Kansas Pregame 8-Man Top 8: Lane McMannis

Kansas Pregame polled 8-Man coaches earlier this month who voted for the top four seniors they coached against this season. Kansas Pregame staffers then used those votes to develop a Top 8 list of seniors for each division. Check out another Top 8 capsule below, and find the complete list of Top 8 selections, and the honorable mention list, here for 8-Man I and here for 8-Man II.

Canton-Galva has become a bit of a hotbed for some of the best playmakers in 8-Man during the Shelby Hoppes era.

Names like Tyson Struber, Garrett Matlbie, Jett Vincent, Cason Mastre, Brayden Collins, and Landon Everett are just a few of the standout players for the Eagles over the past half-decade, and now the most recent addition to that list of gamebreakers is senior Lane McMannis, who does just about everything on the field.

“Lane was our leading rusher, led us in touchdowns, played quarterback, running back, wide receiver, tight end, led us in tackles on defense, and was our primary kick returner,” Hoppes said. “He did it all for us and did it all very well. He was a huge part of the success we had this year as a team.”

Before his huge senior season, McMannis first saw the varsity field consistently during his sophomore year as a defensive back, where he immediately made a big impact with 55.5 tackles, 3.5 tackles-for-loss, and an interception.

The Eagles were one of the best teams in the state with Maltbie and Struber leading an explosive offense, but McMannis and the defensive unit were no slouches, allowing just over 11 points per game in their nine wins that season.

The team finished 9-2 after advancing to the state semifinals, but were unable to get past Little River’s explosive offense in a 76-68 barnburner that ended their season.

Entering his junior season, McMannis began seeing more touches on the offensive side of the ball despite a loaded stable of skill position players that included Wheatland-Grinnell transfer Jett Vincent. While carrying the ball, the junior had a similar approach to his play on defense.

“Lane has the ability to play bigger and faster than what he is when he gets on the football field because he has a motor that never quits,” Hoppes said. “He plays the game the correct way, which is all out all the time.”

Offensively, out of the backfield, McMannis carried the ball 42 times for 373 yards and six TDs, along with eight receptions for 152 yards and three scores.

Defensively he remained consistent, recording 53.5 tackles, 3.5 tackles-for-loss, four interceptions, and scored a defensive TD.

Prior to the season, Canton-Galva dropped from 8-Man I to 8-Man II, and the Eagles proceeded to put together one of their best seasons in program history, finishing as sub-state runner-up and going 11-1 with their closest game prior to their semifinal loss a 30-point win in the season opener over Little River – their next closest margin of victory was 46.

The Eagles couldn’t defeat a historically good Axtell team in the semifinals, but fought them tooth and nail before losing 36-32. Axtell’s next closest margin of victory was an 82-38 win over Cair Paravel in the season opener. With the Axtell’s 76-28 victory over Thunder Ridge in the 8-Man II championship most people believe Canton-Galva was the second best team in DII in 2022 and remains one of just three teams to stay within 16 points of Axtell during their current 39-game winning streak.

Entering his senior year last fall, Canton-Galva was gutted by graduation, making McMannis a more important piece of the team than ever, and his hard work paved the way for a big payoff.

It’s only fitting that the most common place to find McMannis when not on a field or in the weight room, is working on competing in one of the few sports as physically demanding as football. 

“Lane exemplifies the culture of this program with everything he does,” McMannis said. “He is one of the hardest working young men I’ve had come through this program. Never missed weights, never missed practice or school. He wakes up at 6:00 a.m. on Saturday morning after a Friday night game to go work on the farm or go compete at a rodeo. He is the type of player and the type of young man that any coach would want as part of their program.”

Despite losing a couple of the most productive players in program history, McMannis and the Eagles still only lost one regular season game in the season opener against Little River, 42-40, and finished the season 8-2 after a loss to Frankfort (who finished 9-3 with two of their losses to 8-Man II champs Axtell, and the other to 8-Man I champs Lyndon).

The heart at the center of the team was McMannis, who recorded 90 tackles, two sacks, and two interceptions defensively, along with 120 rushing attempts for 1,470 yards and 28 TDs, 16 receptions and 186 yards with six TDs, and returned 22 kicks for 502 yards and five more scores.

Despite the big season, McMannis continued his grind until the very end.

“Lane’s development never stopped throughout his career,” Hoppes said. “He is one of those kids that always wanted to get better and would work as hard as he could to get better. He has carried the ball over 200 times in his high school career and our last week of practice he was still working running back mesh, paths, and targets because he wanted to get better and be the best that he could be.”

McMannis was named first team All-League at both running back and linebacker, as well as first team All-State at running back and All-State honorable mention as a return man.

After he finishes high school, McMannis plans to attend Pratt Community College to compete in rodeo.