Though the Manchester West football team broke through in Division I last year – defeating perennial powerhouse Manchester Central twice, including a 13-0 Thanksgiving stuffing – the Little Green bounced back this season to once again stick a fork in their Westside rivals.

West, which finished at 6-5, was without senior tailback Patrick Anderson for the Turkey Bowl because of a high ankle sprain. But its Achilles’ heal proved to be on the other side of the ball as it gave up 279 yards and two touchdowns to Central junior Mike LeClerc in a 31-14 loss at Gill Stadium on Nov. 23.

The two squads entered their first contest of the season on Oct. 2 with identical 5-2 records, but a 13-7 Central overtime win sent the teams in opposite directions.

The Little Green beat Salem the next week to secure the No. 2 seed in the playoffs, while West lost to Salem in its final game to miss the postseason.

Although West coach Travis Cote thought his defensive line held its own in the annual holiday showdown, he said LeClerc was able to find the creases and break through.

“We weren’t wrapping up, we would make the initial hit and then (LeClerc) would just bounce off,” Cote said. “He runs hard, so you can’t expect to just throw a shoulder on him and expect him to go down.”

Andre Garron of Bedford caught a pass on the second play of the game and turned it into 70- yard touchdown scamper. But the Little Green marched down the field on the ensuing possession, capping an 85-yard drive with a 16-yard touchdown reception by senior Pat McHugh.

Central never looked back.

“That was our game plan. We were going to try to hit one early and get on the board and we did that on the second play of the game,” said Cote. “Then we kind of died down a little and couldn’t get much going after that.”

Central coach Ryan Ray said his team was “able to minimize (Garron’s) big catches” following the first drive, but the receiver still finished with 127 yards on four catches. Afterward, he had a hard time putting the game into words.

“I thought we had it at the beginning and then I don’t know what happened,” said Garron.

“The secondary was making too many tackles, so I don’t know what was going on.”

West managed to get close in the third quarter after a Steve Gibson rushing touchdown made it 21-14, but Central pulled away in the fourth quarter with another touchdown and a field goal to secure the victory.

“We played hard, we worked hard and we had another playoff run again this year,” said Cote.

“That’s all you can really ask for, is to be in it at the end of the season and have the opportunity to play a meaningful game at the end.”