With Homecoming festivities dwindling down, Hurricane Matthew was on the rise, but the storm held off long enough for the Trojans to play their Homecoming football game against the Manchester Lancers on October 9th. Once the Homecoming parade commenced and the elaborate floats made their way off the track, the Marching Trojan Band wowed the crowd with their competition piece before the Midlothian High School Football team took to the field with optimism and enthusiasm, as they braved one of their toughest competitors yet. Ranked number two, the Manchester Lancers came to Poates stadium expecting an easy win; however, the Trojans gave them a run for their money.

Early in the 1st quarter, senior player Jermani Brown intercepted a pass from Manchester’s offense. After breaking away from Manchester’s offensive line, he made a 55 yard run down the field, resulting in the first touchdown of the game. The Trojans made an attempt at a 2-point conversion, which ultimately failed, and Manchester regained the ball. Midlo didn’t keep their 6 point lead for long; The Lancers scored a touchdown and made a field goal, leading the Trojans by 1 point. Midlo then turned the ball over, and quarterback Kyle Daniluk shot the ball straight to junior runningback Kyle Webb, who ran in for another Trojan touchdown. Midlo led Manchester 13-7 until the halfway mark of the 1st quarter, when the Lancers ran the ball in for another touchdown. With only 2 minutes left in the quarter, Jermani Brown made a PICK 6, intercepted a pass from Manchester’s quarterback, and sprinted down the field for his second touchdown of the game. Manchester found a way to match Midlo’s lead, and at the end of the 1st, the Lancers led the Trojans 21-20.

At the start of the second quarter, the “kid-on-fire” Jermani Brown began showing concussion symptoms and was forced to sit out for the remainder of the game. Manchester’s quarterback threw a long pass down the field to his wide receiver, who made a catch in the end zone, increasing their lead by seven points. Without the dominating presence of Brown, Manchester made another touchdown and lengthened the gap 34-20. Starting quarterback Kyle Daniluk then took a major hit and was taken out of the game. Second string quarterback Ivan Jackson took over for Daniluk. Jackson states, “It was a big blow to the team seeing Kyle go down, but it’s situations like these that we prepare for, and we were ready to move forward.” As the 2nd quarter came to a close, the team hoped that they could come out in the 2nd half with more intensity.

At halftime, freshmen, sophomore, junior, and senior princesses were escorted by family members onto the field. The crowd waited patiently, as senior princesses Lana Figg, Kyelin Thrift, Bryanna Jean-Louis, and Mishaal Gilani stepped onto the field and prepared for the crowning of the Homecoming Queen. 2015 Homecoming Queen Peyton Stites crowned Bryanna Jean-Louis the new Midlothian High School Homecoming Queen. After the band’s performance, the football team emerged from the locker room and took to the field for their halftime stretches, and the 3rd quarter was underway.

Manchester came out swinging and immediately scored two more touchdowns, leading Midlo 47-20. The Trojans dug their heels in the field, refusing to give up and held their ground for the remainder of the quarter. Early in the 4th, Manchester ran in the ball for another touchdown, but shortly after, Midlo made an amazing play.  After trying to progress the ball forward, junior Kyle Webb took matters into his own hands and ran in the ball for another Trojans touchdown. With two touchdowns each in one game, Webb and Brown came out as top scorers of the week for the Trojans. After a hard-fought battle on both sides of the ball, the Trojans fell to the Lancers 54-26. A great display of effort and determination by the entire team led to immense amounts of praise by all of Midlo’s dedicated fans.