> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.richmonder.org/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Sophomore QB finds a groove in Manchester's season-opening win - URL: https://www.richmonder.org/sophomore-qb-finds-a-groove-in-manchesters-season-opening-win/ - Published: 2026-08-28T09:38:40.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-28T09:38:40.000Z - Description: The Lancers continued a recent tradition of success at the position. - Author: Weldon Bradshaw - Tags: Sports, #the-bridge Absolutely, there were nerves. After all, Jacory Moore-Carr is just a sophomore, virtually untested in live-game varsity action, who through diligence and athleticism had earned the opportunity to start at quarterback for the Manchester Lancers in their season opener Thursday at Monacan. A transfer from Thomas Dale, he’d had to learn Coach Jason Harrell’s system quickly, and if that weren’t enough, he was succeeding four-year starter Landen Abernethy, who took his talents to Old Dominion University. Was he unduly fazed, though? Hardly. “Big shoes to fill,” he said, “but I had to lead my team as a young quarterback and do what we had to do.” What Moore-Carr and Co. did on this warm, hazy, breezeless evening was avail themselves of three turnovers, amass 312 total yards (162 rushing and 150 passing), and defeat the gritty Chiefs 36-0. “We’re replacing a lot of guys, and these guys were itching to play,” Harrell said. “We’ve got to see what they can do. We made some mistakes, but we’ll them clean up. We’re just trying to get better each week.” Locked in and ready to rock from the opening kickoff, the Lancers scored twice in the first quarter and twice in the second, taking a 29-0 lead into the locker room. Their first score came five plays after Antwann Paige recovered a fumble on the Monacan 35, when Dior Barnes sprinted into the end zone untouched from four yards out. Moore-Carr, who’s 6-foot-1, 185, put his guys up 8-0 when he added the points-after on a deftly executed muddle-huddle play. After the Lancers’ Cam Chalkley-led defense stopped Monacan three-and-out, Moore-Carr engineered a quick drive that ended with Barnes’ 41-yard run in which he started left, cut back, then tightroped his way down the visitors’ sideline into the end zone. “O-line did great today,” Moore-Carr said. “The run game was really working. They (the Chiefs’ defense) were walking ‘em all down in the box, which made it easy for us to run the ball.” Sophomore place kicker Owen Jones delivered the extra point that put the Lancers up 15-0 at 4:22 of the first quarter. While the Lancers’ first two scores ended short drives, their third, a 26-yard run by Sinclair Turner, concluded a five-play, 84-yard drive highlighted by Tristan Bowers’ diving catch of a Moore-Carr laser that covered 36 yards. Preston Hewitt’s successful conversion put Manchester ahead 23-0 at 8:40 of the second quarter. “A sophomore quarterback…we needed to see what he could do,” Harrell said. “We put a couple of plays out there to see what he could do if we got into a bind.” Such as a third-and-21 from the Monacan 42 on the visitors’ ensuing series. Not to worry, though. The Lancers had a plan. Seems they always have a plan and the confidence to execute it. As the Chiefs’ undersized but relentless defenders did their best to wrest control, Moore-Carr delivered a screen pass to Barnes just across the line of scrimmage on the left side, and the 5-foot-10, 170-pound senior outraced the pursuit into the end zone for his third touchdown of the game. “It was a running back middle screen,” Moore-Carr said. “We’ve been working on that in practice. We’ve tried to perfect it. We trusted our guys to make a play. That’s what they did.” The Lancers’ final touchdown came in the third quarter when Paige ended a 10-play, 76-yard dive with a diving catch of a Moore-Carr spiral in the end zone despite tight coverage. Jones then drilled the extra point. Moore-Carr completed 4-of-10 passes for 136 yards. Barnes rushed 10 times for 74 yards. “They ran a 4-2-5 (defensive alignment),” Barnes said. “They put two (line)backers in the box. When they gave us the look we wanted, we made them pay.” Manchester (1-0) allowed Monacan (0-1) just 94 yards of offense, all on the ground. The Chiefs’ lone threat came in the fourth quarter when they reached the Lancers’ 12, but Manchester's defense stood steady, forced losses on consecutive plays, and regained possession when 5-foot-10, 310-pound senior tackle Shawmon Clark emerged from a scrum with a fumble, the visitors’ third takeaway. “They ran a completely different offensive formation than what we saw in their scrimmages,” said Chalkley, a 6-foot-3, 240-pound senior defensive end. “When they came out in a Wing-T formation, it was a surprise to us all. “A good team has to adjust on the fly. Things like that are going to happen, and the defense did a good job of adjusting. “Defense was definitely fired up. Going into the game, we expect to allow zero points. We had to execute. We had to really buckle down.”