No. 18 CAL wins big on the road, takes down No. 6 DuPont Manuel 35-10
Due to a rough-looking forecast on Friday, a number of high school football games around the Bluegrass were bumped up to Thursday, including an intracity matchup between No. 6 DuPont Manual and No. 18 Christian Academy-Louisville.
For DuPont Manual, this was yet another tough opponent in their rather rigorous schedule. After managing to get through their first five games unscathed, the Crimson had to try to defend home field against CAL — the back-to-back 3A state champions.
As for the Centurions, they were looking to get back on track after dropping two consecutive games. To be fair, those losses came to No. 11 Ryle and No. 16 Lexington Christian Academy, but the tradition at CAL is centered around winning, not losing. An upset on the road would be huge for their momentum for the rest of the season.
Heading into the game, On3’s Massey Ratings had the Centurions pulling off the upset, winning 31-26 at DuPont Manual Stadium. When the final horn sounded and the clock struck zero, it was CAL who would walk away victorious with the final score being 35-10.
Centurion quarterback Connor Hodge would set the tone early by finding senior wideout Bryce Wilson for a score to make it 7-0 CAL with 7:22 to go in the first quarter.
Then, CAL had the ball well in plus territory and it seemed like they were about to get out to a quick 14-0 lead. However, Hodge would throw and interception, but on the Crimsons’ return, they fumbled the ball away, and CAL would recover the fumble and return it for a touchdown. It was truly one of the more unbelievable plays you could witness.
Unfortunately for Manual, that would be how this game went. Despite a Willis Nofsinger receiving touchdown to cut into a 21-0 deficit, the Crimsons really weren’t able to get anything going.
Even when they were gifted excellent field position off a bad snap on a punt, three consecutive bad snaps on offense led to an astounding 4th and 77 toward the end of the game. Yes, Fourth. And. Seventy. Seven.
Some trickery from the Centurions put the cherry on top of an emphatic victory on enemy territory. Hodge would flip the ball to another player who would drop a dime to senior Darwin Cotton for a late touchdown. At that point, it was 35-10, and that’s how this one would end.
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