As a cold wind blew through the stands of DuPont Manual high school’s football stadium the crowd’s exuberance could be felt all around. Despite the weather, the stands were packed for the oldest high school football rivalry in the area, as Manual’s Crimson Rams hosted Male’s Bulldogs.
Going into the game, Male was favored and was ranked number one in the city and number three in the state. Despite not having home field advantage, the team came in with momentum first because of plenty of fans of their own and second because they were coming off of two major victories against St. X and Trinity, both local and national powerhouses- not to mention, the perfect season they were working on.
Meanwhile, Manual came into the game as a top ten ranked team in their own right, like Male, Manual has had a powerhouse season locally so it added a layer of importance to the contest this year as they both are looking to further their state wide notoriety.
Manual came in with a record of 7-2, ironically with losses to St. X and Trinity, however they were both close matchups which allowed the Rams to show serious talent.
The opening kickoff, and we were underway. Showing their early strength Male powered out fourteen points in the first quarter, which was answered by six from Manual. A tide the Crimson managed to turn in the second, as they came up with thirteen points to Male’s seven.
So, as both teams broke for halftime, the score read Male: 21; Manual 19. This was kind of expected in large part, a very close contest where Male had the slight advantage.
However, in the third Manual came out swinging stopping any scoring from Male, while putting up thirteen points of their own, thus taking the lead going into the fourth and final quarter which saw Male shut down Manual this time and putting up eight points of their own.
The eight wasn’t enough to get Male out of the hole though, and Manual managed to upset Male for the second year in a row; with a final score of 29-32.
Image courtesy of Pintrest
