Milford Athletics

For the first time in 701 days, the Milford Eagles felt the sting of a regular season loss as Winton Woods stingy defense wreaked havoc in a 22-3 Warrior triumph during week three of the 2024 season. Milford had chances, running 18 plays in the redzone, including 14 inside the 10, but settled for only a fourth quarter Mason Cooper field goal in seeing its regular season win streak snapped at 14 in a row.

After being held to just 57 yards of total offense in the first half, the Milford offense started to move the ball in the second half, none more so than on a 19-play, 71-yard drive that chewed nearly seven minutes off the third quarter clock. The Eagles made it to the one-yard line but two negative rushes and a pair of incomplete passes left nothing to show when Milford desperately needed it, trailing 22-0 at the time.

Milford senior QB Luke Brand was held to just 78 yards on 14 of 31 passes, but did add 28 net yards on the ground. Jordan Davis was held to just 42 rushing, while Jensen Davis led the receivers with 26 yards on three catches. Christian Felix totaled 11 tackles on defense.

The first quarter could easily be labeled as choppy with Winton Woods fumbling on just its fifth offense snap, but the Eagles promptly returning the turnover on a first play interception. The Warriors capitalized on that miscue with a drive that culminated in six-yard TD pass from Bryshawn Brown to Jack Oliver.

Trailing just 7-0 after the first quarter, a sack of Brand by Alabama-bound Justin Hill and a punt of just six yards set Winton Woods up on offense near midfield. A short TD run and two-point rush by Brown on the ensuing drive would be all the scoring for the remainder of the half as the hosts took a 15-0 lead into the break.

Another sack by Hill on Milford’s first third quarter possession, this time on fourth down, set the stage for a two-yard TD plunge by Isaiah Garrett. Garrett’s TD was set up by a 43-yard strike from Brown to Jon’ir Travis into the Eagle redzone.

The aforementioned seven-minute Eagle drive took up nearly all the rest of the quarter, but proved fruitless as Winton Woods led 22-0 with just 12 minutes to play.

Two special teams miscues nearly hurt the Warriors in the fourth quarter, but the defense was able to rise up to overcome the mistakes and hold Milford to just three points. First, a negative three-yard punt handed Milford the ball at the Warrior 19. However, incomplete passes on third and fourth down from the six-yard line were the result.

Winton Woods tried a fake punt from its own 13 as its next drive stalled out but Evan Bradshaw and Jake Dixon sniffed it out for a nine-yard loss. Three straight negative plays, including a fumble/sack pushed the Eagles back as they were forced to settle for Cooper’s 31-yard field goal and its only points of the night.

The Eagles will look to get back into the column when they host Homecoming against rival Loveland next Friday night.