Manchester Central football overcomes mistakes to beat Merrimack

MERRIMACK - It was a game riddled with mistakes and missed opportunities, but in the end, the Manchester Central High School football team did what it had to do to put the Granite State on notice, as the Little Green took down Merrimack 21-8 in a cross-conference matchup.

The Little Green paved the way to victory by capitalizing on a slew of Merrimack turnovers in the first half. Central intercepted Merrimack quarterback James Dowling four times in the opening 24 minutes and scooped up a pair of fumbles as well.

No one was better defensively than Dylan Feliciano. The senior picked off three passes for the Little Green in the secondary. James Olibrice had the other interception.

“I know that he’s a good quarterback,” Feliciano said. “I want to stay in the middle, and once I know he’s going to throw it I have to make my break and get there.”

From all those turnovers came 13 points for Central (3-0) that took them into the halftime break up 13-0. The touchdowns came off a short run from junior tailback Emmanuel Munyana and a keeper from senior quarterback Alex Hawkom.

Munyana had a game high 29 rushes for 112 yards. He had key first downs in the game’s final minutes to ice the victory for Central.

“My o-line is disgusting, man,” Munyana said. “Jassiah Francis, Cam Varney, we have a crazy o-line. This year it’s looking good.”

The line blew a huge hole open for Cooper Varano to rumble through for a 47-yard touchdown in the opening minute of the second half that proved to be the dagger for the Little Green.

Despite running an up-tempo offense the Tomahawks (2-1) couldn’t click until it was too late. Junior quarterback James Dowling went 24 of 36 for 191 yards but couldn’t break a big one. Merrimack had zero receptions for 20 or more yards while Central had four.

Even with the early mistakes, Dowling was able to buckle down in the fourth and drive Merrimack down the field for a touchdown, which he scored himself on the ground, but it was not enough.

“I’m actually happy he did clean it up,” Merrimack coach Kip Jackson said. “I was worried he would let the mistakes get to him. This will help us in the future because we’ll have an understanding when these things happen he can come back and make a big play.”

Central outgained Merrimack 379-289 although Hawkom did throw an interception himself along with the team giving away a pair of fumbles. Hawkom finished with 144 yards passing and 75 on the ground.

“Execution-wise it was up and down just like all of us,” Central coach Ryan Ray said of Hawkom. “But he played with incredible effort. He kept the offense going with his legs and his arm. He’s the best quarterback in the state. He didn’t play the best game of his career, but he played with a lot of heart.”