Friday night, Milford traveled up to Bear to face off against Red Lion Christian Academy, a school that was celebrating homecoming. In a game that was delayed over an hour by lightning, Milford started flat and remained that way for most of the game. While field and weather conditions played a part in it, Milford looks to be a team searching for answers. Perhaps the most alarming item on that list was the uneven performance of what had been a solid defense through the previous five games. While they were good at times, they were simply not themselves during the game.
“We were not at our best on either side of the ball. There were some tackles that we missed and some mistakes in coverage, so I don’t believe that they played as bad as the score indicated, these items can be corrected, and I know our guys are up for it.” Coach Milstead stated.
With the game starting at 8:40 at night, what had been a long day for Milford did not start well on the opening drive. Being forced to punt on their opening drive, Red Lion blocked the Milford punt and recovered it at the Milford five-yard line. It would take the Lions just two plays to score as senior running back Jordon Jones would score the first of his four touchdowns on the evening on Red Lion’s second offensive play from scrimmage; a missed extra point gave them a 6-0 lead.
For the rest of the first half, Milford had a difficult time moving the ball on offense, as Red Lion keyed on running back Andrew Sivels. Milford was consistently behind the chains for most of the game and once again key penalties and miscues combined to keep Milford from generating some consistent offense. Part of the problem is Milford has a pair of young quarterbacks in Zachary Ruckle and Romontae Jones who have been inconsistent so far.
“We have a pair of quarterbacks that are learning as they go. I would have hoped by this point one of them would have stepped up and taken control of the offense, it just hasn’t happened yet. They are working hard and they continue to get a better, they just haven’t gotten to the point we want them to be at.” Milstead said.
As the first half continued Red Lion continued to maintain control of the game as Milford continued to have difficulty with the conditions, especially in the punting game with a pair of errant snaps. While it didn’t doom the Buccaneers, it didn’t help them either. As the half continued, Red Lion took the ball on a long drive with time winding down, culminating in a 14-0 advantage with 1:33 remaining in the half. It was at this point things got a little strange. On the ensuing drive Red Lion would return an interception for a touchdown and take a 21-0 lead. With Milford buried deep in their own territory, it looked as if that was how the half would end. Andrew Sivels did have other ideas. Taking a hand off at his own 15-yard line he found a crack in the Red Lion defense and did not stop until he found the end zone. This helped ease a bit of the Milford pain as they would go into halftime trailing 21-6.
After the teams exchanged punts to start the second half, Red Lion would once again go on a long drive culminating in a touchdown that seemed to eliminate any hope of a Milford comeback. Milford would surrender another touchdown as well as a safety to close out the scoring of what turned out to be a disappointing loss for The Bucs.
Things will not get any easier for the 4-2 Bucs as they travel to Lake Forest for the annual “Battle of The Bell” this Friday. Lake is sitting at 5-1 and have a win against Class 3 Dover and a close loss to Class 3 Cape Henlopen. This will probably be the toughest test yet for Milford. When asked about the upcoming game, Milstead responded “We know it’s going to be tough, but if it was easy anybody could do it. We have to continue to improve, we have to focus. We have to have a game where everyone does their job and we play as a team. I believe we can do it, we just to have to put this game behind us and get better, we can always get better.”
