Bishop Manogue took on Reno, at home, Friday night in a thrilling playoff match to decide who will head to the regional finals. Earlier this year, these two teams faced head to head and Manogue came out on top to win 48-26. This time around, Manogue had even higher hopes to advance in the playoffs.

Bishop Manogue’s defense started off strong, not letting Reno go anywhere, by allowing very few first downs. Pele Masina grabbed an interception and ran it all the way to the house. The team was led in tackles by Marley Spuhler, who had nine total tackles and a sack. The defense also made sure Manogue had great field position which helped Manogue’s offense be efficient.

Manogue’s quarterback Brandon Mann led the way for the offense throwing five touchdown passes and throwing for 160 passing yards. He found Dulin Hukari three times in the endzone, one time was a 34 yard play down the sideline on a deep ball that put Manogue up 28-7. The offense never looked back. Nathan Shannon found the endzone twice, and towards the end of the game Demari Stacker and Grady Montoya both touched paydirt, winning with a final score of 62-28.

When asked about the game and the team’s matchup next week, tight end and defensive end Vince Clark said, “It was a great team win in all three phases of the game. We’re looking forward to carrying that momentum into next week against a good opponent in Reed. Super excited for the opportunity to bring home a third straight regional title.”

With this round of the playoffs completed, Manogue now looks forward to their matchup against Reed next Friday, November 15 at home to win the NIAA 5A Division II North Region.