MANHATTAN — Manhattan’s efficient offense propelled the Tigers to a three-touchdown lead, and they went on to beat rival Three Forks 28-7 in the Class B championship football game on Saturday by dominating the line of scrimmage.
The Tigers finished the season 12-0 and claimed their second title since 2020 in their third consecutive championship appearance.
Three Forks was playing in its first championship game in program history and trying to avenge a 28-20 September loss to the Tigers, but Manhattan was simply too solid, especially up front.
Operating out of the shotgun and mostly with an empty backfield, quarterback Tyson Pavlik and the Tigers methodically pushed the ball down the field, challenging the Wolves to stop their running game, particularly in the second half.
The Wolves couldn’t do it. Already leading 21-7 at halftime, Manhattan ran 31 offensive plays in the second half and ate up more than 18 of the half's 24 minutes. Of those 31 plays, 22 were simply the 6-foot-3, 210-pound Pavlik taking the snap and and trying to find room between the tackles.
Manhattan’s final touchdown, which came with 6:56 left in the third quarter, used 11 plays to cover just 37 yards and nearly 6½ minutes before lineman Brady Toner took a direct snap and charged in from two yards out for the 28-7 lead.
If the second half was simply ground-and-pound for the Tigers, they used the big play in the first half to help them gain a 21-0 lead.
Taking advantage of a Matt Fenno interception that thwarted what was looking to be a promising game-opening drive by Three Forks, Pavlik found Fenno for a 29-yard touchdown pass on fourth down.
After forcing a three-and-out on the Wolves’ following drive, Manhattan receiver Brayden Zikmund out-fought a Three Forks defender on a jump-ball from Pavlik for a 25-yard Tigers’ score and a 14-0 lead.
Manhattan then made it 21-0 on a 1-yard Pavlik plunge to culminate a 72-yard drive. Easton DeHaan had a 35-yard catch-and-run and Zikmund caught a 17-yard pass along the right sideline to help keep the drive going.
Three Forks put some good drives together, but had trouble finishing them off. The Wolves found the end zone by implementing a hurry-up offense toward the end of the first half with quarter Kanon Reichman hitting some big connections, including the 23-yard scoring strike to Gavin Etchison after Etchison caught the pass in traffic and shook off one defender near the goal line.
That was just before half, to close the Wolves within 21-7 at the break.
But the Tigers mauled the Wolves in the second half and never let Three Forks back into the game.
