Friday Night Football Recap 9/2

Photos courtesy of Carter Pendelum

The Tigers played their third game of the season on Friday, visiting Milford for the battle of Miami Township and the Miami Township Victory Bell.

Milford got out to a hot start, recovering a muffed Loveland kickoff on the first play of the game, and then capitalizing on that opportunity with a rushing touchdown from former Tiger Natwan Webster. Just a minute later, Milford recovered another Loveland fumble and punched it from 33 yards out as Austin Hardin found Ashton Warther, who broke two tackles and turned on the jets as he extended the Milford lead to 14-0.

Two minutes after that, Milford got the ball back on a turnover on downs within the Tiger 10-yard line. Hardin found Webster again off a slip screen from 13 yards away, as Milford went up 21-0 only 5 minutes in. The Eagles started about as hot as a team could start, and continued to dominate the game. Webster punched one in from 8 yards out to give him his third touchdown of the game and Hardin found Cam Livingston to increase Milford’s lead to 34 as the intermission commenced.

But Loveland didn’t just give up, as 2 straight touchdowns from Colton Endicott (11) cut the lead nearly in half. Endicott played an incredible game, accounting for just under 200 yards and 2 touchdowns, and after his second touchdown, the score was 34-14 Eagles. But Milford made sure that the Tigers couldn’t get back into the game. First, Webster walked into the end zone to give him his fourth end zone appearance of the night, and then Austin Hardin found Reece Davis on a 48 yard dime to make the score 47-14. On the last play of the game, Jake Svitotich (12) found Will Bradley (12) on a hail mary pass to end the game at 47-21.

Milford was able to keep their undefeated season rolling, improving to 3-0, their best start since 2008. The Eagles accomplished this behind another fantastic performance by quarterback Austin Hardin, as he threw for 290 yards and 4 touchdowns. The defense also stepped up big time, holding Loveland to only 120 passing yards, and flying around the field making plays, led by Nick Scally, Jacob Smith, and Bryce Burelson.

The Tigers again showed signs of life as Endicott broke off a couple of big runs and showed his ability to shed tackles in space. Svitotvich made a couple of plays with his feet and arm, and the defense showed signs of life. But, ultimately, the Tigers weren’t able to get it done.

The Tigers now have this week to prepare for a heated rivalry across the 513 as they will head to the Castle on September 9th to take on the Kings Knights. Kings has possibly the Offensive Player of the Year in the ECC with Will Kocher, a fantastic receiver in Michael Mussari, and a stout, aggressive defense.

The Tigers will need to play some good football this coming Friday and get their offense going early if they hope to upset the 5th-ranked Knights on the road in a tough match-up. Kings also boasts an undefeated record and if the Tigers want to get to their goal of November football, this is an incredibly important game.