Whether it’s a marquee postseason bout or a non-playoff road affair, you always want your team to bring their best when they step on the gridiron.
Manchester Essex football coach Joe Grimes certainly got that type of effort from his determined group in Thursday’s consolation clash at Boston Latin Academy.
Led by a four-touchdown performance from senior quarterback Zach Hurd, the Hornets secured a 36-22 victory to improve to 7-3 on the year.
“It’s always good to get a win, regardless of the (circumstances),” said Grimes. “They were a good team, competitive, well coached, so it was a good win for us.”
Manchester got going quick, with Hurd finding Charlie Thurlow for an 85-yard screen pass TD on the very first play of the game. By halftime, Manchester held a 28-14 advantage and was able to hold onto their lead until the final whistle.
Hurd finished with three rushing touchdowns to go with the passing score, while Nick Glass also found paydirt out of the backfield on an RPO reverse just before halftime. Hurd is now up to 16 rushing touchdowns on the year to go with 15 through the air.
“Zach had a great game on the ground, lot of scramble type plays,” said Grimes. “They did a good job kind of keeping a lid on our pass game, so it opened up some things, some lanes on the ground and Zach is obviously capable of dicing and cutting his way up field on that.”
Boston Latin made things interesting late, getting with six (28-22) in the fourth after a safety and a blocked punt, but the Hornets recovered and got one last touchdown to seal the deal.
Grimes also shouted out the play of both Thurlow and senior Adam Mcleod on defense, with both guys coming up big in pass coverage.
“Adam was flying all around and him and Charlie really did a good job containing their pass game and forcing the QB to scramble,” said Grimes.
Manchester will now have the next two weeks off until hosting Essex Tech on Thanksgiving morning (10 a.m.) to close out the season.
Sports Editor Nick Giannino may be contacted at 978-675-2712 or ngiannino@northofboston.com.