Falcons Too Quick For Manchester, 27-7!
Sometimes events fail to live up to the hype. Be it a concert, an album, a movie, TV show, boxing match or wrestling match for that matter. You wait with anticipation and then you leave feeling like it could have been better. That is the feeling coming away from this one. That is no disrespect to what the Huguenot Falcons did on their home turf, they delivered and exceeded some expectations. Manchester on the other hand? They did not fulfill their end of the bargain.
The atmosphere was lit. By 6:07 the parking lot was filling, the line for fans was backing up to the steps and they were still filing in. By game time you could still see a line of folks coming in, even in the second quarter. Everyone wanted to be at this game.
The fire was alive, the two teams meeting at mid-field during practice hyping one another up, building up the anticipation. The Huguenot band was jamming, the atmosphere was amping up.
Like any game, any play, it is all about interpretation; especially so in timing. In-game, the move at the beginning of the game with Landen Abernathy handing off to Antonio Turner who rolls right and throws it out to Jayden Ballard might look genius. Why not surprise the Falcons? Only Zion Pleasants and the Falcons didn’t fall for it, they sniffed it out and broke it up.
In hindsight, that play might have tipped us off to the kind of night it would be for Manchester. Nothing for the Lancers was easy on this night, on either side of the ball. On offense, they struggled to find any rhythm, to push the ball down the field. QB Landen Abernathy‘s passing game was under pressure all night long. On defense, the Lancers were gashed by a run and passing game that put up nearly 300 yards of offense (279).
It was not what we expected to see from a team that was averaging 50 points a game and giving up just 8. On the other side, the home side, it was exactly what we have seen from the Falcons the previous 8 games. Sure Huguenot didn’t average their typical 56 points a game but they didn’t need to holding Manchester to their lowest offensive output of the season.
Falcons Defense Flying
From the jump Huguenot was making plays on defense with the first coming from the previously mentioned Zion Pleasants who was glued to Jayden Ballard.
On this same opening possession, it came to a thud when Jayce Bigelow broke up an Abernathy pass and Justice Walker dove on it for the recovery.
Fast forward to the Lancers second possession they punt but the Lancers strip the ball from the Falcons on the return. Three plays later the Lancers are 3rd & 2 when Bigelow gets to Abernathy with a sack. Bigelow and Cartier Canady follow that defensive play on the next Lancers offensive possession with back-to-back pass disruptions.
The pass breakups kept coming all night long with Christopher Green doing so twice in the second quarter alone while Canady added another sack of Abernathy. Lot of defense played in that first half and didn’t stop there.
Canady had another sack early in the third quarter with Bigelow breaking up a third down pass of Abernathy and getting to the Lancer QB yet again.
It cannot be overstated how dominating this defense was in terms of disrupting the passing game; the strength of the Lancers. The Falcons forced four 3 & outs against the Lancers limiting their offensive capability. The Lancers mustered just 196 yards of offense against this quick and aggressive defense.
Falcons Run Game
It cannot be overstated how impactful this run game was tonight or during the season. Like anything in life, you need balance and the run game of Huguenot has been every part of that for the high-octane Falcons offense.
On a night where Charles Scott, Jr. had a modest night passing with just 114 yards through the air, the run game tallied 247. Markel Dabney was a non-factor after sitting out the game due to be a minor injury in practice this week. Imagine what the numbers might have looked liked if he had been on the field? As it was the 1-2 punch of Cartier Canady and Randle Robinson took it to the Lancers. Cartier averaged 17.1 yards per carry on his way to 137 yards. Cartier scored on a 44-yard run, 1 of 4 TD’s for the Falcons while Robinson scored on a 10 yard run.
Robinson had more carries with 12 for 101. It was a smart play for the Falcons, keep the Lancers defense honest, eat up clock and keep the ball away from those rangy Lancer DB’s.
Mistake Were Made
Neither team came away from this game clean but depends on how you look at it, the mistakes were minimal.
The Falcons had a return stripped by the Lancers defense midway through the second quarter. The only turnover that stood, however, occurred in the first quarter when Jayce Bigelow batted down a pass and the 6’1, 300 lb. D-Lineman Justice Walker had awareness to dive on the ball for the recovery.
