This past Friday night Milford hosted Odessa in their annual football homecoming game. While the celebration of school spirit may have been great, on the field there was very little for the Milford faithful to be enthusiastic about. Milford knew going in that facing their first District 2A opponent of the season was going to be difficult. However, from the start of the game Milford could do little to help themselves on offense, while their defense was constantly having to bail them out due to three first half turnovers.
“We knew we were going to have to step up our game against an undefeated Odessa team and we did exactly the opposite.” Coach Milstead said.
The game’s only touchdown would come courtesy of a 13-yard run by Odessa senior Nakai Hann following a Milford turnover with 4:13 remaining in the first quarter. With a 7-0 deficit, the belief was that eventually Milford would find a way to score. However, that was not the case as Milford had trouble moving the ball all night. The running game was held in check and the passing game left much to be desired.
Perhaps the most perplexing item was the absence of Milford senior running back Andrew Sivels in the first half. When speaking Milstead following the game, he stated that Sivels not being available in the first quarter was a coach’s decision.
“We hold every player to the same standard all the time. Andrew didn’t meet that standard this week and as a result of it, he did not play the first quarter. It is not something we wanted, it was just the way it is.”
Sivels was named Homecoming King and Cheyenne Johnson named Homecoming Queen.
Even when Sivels was in the game it did little to help the Buccaneers offense, as Odessa was going to let anyone but Sivels beat them. This would put quarterbacks Romontae Jones and Zachary Ruckle under pressure. While Milford would have several chances to hit big plays, they were unable to connect for most of the game. While some of the underneath passing was working, it simply was not enough to overcome the Odessa defense.
“We had some chances tonight to get back in the game, but we just couldn’t hit the big play when we needed it. Also, we had some penalties that really hurt us tonight as well.” Milstead stated.
The only score for Milford would come as Odessa ran out the clock and took a safety as time expired. This was after Milford had allowed a safety of their own earlier in the game.
The loss dropped Milford to 4-1 on the season with a very tough schedule ahead of them. The loss puts them at 0-1 in the division. The pressure will start this Friday night with a trip up to 4-1 Red Lion Christian Academy, who is 0-0 in the division. The Lions only loss came against upper division and highly regarded Smyrna, so Milford will have their work cut out for them.
“We have been making mistakes and tonight they caught up with us. Red Lion is a very good football team and if we play like this, we will take a beating. The thing we need to do is to get everyone on the same page and play like the team I know we are capable of being. This falls on everyone, myself, the other coaches and the players. We are still in the process of getting to where we want to be and the only way to do that is to eliminate the mistakes.” Milstead concluded.
