8Sports Blitz Game of the Week: Highland Springs @ Manchester

CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — In the highly anticipated Week 1 Game of the Week, Capitol Districts’ Highland Springs, last year’s Class 6 runner-up, is set to travel to Chesterfield County to face off against Dominion Districts’ Manchester. This will be their third matchup in two years, promising another thrilling encounter.

“It’s going to be a tough football game. Those games last year came down to the wire. You’ve got to play extremely hard when you play against Manchester. It’s going to be a formidable opponent and they always are, so we’ve got to be ready to go,” said Highland Springs head coach Loren Johnson.

The Lancers, who finished the 2023 season with an 11-2 record, suffered their only two losses to the Springers. This has fueled their offseason efforts as they seek revenge.

“It definitely hurts, especially because it’s the team that we burn our eyes watching film on them because they are the team to beat. It’s frustrating because we didn’t score a touchdown last year in the game, and that’s something that hurts me and something I’ve had to take responsibility for as a whole offensive unit. So, we are looking to do a lot better offensively this year, and we’ve got some stuff I think we are going to be able to do,” said Manchester quarterback Landen Abernethy.

Revenge will not come easily for Manchester. Highland Springs is known for being a powerhouse year after year, and in 2024, the Springers’ goal is once again a state championship.

“Buy-in is always good; we don’t have an issue with that at Highland Springs. Everybody knows what the deal is, they know what we are working towards, they know how we need to prepare and what we need to be focused on, and the kids just do a really good job of allowing the culture to work itself,” said Loren Johnson.

Despite the challenge, the Lancers are optimistic. After a full offseason under first-year head coach Jason Harrell, Manchester believes they have what it takes to secure a win in Week 1.

“That’s a tough team to face every year because seeing them twice, you know it’s one of those things where you think about it and you want to get over that hump. It’s one of those things that I have to try to do now as taking over at the helm,” said Manchester head coach Jason Harrell.

Highland Springs and Manchester will square off tonight at 7:00 PM.

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