NORTH MANCHESTER, Ind. - The coveted Bronze Ball Trophy is coming back to Manchester after the Spartans' 37-7 victory over rival Anderson University at Spartan Stadium on Saturday, November 11.
The Spartans got on the scoreboard first thanks to a 30-yard run by
Josiah Ansorena-Smith (Ludowici, Ga., Long County) with just under seven minutes left in the opening quarter.
Eric James (Indianapolis, Ind., Decatur Central) connected with
Jordan Barnett (Fort Wayne, Ind., Snider) on a 69-yard pass to put six more points on the scoreboard for the Black and Gold. A successful two-point conversion put the Spartans up 14-0. Anderson would try to score with less than a minute to go in the first half, but Manchester senior
Dave Paul (Dearborn, Mich., Annapolis) intercepted the ball at the Manchester 1-yard line to give the Spartans the ball back and keep the Ravens off the scoreboard. Manchester would go into the half up 14-0.
Ansorena-Smith would once again find the
endzone on a 58-yard run to put Manchester up 21-0 with just over eight minutes left in the third quarter. Anderson would score their lone points of the game less than two minutes later after Jacob McCloskey connected with Julian Holguin on a 51-yard reception. The Black and Gold would tack on another seven points after getting the ball back at the Anderson three-yard line thanks to a sack and fumble recovery by
Jaylen Grimes (Goulds, Fla., Christopher Columbus) in the last minute of the third quarter to extend their lead to 28-7.
Barnett scored his third touchdown of the afternoon in the opening five minutes of the fourth quarter after bringing in an 11-yard pass from
Eric James.
Sam Huffman (Bremen, Ind., Bremen) brought down Anderson's running back in their own endzone for a safety with four minutes left to play in Saturday's game. The Black and Gold would hold off the Ravens to secure a 37-7 victory in the Spartans' last game of the season.
Manchester had 345 yards of total offense, including 220 rushing yards. Anderson was held to 177 offensive yards during Saturday's game.
Eric James threw for 125 yards with three touchdowns.
Josiah Ansorena-Smith had 151 yards on the ground with two touchdowns.
Jalen Love (Avon, Ind., Avon) added 41 rushing yards.
Jordan Barnett had 83 receiving yards with three touchdowns.
The Spartan defense had 19 tackles for a loss of yards, 11 sacks, four forced fumbles, and two interceptions.
Devontay Moore (Indianapolis, Ind., North Central) broke the Manchester school records for after finishing the afternoon with 4.5 sacks and 5.0 tackles for a loss of 42 yards. This brings his career totals to 42 tackles for loss and 24 sacks, breaking the Manchester school records for career tackles for loss and career sacks previously held by
Moore.
Jamaal Hubbard (Russelville, Ala., Russelville) had a team-high 12 total tackles on the afternoon, including nine solo tackles and a sack.
Dave Paul came away with two interceptions.
Jaylen Grimes added a sack and a fumble recovery.
The Bronze Ball game concludes the 2023 football season for the Spartans. Manchester finished 1-9 overall, and 1-6 in league play.
