OTTUMWA — The last time Cameron Manary stepped on Tom Kopatich Field for an Ottumwa football game, he spent the night running up and down the turf against Des Moines East.
When the night was over, Manary had rushed for 378 yards on 39 carries and scored five touchdowns. One week later, Manary clinched a 1,000-yard junior season by rushing for 231 more yards on 35 more carries in a 21-19 win over Waterloo West to close out Ottumwa's 2023 football season.
Several months may have passed, but it appears nothing has changed when it comes to the potent rushing attack of the Bulldogs. Manary again rushed for over 300 yards for the second straight time at Schafer Stadium on Friday, gaining 325 yards on 32 carries while putting together another five-touchdown performance as Ottumwa kicked off the 2024 season gaining 470 yards as a team on the ground in a 47-26 win over Keokuk, avenging a 23-8 rain-shortened loss to the Chiefs in last year's season opener.
"The first thing I want to say is that I take my hat off to my offensive line," Manary said. "Without them, I have no success. They make me go. I can't do anything without them. Over the summer, we put in a lot of work. I don't see us taking any steps back going into this season. We're only taking steps forward."
The Bulldogs were certainly taking plenty of steps forward in the opening quarter of the season. Manary gained 125 yards on 11 carries alone in the first 12 minutes of the game.
Actually, it was in the first 11 minutes and 38 seconds. Manary scored his second touchdown run of the first quarter with 22 seconds left, dashing in from 21 yards out as Ottumwa gained 176 yards on 16 carries as a team on the first three drives of the game, all scores, to build a 16-6 lead over Keokuk heading into the second quarter.
"We took advantage of some of the alignments up front and some of the mismatches at the line of scrimmage," Ottumwa head football coach Phil Lite said. "The offensive and defensive lines were the differences in the game. Our special teams were also huge. I'm tickled to death about that. We've got some young guys on special teams that are out there to give some of our more experienced players a break. That was another big key for us.
"Joel Hallgren came up big with a field goal at the end of that first drive to put us up. That was huge for our momentum. It's been a long week for these kids, getting up early for practice before going to school. It's been tough, but these kids did a phenomenal job."
Even players that were struggling with the physicality of the season's first game found a way to step up. Koby Chantalavanh shook off cramps that were visibly impacting the Ottumwa senior and a fumble that set up a Brenton Hoard's third touchdown pass of the first half, answering back three plays later by dashing through the defense of the Chiefs on a 65-yard touchdown run with 33.2 seconds left in the second quarter giving Ottumwa a 28-18 lead.
"The cramping really started right before that run. I just had to do what I had to do and run through the cramps," Chantalavanh said after rushing for 113 yards on nine carries including the long touchdown run. "We actually found out there can platoon people and use players in different positions. That's going to be a huge help going forward for us to give people a break and keep people rested throughout the game."
Ottumwa was able to build a 34-18 halftime lead as Matthew Mitchell scored on a one-yard quarterback keeper with 5.4 seconds left just three plays after a Caden Lockwood interception return set up Ottumwa at the Keokuk 13-yard-line. The Chiefs got within 34-26 early in the season half as Hoard dashed in for a touchdown after throwing three scoring passes in the first half, accounting for 293 of Keokuk's 302 total yards.
"He's a phenomenal talent and he's got a lot of talented receivers to throw to," Lite said of Hoard. "We tried to make them one-dimensional by keeping them from running the ball. We decided we were going to pin our ears back and get after him a little bit.
"You've got to keep Superman in the phone booth, but he was able to get out and make some play."
Some, but not enough. Ottumwa stopped Keokuk inside the 20-yard-line following a turnover to keep the Chiefs from potentially tying the game with another touchdown and two-point conversion. After forcing Keokuk (0-1) to punt following a fourth turnover later in the quarter, Ottumwa finally put the game away by feeding Manary who carried the ball just five times for 29 yards in the third quarter.
In the fourth, Manary's number was called 10 times to handle the football. The Ottumwa senior gained 98 yards on those 10 carries, eating up the clock at the same time before putting the game out of reach with a pair of touchdown runs including a clinching 18-yard gain that saw Manary shed several Keokuk defenders on the way to the end zone with two minutes left.
"Players are going to make plays. We're always going to give the ball to Cam Manary," Lite said. "To see this group of seniors mature the way they have over the past four years and how much they've grown both physically and mentally has really made my job easy."
Ottumwa (1-0) is back on the field on Thursday night at Mediacom Stadium, taking on Des Moines Roosevelt. Kick off is set for 7 p.m.
