<body><div>MANHATTAN — Led by a punishing ground attack, Manhattan rolled to its second consecutive conference title Friday night.In a showdown between teams atop the Southern B conference, the Tigers rallied from an early 7-0 deficit to defeat Jefferson 37-19 to cap homecoming week. The victory clinched the league’s No. 1 seed heading into the Class B playoffs in two weeks.“That’s back-to-back for us, two years in a row, that’s what we work all summer for and that’s our first focus,” Manhattan head coach Wes Kragt said. “To come out and get a big win like this is huge.”The Tigers (8-0, 4-0 Southern B) were fresh off a key victory against Three Forks the previous week to set up Friday’s winner take all contest. Jefferson had not lost in conference play entering the night.“Last year, having that (conference title) and then coming back into this year, we were really motivated,” quarterback Michael Stewart, who was named homecoming king at halftime, said. “I think we really grinded these last couple games. Winning this, it means a lot to us, having an easier path to the state championship.”<h2>People are also reading…</h2><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3nhSG2_0wDqe3Io00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3nhSG2_0wDqe3Io00" width="617" height="649" ><figcaption>Manhattan quarterback Michael Stewart carries the ball Friday during a Southern B contest against Jefferson. Dan Chesnet</figcaption></figure>Manhattan hosted all of its playoff games a year ago, including the state championship. The team lost to Florence-Carlton, 21-14, in overtime in the Class B title game.“We had that last year, and we loved it playing at home and having all the fans here that we know,” said Stewart. “We already know the feeling, so it’s really nice to have it.”Jefferson (6-2, 3-1 Southern B) received the opening kickoff and marched 64 yards in more than six minutes to a touchdown. The Panthers twice converted on third and long as well as on a fourth down play inside the 10 before Luke Oxarart scored on a 1-yard run.Manhattan answered with an 81-yard drive capped by an 18-yard touchdown pass from Stewart to Landyn Benson on fourth and 11 with 46.6 seconds left in the first quarter. The two-point run failed, however, and the score remained 7-6.But the Tigers controlled the line of scrimmage for the better part of the next two quarters and took the lead on their second possession of the game. Kaysen Konkol scored on a 3-yard run and then Benson hauled in the two-point conversion on a pass from Stewart.The touchdown was set up by a 20-yard run from Brayden Zikmund, and then Konkol scored on the next play. Manhattan took a 14-7 lead into halftime.“First half we only got two possessions, scored on both of them,” noted Kragt. “We had a game plan going in and credit to our O-line, they dominated these guys up front and that’s a really good team. We kind of led through them and pounded them down the field.”<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2JjpXH_0wDqe3Io00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2JjpXH_0wDqe3Io00" width="1021" height="629" ><figcaption>Manhattan’s Brayden Zikmund carries the ball Friday night during a conference game against Jefferson. Dan Chesnet</figcaption></figure>The Tigers scored the only points of the third quarter — an 11-yard touchdown run by Zikmund with 4:27 left in the frame — and then extend the lead to 23 midway through the fourth on a 4-yard touchdown run by George Stenberg.Benson capped the scoring for Manhattan, hauling in a 28-yard TD pass with 1:45 remaining.“Our offensive line had some great blocks. We ran the ball a lot tonight, not throwing as much, and our offensive line did great,” said Stewart. “And defensively, we had some deep balls that were on us, but other than that we had that bend but don’t break mentality up until the fourth quarter.”Jefferson scored twice in the final 4 minutes, 15 seconds of the contest on touchdown passes 31 and 6 yards by Tyzer Zody. By then, however, the outcome had already been decided.“Credit to our running backs, Konkol, George and Zikmund all had great runs,” said Kragt. “They followed our line, and we’re excited to go forward and move on with that one seed.”Manhattan will try to wrap up an unbeaten regular season Oct. 25 at Columbus.BoxscoreManhattan 37, Jefferson 19Jefferson 7 0 0 12 - 19Manhattan 6 8 8 15 - 37Jeff - Luke Oxarart 1 run (Hunter Stevens kick)Man - Landyn Benson 18 pass from Michael Stewart (run failed)Man - Kaysen Konkol 3 run (Benson pass from Stewart)Man - Brayden Zikmund 11 run (George Stenberg run)Man - Stenberg 4 run (Stenberg run)Jeff - Stevens 31 pass from Tyzer Zody (kick failed)Man - Benson 28 pass from Stewart (Connor Mayo kick)Jeff - Stevens 6 pass from Zody (run failed)</div></body>

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Manhattan claims second straight conference title with 18-point victory against Jefferson

MANHATTAN — Led by a punishing ground attack, Manhattan rolled to its second consecutive conference title Friday night. In a showdown between teams atop the Southern B conference, the Tigers rallied from an early 7-0 deficit to defeat Jefferson 37-19 to cap homecoming week. The victory clinched the league’s No. 1 seed heading into the Class B playoffs in two weeks.