South Warren (4-0) at DuPont Manual (4-0)

One of the better games in the entire state this week right here!  This will be the first ever meeting between these 2 teams.  These teams are opposites in many ways including:

1.       School formation (South Warren opened its doors in August 2010 and this is its 14^th varsity season) (DuPont Manual opened its doors in 1892 and this is it’s 131^st varsity season).

2.       Head Coaches Tenure (South Warren’s Brandon Smith has been at South since the 2014 season and this will be his 10^th season at South Warren) (DuPont Manual’s Josh Gillispie has been Manual’s head coach less than 2 months following the unfortunate turmoil surrounding former Head Coach Donnie Stoner).

3.       Manual has been more successful offensively running the ball this season (Roughly 450 yards rushing to 300 yards passing, but this is much more balanced than recent Crimson teams have been).  South Warren has been more successful offensively passing the ball this season (1,050 passing yards vs 460 rushing yards).

These teams are similar in many ways too including:

1.       BGP Poll Rankings – Both teams come in highly ranked in last weeks polls (South Warren #4 in the 5A Poll and Manual #5 in the 6A Poll).

2.       Both teams have stingy defenses.  South has only given up 24 yards rushing plus yardage vs Southwestern.  Manual has only given up 15 points in 4 games.

3.       Both teams have aspirations to make strong runs in the playoffs and both teams have tough districts to compete in.  Manual will face St Xavier on October 6 for a big district match; not to mention “The Old Rivalry” game vs Male at the end of the regular season on October 27.  South Warren has Greenwood and Bowling Green in their district.  Both are top 10 5A teams.

This should be a terrific game.  When looking at the Manual Offense vs the South Warren Defense, the status quo is that Manual would like to run the ball with star RBs ZahRon Washburn and Gerian Traynor behind a very good Oline.  South Warren has built their program around stopping the run and they are very good at it as mentioned above.  But their back 7 aren’t as cohesive yet as they have been in the past.  Can Manual signal caller Elijah Creech make plays for Manual through the air?  He is 30 for 44 with 297 yards, 3 TDs vs 1 INT on the year (through 3 games).  I think it will be critical for Manual to makes plays through the air to win.

When looking at the South Warren Offense vs the Manual Defense, South Warren has lived on the “chunk” plays this season gaining over 25 yards on many occasions already this year.  I think Manual is stout up front on that DLine, can star QB Bryce Button make plays with his arm and maybe his legs too to convert critical 3^rd downs and keep the chains moving?  We will see!

I’m likely going to this one; so excited to hear what you think on it!

This thread deserves to be on the front page.

Some say South Warren should be the #1 team in 5A this week.  And if they beat a very good Manual team on the road, I expect them to get that next week.

Last week, South Warren gained nearly 375 yards on offense and was very balanced with 175 yards rushing and nearly 200 yards passing.

QB Bryce Button threw 22 passes with 13 completions for nearly 200 yards 3 TDs vs 1 INT.  He also led the Spartans rushing the ball with 6 carries for 83 yards.

South also burned Gibson Southern with 2 special teams TDs: 1 Kickoff return; 1 punt return and add on a pick 6. So South was hitting on all cylinders in their 45-28 win over Gibson Southern, IN.

 

Manual, on the other hand, also had about 375 yards on offense last Friday at Eastern.

QB Eli Creech passed 13 times with 9 completions for 251 yards and 4 TDs.  Creech spread the ball around to 7 different receivers.  RB Gerian Traynor ran the ball 4 times for 48 yards and a TD for the Crimsons as well. 

Manual's defense only allowed 17 rush yards and right at 100 passing yards.

 

Going to be a great game at Old Manual Stadium on Friday night!

 

I like Manual in a close one.

Manual is going to need the QB and WRs to be excellent... South Warren D is very good at stopping the run and you are going to have to make them respect the pass early in the 1st quarter to allow the Crimson running attack to surface.

Louisville public players tend to overlook non - JCPS KY teams, I think South Warren jumps out to an early lead that they don't relinquish. 35-14 SW.

 

Paid video:

https://www.nfhsnetwork.com/events/dupont-manual-high-school-louisville-ky/gam592d04cc1d

1 hour ago, theguru said:

Paid video:

https://www.nfhsnetwork.com/events/dupont-manual-high-school-louisville-ky/gam592d04cc1d

The Sporting Times will also have the stream, but since Manual is a NFHS network team the Sporting Times "may" be audio only.

But the link is below:

- Sporting Times (stfanclub.com)

 

Big Game tonight at Historic Manual Stadium!

Tickets are on the Manual GoFan App.

Beautiful night at historic Manual Stadium. 
Star RB ZahRon Washington is again unable to go this week for the Crimsons. But the Crimsons have done fine without him or late. We will see tonight against a talented Spartan squad.
About 5 minutes to kickoff.  

Spartans get the ball first. 
QB Button orchestrates a nice drive. But a deflected pass is caught by a Crimaon defender. Manual takes over at their 39 yard line.  

South with absolute gift of a pass interference call on fourth down to save them.

Manual with a nice drive mostly on impressive QB Creech and RB Traynor. At the Sparta. 32. 
Manual running it on South. Did not expect that. Manual OLine look really good. 
TD Manual. Run by Traynor. 
7-0wotj 4:26 to go 1Q

South offense has had a couple nice RPO passes. 
South to punt. South having trouble adjusting to grass field. Lot of slips. 
Manual will start at their 35 

Nice rollout to TE. Takes ball into Spartan territory. 
Should have been Pass Interference but not called.   Manual to punt. 
Spartans start at their 10. 1 min in 2Q

7-0 Manual

Good grief South with a blatant tackle of a receiver before he touched the ball, but no call. 

Free audio from Manual's broadcast crew Old Goat Radio: https://livesportscaster.com/video/9795/manual-vs-south-warren-old-goat-radio/