Manchester High School backup quarterback Nate Bossory was told by coach Wes Gall that he might see some snaps Thursday against Clinton in the opener of the Big Day Prep Showdown.

After Flying Dutchmen starter Josh Blades struggled to a 1-for-7 start, Bossory got the call. He stayed there. And he thrived.

The sophomore threw for 253 yards and four touchdowns on 10 of 14 passing, leading Manchester to a 38-23 win over Clinton at Eastern Michigan University's Rynearson Stadium.

More coverage at MLive.com: Game Stats

"I didn't expect this at all," admitted Bossory. "I was shaking ... But after that first possession, it was good.

"(Coach Gall) gave me a short pass to throw right away -- I think that helped," added Bossory, who completed a six-yard pass to Blades, who shifted to wideout, on his first snap.

From there, Bossory was locked in with his receiving corp. Especially Devin Jose.

That connection was christened after Clinton took a 7-3 lead late in the second quarter. Motivated to respond quickly, Bossory pulled Jose aside before the offense huddled.

"I told him, ‘Hey, we're going to go down there and I'm going to throw you a touchdown right now'," said Bossory.

The confident quarterback made good on his promise, feathering a 60-yard touchdown pass to Jose with 2 minutes, 49 seconds on the clock. Manchester took the 10-7 lead into halftime.

Needless to say, coach Gall was pleased with Bossory's first-half output.

"Nate's a hard worker," noted Gall. "He's very aggressive out there. No sophomore mistakes tonight that I saw from the sideline. I have to take my hat off to him. He did a real nice job."

In the third quarter, Bossory picked up where he left off. Midway through the frame, the Flying Dutchmen methodically marched down the field until Bossory connected with Blades for a 20-yard touchdown.

Less than two minutes later, following a Clinton punt, Bossory and Jose hooked up for a 71-yard touchdown.

"We were talking about what patterns to run and what was open," explained Jose. "I told (Bossory) to give me the ball early. I just took off."

Clinton responded with 2:07 left in the third when Hayden Craig hit Casey Wert on a nine-yard touchdown pass, cutting the count to 24-14 heading into the fourth.

But less than two minutes into the quarter, Bossory chalked up his fourth touchdown of the day with a 23-yard strike to Brandon Casey to extend the gap to 31-14.

Casey turned around and provided the show-stopper in the game's final minutes.

Clinton had just scored a field goal and, on third-and-goal on its next drive, was poised to make it a one-possession game. That is until Casey picked off a Clinton pass -- his second interception of the night and the team's third -- on the one-yard line and galloped to pay dirt for a 99-yard touchdown.

"In the first game, usually the timing (with defensive backs) is not there," said Gall. "I thought they really had the timing and broke to the ball well. I was very happy with all of what the defense did."

Clinton rounded out its scoring with a 22-yard field goal from Derek Burmis at 6:10 and 14-yard touchdown pass from Craig to Nate Dreslinski as time expired.

Craig was named Clinton's Player of the Game. He finished 24-for-47 with 278 yards, two interceptions and three touchdowns.

Manchester's Player of the Game was Jose, who finished with 160 yards on three catches.

"It felt good; the crowd cheering and stuff," said Jose. "It just felt great. It's a great start. I can't wait till the next game already."

Kaleb Roedel is a sportswriter for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at (734)623-2562 and e-mailed at kalebroedel@annarbor.com. Follow him on Twitter @Kaleb_R.