Samir Manning's 'little bit of extra something' helps Patterson Mill football to 30-28 win over Fallston for division title

Oct. 19—Two Patterson Mill fans shared an apt, brief exchange after one early gain by Samir Manning.

"I feel like Samir can make one person miss at all times," one fan mentioned. The other was equally impressed: "He's really fast for a high schooler."

Patterson Mill coach Dave Huryk described Manning as an impactful two-way player — one of only a few on the roster — who gives a spark on the edge offensively and is a ball hawk defensively. Manning was a key cog in the Huskies' 30-28 win over Fallston that secured the UCBAC Susquehanna Division championship.

For spectators, Manning is hard to miss on the field wearing flashy gloves — hot pink on the knuckles and baby blue over his palms. But for defenders, he's hard to catch whenever the Huskies feed him the ball.

When the Huskies stray from running the ball out of their regular electrifying Wing-T formation, it's likely a chance to get the ball to Manning, a senior receiver. On Thursday night, those looks came in crucial moments.

Patterson Mill trailed, 14-6, midway through the second quarter and needed a touchdown and 2-point conversion to keep pace after failing on its first attempt.

Aiden Myers returned a kickoff 60 yards to set up a scoring drive capped by junior Will Green's 11-yard dash. When quarterback Brycen Hunter rolled out to his right, Fallston's defense collapsing, he flicked the ball up to the corner of the end zone.

It was tipped, and it felt like a minute passed when the ball popped into the air. And whose gloves, spottable from a mile away, were there to corral the timely catch?

"I thought to myself, 'I just have to catch this,'" Manning said. "I just focused on the ball and caught it."

Added Huryk: "He just has a little bit of extra something to him that he can get to balls other people can't get to."

Manning was later the benefactor of some Patterson Mill trickery.

The Huskies broke down a timeout with three minutes to go before halftime. As they separated, 10 players lingered by the close sideline. The 11th crouched at the center position. Fallston's defense hadn't yet been set and aware when the ball was snapped over on a screen to Manning.

He followed nine blockers up the near sideline for a 60-yard pickup on third down.

Some call the play "Craziness." Huryk prefers to call it "Webber" after the late Eric Webber, a longtime Sparrows Point coach who also influenced Patterson Mill's Wing-T offense.

Webber once ran the same play many years ago to beat New Town in a major rivalry game. "To beat Fallston," Huryk said, "we were gonna have to pull out all the stops."

Patterson Mill tried to pull a similar fast one against Bel Air on Oct. 6, but the Bobcats caught it with a timeout before the ball was snapped.

With it being senior night, Patterson Mill's public address announcer read off a list of each senior's accomplishments and resume from their Huskies tenure.

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Varsity Highlights

Manning is a two-year variety starter with aspirations to play football at the college level. His favorite high school memory before Thursday night was a playoff win against Pikesville a year ago. He'll add a conference championship banner to that list.

Manning said they "wanted that [banner] more than anything."

Defensive prowess

Patterson Mill's defense additionally played a crucial role in the win.

After the Cougars offense sliced through that group like they were tinfoil, capping off a touchdown drive on the opening possession, the Huskies were able to make a few crucial plays on defense.

First was an interception in the end zone that kept Fallston at bay, holding the deficit at 7-0. Then it was a goal-line stand, as the Huskies blocked Fallston's field goal attempt to keep it 22-21. And the final Cougars possession gave them a chance to win it, needing to go 65 yards in 1:35. Instead, Patterson Mill forced four straight incompletions with a game-saving swat from Jeff Gessner closing it out.

"Defense all year has held us up," Huryk said. "Giving up 28 points, people don't think that's [great]. Fallston's a really good offensive team. We say go in and make plays. They're allowed to be good, too. When it comes down to it, you just never know when your time is coming. They stayed ready."