Manchester closes regular season with big challenge

One of the hottest teams in Division 6 and a desperate team in Division 5 are preparing to collide.
With a playoff berth already in tow, the Manchester varsity football team will close out the regular season Friday when it visits the Hillsdale Hornets in a non-conference game.
The game features similar circumstances to last season. Manchester (7-1, 6-1 Cascades) has already clinched a berth in the Division 6 state playoffs. The Dutchmen are also entering the game on a six-game winning streak, which includes a 38-6 victory over East Jackson last week.
Hillsdale (5-3, 5-0 SMAA) will host the Dutchmen facing the same situation it was in last year – needing a victory to clinch a spot in the Division 5 state playoffs. The Hornets overcame an 0-2 start by winning five straight games and clinching the Southern Michigan Athletic Association title. However, they were stunned at home last week in a 40-28 loss to the Dundee Vikings.
In last year’s regular season finale, the Hornets pulled out a 25-18 over the Dutchmen in a muddy game in Manchester.
“Hillsdale is a good game for us, and it means a lot because a win could give us home field advantage throughout districts,” Manchester coach Wes Gall said. “We’d like to play at home in the districts, because we know after that we’ll be road warriors.”
The Dutchmen went 8-1 in last year’s regular season, but only received one home game for the playoffs. After defeating Grass Lake, the Dutchmen had to travel to Clinton for the second round despite the teams having identical records and Manchester holding a victory over the Redskins.
With Hillsdale being a bigger school, the Dutchmen’s power ranking can increase for the Division 6 playoffs. Depending on the district pairings, Manchester could host the first two rounds of the playoffs.
Though they’ve traditionally run a spread offense, the Hornets have relied on a balanced running game this season. Four running backs have been used, with Dustin Moyer leading the way with 694 yards and five touchdowns. Running back/quarterback Dan Vear has 611 yards and five touchdowns. Dustin Lewis (464 yards, 2 touchdowns) and Travis Hodos (101 yards, 2 touchdowns) also added to the Hornets’ backfield depth.
Vear and Hodos have split time at quarterback this year, with Vear holding a slight edge in completion percentage. Vear had throw five touchdowns to three interceptions, while Hodos is 28-for-60 passing for 333 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Kyle Minion leads the Hornets’ receiving core with 17 catches for 220 yards and two touchdowns.
Manchester will counter with a high-octane offense led by sophomore quarterback Nate Bossory. After being projected as the backup at the start of the season, Bossory has thrown for 2,061 yards in eight games. He has a deep arsenal of receivers led by Brandon Casey, Josh Blades and Devin Jose.
“We knew that Hillsdale has a good offense, but I feel we have one of the best offensives in Division 6,” Bossory said. “We think our offense can go hand-in-hand with theirs.”
Challenging the Hornets’ offense will be Manchester’s strong defense, led by senior defensive linemen Dylan Neff and Ben Stachnik. Chris Margraves and Alex Wallace have been strong at linebacker, while Casey and Jose have effectively patrolled the secondary.
The Dutchmen will look to do something they haven’t done since 2006 – close out the regular season with a victory. Manchester dropped two games to Onsted in 2007-08 before last season’s loss to Hillsdale. The Dutchmen defeated Ida in the regular season finale four years ago.