was stalled after six plays, and they fumbled the ball on fourth down as Hays High made the recovery at the 32-yard line. The Indians then extended their lead to 10 as junior Carson Moore attempted and made the first field goal of his career from 35 yards away. Manhattan went three and out on their next drive, and it looked like the Hays High offense was going to have a chance to put the game away, but Manhattan scored a touchdown on a fumbled snap that went over Graham’s head, and it was ran in by Garrison Vikander for Manhattan to cut the Hays High lead back down to three points.
The Hays High Indians punted the ball on a three and out for their next possession after two holding penalties forced them backwards, and it only took Manhattan one play to retake the lead as their quarterback Carter Aslin scored on his biggest run of the night from 40 yards out to give Manhattan the 27-23 advantage.
Hays High had the chance to get the lead back as they started their next drive with 1:07 remaining in the third quarter, but the 11-play drive would come to an end as the Indians went for it on fourth down and failed to convert. But all hope was not lost as the Hays High defense forced Manhattan to punt after three plays, and Hays High was able to get a go-ahead 26-yard touchdown run from Lind to put the Indians in front 30-27. Manhattan then put the game away as they ran a quick drive with some big pass plays to get down to the two-yard line where Aslin found his top target Dunnigan to give Manhattan the win by a final score of 34-30.
Despite the loss, Graham had one of the best passing performances of his career as he completed 13 of his 22 passes to rack up 171 yards and two touchdowns. Senior Jonathan Cano finished as the leading receiver with five receptions for 86 yards, and Purdy was next in line with four receptions for 46 yards, and he also caught one of Graham’s two touchdown passes.
Hays High’s ground game was led by Lind who had another strong performance as he reached triple digits on the ground. His final numbers consisted of 127 yards on 21 carries, and he picked up two touchdowns. Senior running back Ian McGuire got some good carries as he had 12 of them where he was able to get 53 yards on the ground. And Hays High also saw Graham and Cano each get two carries of their own as Cano ran for six yards, and Graham ran for four.
The Manhattan Indians relied on their passing game as Aslin went 18/26 on his passes, which led to 329 yards and three touchdowns. Dunnigan was Aslin’s top target in the game, as he caught six passes for 131 yards and two touchdowns, and Hudley caught the other touchdown pass from Aslin as he racked up 90 yards on five receptions in the game. Manhattan also saw Gabe Summerlin catch four passes for 65 yards and saw their tight end and fullback get some receptions as Rylan Vikander caught two passes for 23 yards, and Landon Dobson had one reception that went for a gain of 10 yards.
Manhattan wasn’t as reliant on their ground game with only two players recording a carry in the game. Aslin had the most carries as he ran the ball 10 times to get 37 yards and a touchdown. The other Indian to get the ball was the running back Hudley, who had nine carries and finished as Manhattan’s leading rusher with 51 yards.
Hays High now falls to 1-2 on the year and will look to get back on track as they travel to Garden City for their first Western Athletic Conference game on Friday, Sept. 27, as the start of a two-game road trip. The Indians will then play at Junction City the following week on Oct. 4 before returning home to play Dodge City on Homecoming week on Oct. 11. Manhattan remains undefeated at 3-0, and they’ll put that perfect record to the test on Friday in Junction City before they return home on Oct. 4 to take on Emporia.
