NORTH MANCHESTER, Ind. – The Manchester University football team fell in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference action to visiting Franklin College on Saturday, March 13. The Grizzlies overpowered Manchester, winning by a final score of 50-3.

The Grizzly ground game proved difficult to stop on Saturday as Franklin rushed for 402 yards and three scores. Derek Thompson rushed 16 times for 234 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Thompson had touchdown runs of 75 and 67 yards.

Franklin also threw for a pair of scores and returned a punt for a touchdown.

Manchester was held to 233 yards of offense and Franklin come away with four takeaways.

Quarterback Zac Montgomery (Knightstown, Ind./Mt. Vernon) finished the day 22-0f-39 through the air for 191 yards. Harrington Greer (South Bend, Ind./Riley) had six receptions for 54 yards. Seven different Spartans had multiple receptions.

Christian Smith (Indianapolis, Ind./Arsenal Tech) led MU with 43 rushing yards. Kicker Andrew Kibler (Cape Coral, Fla./Mariner) made a 32-yard field goal.

Defensively, Jabari Webb (Villa Rica, Ga./Villa Rica) led the Black & Gold with 12 tackles and 1 tackle-for-loss. Kobe Roberson (Michigan City, Ind./Michigan City) finished the day with 11 tackles, 2.5 tackles-for-loss and 1.0 sack. Haylee Smith (Indianapolis, Ind./Charles A. Tindley) came away with an interception in the first half.

Franklin (2-0, 2-0 HCAC) will host the Mount St. Joseph Lions next weekend.

Manchester (0-4, 0-2 HCAC) will head on the road to face Defiance College next Saturday, March 20. Kickoff from Ohio is slated for 1:30 p.m.