A season that saw The Milford Buccaneers start with an encouraging 4-0 start, has slowly transitioned to a year of learning and self-reflection. Traveling to Wilmington this past Friday to battle St. Mark’s, it looked as if Milford came to play early, but once again key mistakes at crucial times would lead to a 45-26 defeat at the hands of their hosts.
Milford started the game with the ball and methodically worked their way down the field from their own 36 yard line for the game’s opening score. In that drive you could see that the playbook has to continue to open up, as freshman Romontae Jones continued his improvement. The drive was capped by a 36-yard run by senior Andrew Sivels. A failed 2-point conversion attempt stalled Milford to a 6-0 advantage early in the game.
St. Mark’s would waste little time responding on the ensuing possession The Spartans would drive down the field as well. Starting at their own 40-yard line, the drive would be capped by a 12-yard pass to junior Mark Hendrix, as they would take a 7-6 lead with 5:25 remaining in the first quarter.
What followed for Milford was both confusing and deflating. Starting at their own 20-yard line, The Bucs ran a simple running play up the middle. Following a run up the middle, the ball came flying out of the hands of the Buccaneer running back. What followed was confusion at its finest. The line judge on the Milford side of the field, who had a clear view of the plays’ ending called the runner down. His counterpart on the other sideline called it a fumble recovered by St. Mark’s. Following a discussion, the crew gave possession of the ball to the Spartans. When I asked Milford coach Rod Milstead about the call he had a quick response.
“It was a tough call that didn’t go our way,” Milstead replied. “The officials do a great job and sometimes the calls just doesn’t go your way.”.
It would not take long for St. Mark’s to take advantage, sparked by a key 30-yard completion down to the Milford five-yard line, due to blown coverage. That was just one of several coverage failures made by the Milford secondary during the game. The touchdown and P.A.T. Gave the Spartans a 14-6 lead.
The Bucs would respond with a solid drive as they tied the score up with a 17-yard touchdown run by Sivels. With the game deadlocked at 14, it looked as if Milford had found their footing with 7:34 remaining in the first half. After forcing St. Mark’s to punt, Milford once again put the ball on the ground deep inside their own territory. Once again St. Mark’s took advantage, driving 15-yards in two plays to take a 21-14 lead into the half.
To start the second half, St. Mark’s would complete an 84-yard touchdown pass on another blown Milford coverage. It would be the start of three consecutive scores as St. Mark’s would put the game away. While Sivels would appear to stop the bleeding with a 60-yard touchdown run, St. Mark’s would return the ensuing kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown of their own. When asked about the multiple mistakes, Milstead responded.
“It’s not that we are making mistakes, it’s that we are making the same mistakes again and again,” he said. “We just have to continue to improve and learn. We have two games left and it is up to us to rally and finish the season strong.”.
Jones would get injured in the third quarter and was replaced by Zachary Ruckle who looked good as he closed out the game, leading Milford on a touchdown drive as the game came to a close.
“As I have said all season, we have two quarterbacks.” Milstead said. “It is tough to get them both playing time, but I can say that they are getting better every week. I was proud of how both of the performed tonight.”.
Milford will host Delaware Military this Friday evening as they celebrate senior night during the final home game of the season. Kick-off is set for 7pm.
