SETTING THE SCENE: Following a heartbreaking, last second setback to Hamilton in the season’s opening contest, the Milford High School football team will head out on the road this Friday (Sept. 2) when they travel to Northern Kentucky to meet Dixie Heights. A field goal with five seconds remaining sent the Eagles to a 17-14 defeat last week, but they will look to turn it around as they battle the Colonels from Dixie for the second straight year.
A LOOK BACK: Aug. 26-27 vs. Hamilton: If responding to adversity in a positive manner is what the 2016 Milford High School football team will be all about then this could be a season Eagles’ fans will be proud of. Despite the deck being stacked against a team that lost nearly 30 seniors from last years roster, key injuries on both side of the ball and a stoppage in play of over 12 hours because of lightning, the Eagles still nearly pulled out a Week 1 victory as they came up just short by a 17-14 score to Hamilton in a Skyline Chili Crosstown Showdown game that wrapped up early Saturday afternoon.
When action halted at the 2:15 mark of the second quarter on Friday evening with lightning all over the night sky, Milford trailed by a 14-7 score. After play resumed on Saturday morning the Eagles found themselves under the leadership of their third quarterback of the year as senior do-it-all man Chase Witte had replaced the injured Blake King. King made his first varsity start on Friday in place of the also injured Tyler Smith and accounted very well for himself before being forced to depart. Making his first ever varsity appearance under center, Witte nearly led the Eagles to a win, but a last second Hail Mary act by the Big Blue propelled the visitors to the win.
With under a minute to play, Hamilton forced a Milford punt and took over at its own 22-yard line with just 39 ticks to go. After collecting one first down and then tossing two incompletions, Hamilton quarterback Eric Jackson unloaded a 59-yard bomb to big play wideout Vince Sanford that set up Trace Sword’s game-winning 22-yard field goal with just five seconds remaining. Click here to continue reading this recap.
Click here for the final Milford-Hamilton game stats.
A LOOK AT THE OPPONENT: A look at Dixie Heights, Milford’s 2016 Week 2 opponent:
- Friday, Sept. 2 at Dixie Heights, 7:00 p.m.
- 2016 Record: 1-0 (8th Northern Kentucky area coaches’ weekly poll)
- Top Offensive Player: Senior RB Jose Torres (221 total yards, 4 TDs)
- Top Defensive Player: N/A
- Last Meeting: 2015; Milford 42, Dixie Heights 28
- Capsule look at the Colonels: The two schools will meet in Week 2 for the second consecutive season, with the Eagles picking up a thunderstorm-delayed victory last fall. Dixie opened the 2016 campaign with a convincing 34-7 over Scott.
THE MATCH-UP: A look at the Milford-Hamilton match-up by the numbers (per game averages with conference team rankings):
- Milford scoring offense (3rd-14.0) vs. Dixie Heights scoring defense (N/A)
- Milford total offense (4th-211.0) vs. Dixie Heights total defense (N/A)
- Milford rushing offense (3rd-127.0) vs. Dixie Heights rushing defense (N/A)
- Milford passing offense (3rd-84.0) vs. Dixie Heights passing defense (N/A)
- Dixie Heights scoring offense (N/A) vs. Milford scoring defense (3rd-17.0)
- Dixie Heights total offense (N/A) vs. Milford total defense (3rd-210.0)
- Dixie Heights rushing offense (N/A) vs. Milford rushing defense (3rd-158.0)
- Dixie Heights passing offense (N/A) vs. Milford passing defense (3rd-210.0)
INSIDE THE ECC: The ECC got its collective 2016 season off on a strong note with four of the league’s eight squads picking up Week 1 victories. Two members with new head coaches, Anderson and Walnut Hills, were among the winners with last year’s co-champions, Kings and Turpin also scoring W’s.
The Week 2 ECC schedule includes: Milford at Dixie Heights, Glen Este at Winton Woods, Kings at Xenia, Ross at Walnut Hills, Mason at Withrow, Loveland at Lebanon and Turpin at Clinton Massie.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS: A look at Milford’s statistical leaders:
Rushing Yards: Blake King (57)
Passing Yards: Chase Witte (71)
Receiving Yards: Max Brewer (51)
Tackles: Evan Baugh (12)
Sacks: Bryce Dugan/Eric Richey (0.5)
Interceptions: None
Kickoff Return Yards: Chase Witte (49)
Punting Average: Chase Witte (42.8)
Punt Return Yards: Evan Baugh (44)
POLL WATCH: The Eagles received a single vote in this week’s weekly Division I area coaches’ poll and released on Aug. 29. Colerain’s big Week 1 victory gave the Cardinals the unanimous No. 1 position with all five first place votes. The remainder of the top-five is made up of Moeller, Fairfield, Mason and Elder. The Division II rankings where the balance of the Eastern Cincinnati Conference members reside is headed by Kings in second with one of the six first place votes cast. The balance of the ECC teams ranked includes Turpin (3rd), Loveland (T-5th), Anderson (9th), Walnut Hills (10th), with Glen Este and Withrow both receiving votes. The coaches’ poll is released every Monday at Noon at preps.cincinnati.com/coachespolls.
ON THE TUBE: Local cable access channel ICRC-TV will broadcast a pair of Milford home contests involving this fall for tape-delayed replay. The first of the two scheduled games is against Norwood on Sept. 9, with cameras returning for the Oct. 21 match-up vs. Anderson.
TICKET TALK: Once again this season, pre-sale tickets for all ages are available for all home and ECC away games only in the Milford High School Athletic Office for a cost of $5. Please note tickets for all ages at the gate are priced at $7 each. Come out and support the Eagles and save by purchasing your tickets in advance!