Tristan Bowers of Manchester almost had an interception early in the third quarter but the Lancers were called for pass interference negating that. On this very same drive, actually the very next play the Falcons almost gifted Manchester a turnover when the snap went over the head of 6’5 Charles Scott, Jr. whose quick reaction saved the moment but not yardage.
And what’s a game without penalties? Unofficially I have the Falcons drawing yellow 13 times whereas Manchester drew 6 flags. One of those penalties negated an Charles Scott, Jr.-Iveon Lewis TD combo…
Manchester Highs
On a night where the Lancers took the L ending their chances at not just an undefeated regular season but a #2 seed in the playoffs, all was not bad.
The 1-2 punch of Dior Barnes & Geno Pollard in the run game accounted for 121 of the 196 yards of offense. That speaks to how ineffective the passing game was for Manchester and how well these two young men found holes and battled all night long to move the ball down field.
The lone TD of the night for Manchester, however, did not come from the run game but QB Landen Abernathy. The Lancers put together a 65-yard, 7-play drive with 6 minutes remaining in the game to end the Falcons shutout. Abernathy was the fuel, Antonio Turner was the fire for a 25-yard score.
Huguenot 27, Manchester 7 – Scoring
| Play | Score | Time |
| Randall Robinson 10-yard run. Cristopher Dimas PAT. | 7-0 Huguenot | 10:44 (2Q) |
| Cartier Canady 44-yard run. Cristopher Dimas PAT. | 14-0 Huguenot | 8:28 (2Q) |
| Charles Scott, Jr. 20-yard pass to Montrey Thompson. Cristopher Dimas PAT. | 21-0 Huguenot | 2:30 (2Q) |
| Charles Scott, Jr. 28-yard pass to Iveon Lewis. PAT no good. | 27-0 Huguenot | 8:49 (4Q) |
| Landen Abernathy 25-yard pass to Antonio Turner. Marvin Nolasco PAT. | 7-27 Manchester | 6:18 (4Q) |
Coach Speak
Huguenot Falcons Gamers
DE/RB (2026) Cartier Canady had himself a game. If there were an MVP for this game, he would get get my vote. As part of a defense that held Manchester to a season low 7 points he had 6 tackles, 1 pass breakup, 2 sacks and a hurry. On offense he led the team in rushing yards with 137 off 8 carries and scored a TD. I have seen this young man three times this season and this by far was the most electric I’ve seen him.
LB (2027) Jayce Bigelow has been a starter since his freshman year. He is one you have to keep your eye on and the Lancers felt his presence for sure last night. Seven tackles, 5 of which were for a pass not to mention 3 PBU’s, 2 sacks and 2 QB hurries. In this effort he set the single season record for tackles for a loss in the program history.
QB (2028) Charles Scott, Jr. was cool under pressure and delivered in his biggest game yet this season. Charles completed 12 of his 17 passes for 201 yards and 2 TD’s. A modest night compared to some of the numbers we have seen from him but his leadership and execution cannot be understated in this matchup.
RB (2027) Randle Robinson was part of a 1-2 punch in the run game alongside teammate Canady. Randle had 12 carries for 101 yards and a TD himself. His name doesn’t resonate like some of his teammates with the casual fan but his play sure did last night.
WR (2027) Iveon Lewis quietly had a solid game. He should have finished the night with two TD’s but one was called back due to a penalty. As it was, Iveon put down 153 yards receiving off 7 catches, an average of 21.8 yards per catch and just the 1 TD.
Manchester Lancer Gamers
RB (2027) Dior Barnes was one of the most consistent playmakers for the Lancers on a night when they were largely kept under wraps on offense. The junior finished the night with 80 yards off 9 carries.
LB (2026) Dominic Tyson finished the night with 6 tackles on a night where the Falcons who averaged over 50 points a game was held to just 26.
DB (2027) Tristan Bowers put together a solid game on defense. The junior had 5 tackles on the night, broke up a pass and had an INT. Granted that interception was called back due to a penalty but it was the only pick the Lancers defense had all night.
Post-Game Nuggets
Huguenot has back-to-back wins over Manchester for the first time since the 2000 season.
The Falcons are now 10-8 all-time at home versus the Lancers.
Coach Charles Scott is now 2-0 versus Coach Jason Harrell.
Since Coach Scott arrived in 2023 Huguenot is now 26-2 versus the Dominion District.
The last Dominion District team to beat Huguenot was to Cosby, Oct. 19th, 2023.