By Brad Greer

What was suppose to be a evenly matched contest turned out to be a blowout as fifth-ranked North Delta hammered Manchester 41-14 in a MAIS North AA playoff game Friday night at Green Wave Field.

North Delta, (10-1) will host defending AA state champion River Oaks, (La.) Friday night in second round action. River Oaks, (8-3) advanced with a 50-21 victory over Winston.
Green Wave quarterback Tyler Pirtle ran for two touchdowns and passed for two more as North Delta won their eighth game in a row.

“That was a very good football team we played tonight. We made a couple of big plays there in the second half and they did not and that was the difference,” said North Delta head coach Dan Werner.

“We scored right before halftime to make it 21-7 and one thing we have done  as a team this year is finish off the first half strong. But after they (Manchester) ran the second half kickoff back to make it 21-14 we answered with a touchdown of our own to get some momentum back. After that we pretty much were in in control of the game,” said Werner.

The fans in attendence did not get settled into their seats before North Delta got on the board as Pirtle hit  brother Colby on a 70-yard bomb on the game’s first play from scrimmage. William Dean added the PAT for a 7-0 Green Wave lead.

Manchester (8-4) tied the contest at 7-7 late in the first quarter as quarterback Will Stonestreet capped off a 12-play; 97-yard drive with a four-yard run. Russ Allen’s 47-yard run and Demarcus Mahone’s eight-yard run on fourth-and-five from the North Delta 11 were key plays in their drive.

North Delta retook the lead at 14-7 with 10:37 remaining in the first half on a Taylor Morris eight-yard run. After a failed fake punt gave the Mavericks the ball on North Delta’s 45-yard line, defensive back Bailey Guckert intercepted a Stonestreet pass at the Green Wave 10 and returned to 21 yards to snuff out a Manchester rally.

Morris  then added his second touchdown on a 10-yard run with 2:16 left before halftime to complete a eight-play; 69-yard drive that took 2:35 off the clock with Dean adding the point after.
Manchester closed the margin to 21-14 as Mahone returned the opening kickoff of the second half 80 yards for the score.

That would be as close as the vistors would get as North Delta responded with a quick three- play; 65-yard scoring drive when Pirtle hit Guckert on a 37-yard pass to expand the lead to 28-14 after three quarters. Pirtle finished the night with six-of-nine passing for 192 yards.

 Sy Pritchard’s interception of a Stonestreet pass at the Manchester 24 set up the first of two Pirtle’s touchdown runs in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach. Hunter Durham’s 21-yard   followed by Pirtle’s three-yard run increased North Delta’s lead to 34-14 with 11:34 left in the game.

Pirtle later added a 10-yard run to close out the scoring at the 7:21 mark of the game.

North Delta finished the night with 399 total yards of offense which included 207 rushing on 49 attempts. Durham led the Green Wave in rushing with 14 carries for 90 yards while Morris followed with 17 carries for 70 yards.

Pirtle added 34 yards on 13 totes and eighth-grader Hunter Baker ran the ball three times for 12 yards.

Colby Pirtle led in receiving with two receptions for 109 yards while Guckert chipped in with two catches for 61 yards. Dean and Morris each added one reception for 12 and 10 yards each.

Manchester registered 189 yards of offense with 165 coming via the ground game. Stonestreet finished the night four-of-eight passing for 24 yards. Allen led the Mavericks with 68 yards rushing on eight carries.

 On the defensive side of the ball, Pitchard led North Delta with seven tackles while Parker Jones recorded five stops. Bradley Booth had three tackles and a fumble recovery.

Blake Snider, Brett Harrington, Luke Latham and Hunter Pitcher all chipped in with three stops.