DANIEL ISLAND - Manning let a late lead slip away Friday against Region 7-AAA rival Bishop England, falling 45-36 in gut-wrenching fashion.
Ahead 436-32 with 45 seconds to play, the Monarchs (6-3, 0-3) gave up a touchdown pass by the Bishops' Leo Albano, who's desperate 44-yard heave barely made it over the fingertips of a leaping Manning defender, and into the hands of Will Bastian for the game-winning score.
The Bishops (6-2, 3-0) forced a fumble on Manning’s ensuing drive, and Daniel Hollister recovered the ball in the end zone to account for the final score.
The loss came after a wild back-and-forth match-up, which saw Manning score on three consecutive drives to take a 28-13 lead over the Bishops in the third quarter. Bishop England led 13-7 at halftime.
Albano ran for three touchdowns, and threw for two more to lead the Bishops.
Jack Owens ran for a touchdown and threw another to David Fulton to lead Manning. Dejaun Wilson, Darias Williams and Cam'ron Cain had touchdown runs for the Monarchs.
Manning player Brandon Burgess reportedly suffered a neck injury in the game, and was taken by Berkeley County EMS to a local hospital. The game was stopped more than 20 minutes waiting for EMS to arrive and move Burgess into an ambulance. Manning coaches reported Friday Burgess was expected to be OK, and was taken to the hospital as a precaution.
