PAC Game of the Year - 2010 | Triway (5-1, 3-0 PAC) at Manchester (6-0, 3-0 PAC) | Week 7 | October 8, 2010
This is the twelfth in an ongoing series, highlighting the PAC Game of the Year in each season, from 1999 through 2023, which will lead up to the start of the 2024 high school football season. For a look back at prior summaries, click here for
1999,
2000,
2001,
2002,
2003,
2004,
2005,
2006,
2007,
2008 and
2009
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The 22nd season of Principals Athletic Conference play dawned with the same three teams that sat atop the standings in 2009 returning as conference favorites in 2010. After a five-year hiatus, Manchester had finally resumed its traditional spot atop the standings the prior year and aimed to stay there. But Triway and CVCA had aspirations to unseat the Panthers.
The nonconference schedule did little to dispel the notion that the Panthers and Titans would be the teams to be reckoned with. While CVCA stumbled out of the gate with a 1-2 record, Triway went 2-1, sandwiching solid wins against West Holmes and Waynedale around a road loss at Orrville, who was still a member of the Ohio Cardinal Conference at the time. Manchester emerged unblemished after one-score wins on the road at Girard and at home against Coshocton. Then they finished preparation for PAC play with a pounding of Black River on the road.
When Triway more than took care of business in Week 5 with a 48-28 win at home against CVCA, all eyes turned toward the Week 7 matchup between the Titans and Panthers at Manchester. The Panthers cake-walked past Timken (50-0) and Indian Valley (42-0) in Weeks 4 and 5, and then dismissed Tuslaw (46-20) on the road to start the second half of the season. That set the stage for another pivotal PAC game - at home.
The undefeated Panthers would host the once-defeated Titans, with the winner having the inside track toward the conference championship.
The Titans set out east on US-30 and turned north on Ohio-93 and arrived at James R. France Stadium averaging 39-points a game through the season's first six contests. But Manchester was no slouch either. The Panthers averaged 33 points a game and were a fined tuned machine in grinding up their Weeks 4-6 opponents by a combined margin of 138-20.
Perfect weather conditions greeted the participants. Fair skies and a gametime temperature of 66° were an ideal recipe for Triway's potent aerial attack. Head coach Tony Lee put together a gameplan that would rely on the arm of senior quarterback Derek Carmichael and would test the Panthers' defensive backfield.
Triway got the ball first, and Carmichael precisely executed an 9-play, 72 yard drive that ended with a 21-yard scoring strike to senior Sawyer Polen. The PAT was missed and the Titans held a brief 6-0 lead. But on the Panthers' fourth offensive play, the normally run-dominant Manchester offense changed things up. Sophomore quarterback NIck Peyakov dropped back and lofted a 60-yard bomb, which was grasped out of the air by Cort Logan. When the PAT flew through the short uprights at France Stadium, Manchester had its first lead at 7-6.
The brief Panthers response sent the defense back out quickly and Carmichael picked right up where he left off. The senior engineered another long and meticulous drive. This time it was 13 plays and 95 yards, capped off by a second first quarter touchdown pass, this time to from ten yards out to Kyle Maxwell. A two-point PAT attempt failed and the first stanza ended with Triway on top 12-7. Carmichael was already 12 for 15 for 147 yards, while Manchester had run just five plays.
The lead was again short-lived. Manchester's Logan blasted up the middle on the first play of the second quarter, and 76 yards later, he and his teammates were celebrating in the end zone again. The Panthers were back out in front 15-12 after a successful two-point conversion..
The game turned on the next drive. Carmichael again went to his favorite target. Sawyer Polen hauled in his tenth catch of the game, just 14 minutes into the contest. It would be his last reception. The Daily Record's Aaron Dorksen wrote:
After the drive stalled, Manchester scored again when Peyakov launched his second scoring strike - a 25-yard pass to senior Kyle Dougherty. And despite a 43-21 differential in plays run, the Titans went to the locker room at the break trailing 22-12.
Both defenses finally answered the bell in the third quarter, with the only points coming off the leg of Titans kicker Cody Gessel. His 24-yard field goal with 2:54 to go in the third stanza brought Triway back within a score.
But the Panthers entered the fourth quarter with a lead. At home. And any of the old timers that gather along the fence at Manchester could easily have predicted what would happen next. The Panthers marched 13-plays and 65-yards in a drive that culminated with a 4-yard score from senior Mark Noble. Despite another blocked PAT, it was 28-15.
Down two scores, Carmichael and the Titans were not about to go down without a fight, however. In the locker room at the break, Lee urged his team to keep pressing, as recorded by
The Daily Record:
They scored again quickly, cutting the lead to 28-22 with 8:52 still remaining on the clock.
The Titans had hope.
It turns out the 13-play, 65-yard drive to start the quarter was just the prelude. Lee knew what was coming. His team needed the ball back and he instructed his kicker to pooch the kick in hopes of an onside recovery. It went too far for the gunners to jump on it. And Coach France's team would not let themselves lose.
The Panthers made every play in an 18-play, 78-yard encore of a drive that took all but the final 85 seconds off the clock. Manchester converted a third and 9 from their own 32 and two fourth and 1 plays on the drive, before Noble removed all doubt with his second short touchdown run - this one from four yards out.
The score sealed the 34-22 win for the home squad.
Coach France was impressed with the Titans signal caller.
Nick Peyakov finished 10-for-15 for 193 yards for the Panthers ,while Noble toted the ball 21 times to eclipse the century mark with an even 100 rushing yards and the two touchdowns.
The Panthers remained undefeated, while the Titans were left to regroup.
The Postscript
Manchester recorded easy wins against Fairless and Tusky Valley before passing its final regular season test with a 28-14 win at CVCA to cap an undefeated regular season. And this time, they got past the pesky Perry Pirates 49-45 at home as the top seed in Division 4 Region 13. The following week, they destroyed Campbell Memorial in the Regional Semifinal. But the road ended in the Regional Final in a 37-14 loss to a Chagrin Falls team that finished as the State Runner-up. Manchester wrapped up one of the best seasons in their illustrious history at 12-1 (7-0).
Triway finished the regular season 8-2 (6-1) for a second place finish in the PAC. It earned them a 6-seed in Division 4 Region 14, which meant a return trip to Orrville to reprise the Week 2 meeting. This time, it was a much closer game, but the Titans lost a heartbreaker 27-25, to end their season.
Below ... find the link to the game story from
The Daily Record as well as the game story and box score from the ABJ.
The Akron Beacon Journal game story and box score:
