Manchester faces rematch with Macon County in quarterfinal

Macon County 55, Manchester 13.

Rout. One-sided. Butt-kicking.

Choose one of those to describe the first meeting between these two Region 4-A teams three weeks ago or come up with one of your own.

Either way, it would appear Manchester doesn’t have much of a chance against Macon County in Friday night’s rematch, which comes in the Class A-public school quarterfinals.

The game is set to start at 7:30 p.m. in Montezuma.

But a closer look at that first game could give the Blue Devils some hope.

The teams were tied 13-13 with four minutes left in the first half. But then Macon County scored on a long pass with about 10 seconds left in the first half and they scored quickly to open the second half. From there, the game got out of hand for Manchester.

“That deflated us big time,” Manchester coach Evan Hochstetler said earlier this week of the TD right before the half.

Despite the loss, Hochstetler said he would not talk to his players about revenge.

“We want to do what Manchester does,” he said. “It will be a challenge for us.

“But we want to show the state of Georgia that we can compete. There are only eight teams left. And we feel like we belong.”

After losing that Region 4 championship game to Macon County, Manchester finished with the No. 8 seed for the playoffs. After a bye, the Blue Devils beat Twiggs County last week 39-18.

Macon County earned the top seed with the region title. The Bulldogs also received a bye. Then last week they beat Turner County 47-36 after being down 24-6 at the half.

Manchester was out of school this week for the Thanksgiving holiday. Hochstetler was scheduled to hold practice in the morning each day from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. On Thanksgiving, practice was scheduled for 9-10 a.m.

This story was originally published November 24, 2016 at 8:44 PM with the headline "Manchester faces rematch with Macon County in quarterfinal."