Cleve Dowell/Clarendon Citizen - Manning Monarch Rochar Witherspoon struggles for yards in the Monarchs loss to Dillon.
Manning’s season ends on the road
The Monarchs lost to the Dillon Wildcats in Dillon Friday night, 52-6.
The loss drops Manning to 6-6 to end the season while Dillon advances to the third round of Class A Division II undefeated.
Dillon got on the board first and never looked back, scoring in all four quarters.
Manning’s lone score came in the second quarter on a 52-yard touchdown reception by Phillip Henry.
“Our kids played really hard in the first half,” said Manning Head Coach Robbie Briggs. “We had the ball down inside the 15-yard line with about a minute left in the half. If we had punched it in, we’d have gone into at halftime down 14-13 instead we went in down 14-6.”
Dillon’s ground game allowed them to pull away.
Briggs said the 35 points the Wildcats put on the board in the third quarter was too much to overcome.
“Our kids fully came apart both offensively and defensively,” Briggs said. “It’s hard to explain. We played like two different teams.”
Dillon rushers carried the ball 29 times for 280 yards while the Monarchs rushed 42 times for 77 yards.
In the passing game, the Monarchs were four out of 14 with one interception and 108 yards, while the Wildcats went eight for 14 with no interceptions and 115 yards.
Dillon came up five yards short of having a 400 total yards in the game.
Manning netted just 185 total yards.
Manning had 56 plays to Dillon’s 43, while both teams earned 10 first downs each.
Fumbles went Dillon’s way. Manning had four fumbles and lost two while Dillon dropped the ball once and immediately recovered it.
Time of possession: Manning kept the ball for 28:33 to Dillon’s 19:27.
The leading rusher for the Monarchs was William Dingle who rushed 19 times for 52 yards.
The Wildcats’ Jabo Lee carried the ball 18 times for 244 yards and four touchdowns.
Briggs said now’s the time to re-evaluate the program.
“We’ll get the players into the weight room,” he added. “We’ll look at everything from A-Z before next season.”
The Wildcats will square off in the third round of playoffs against Swansea who defeated Wade Hampton, 38-6, Friday night.
