LEBANON — Score one for power over speed.
The third-ranked Milford High football team simply willed its way past previously unbeaten, second-seeded Lebanon, 24-14 on Saturday in the NHIAA Division II semifinals.
The upset was simply a game of blocking, tackling and turnovers.
“(Milford) won the battle in the trenches, for sure,” Lebanon coach Chris Childs said, his 9-1 team’s only loss ending its season. “They definitely punched us in the mouth up front today. They were able to move us off the ball.”
The Spartans rushed for 263 yards, limiting the Raiders to 120 on the ground, as Lebanon’s big-play offense could never get untracked. Quarterback Jackson Stone managed just 67 yards and a TD on 19 carries.
“They definitely cut us down, didn’t allow us to get to the edge, and we didn’t have any of those big plays, for sure,” Childs said.
“It was a great high school football game,” said a drenched Spartans coach Keith Jones, whose 8-2 team will now go on to face top seed, unbeaten Timberlane, in next Saturday’s finals. “The kids executed everything we wanted them to do in practice, right here on the field. I can’t say enough about what our kids did defensively.”
Turnovers absolutely killed Lebanon, as two interceptions and two fumbles helped lead to 17 Spartan points, the first three coming on a 32-yard Colin Gregg field goal with 1:26 left in the opening quarter for a 3-0 lead.
Nearly two minutes later, Milford back Logan Barnhill produced one of those big runs the Raiders are more known for, a 45-yard jaunt that helped give the Spartans a 10-0 lead just under a minute into the second quarter.
A Spartan mistake helped the Raiders get on the board, as Milford’s Chuck Urda tried to rush back and scoop up a Stone punt off the ground but couldn’t find the handle, Lebanon recovering the fumble at the Milford 26-yard line. Eight plays later, including a clutch catch by Mason Arado on a fourth down pass at the 1, Stone zipped in to help cut the margin to 10-7.
The rest of the quarter was wild as the teams incredibly traded scores in the last three minutes. Deep in his own territory, Stone tossed an ill-advised ball in the flat that was snared by Milford sophomore Kaleb Francoeur, who easily waltzed in from 13 yards out and the Spartans had their 10-point lead back, 17-7 with 2:15 left in the half.
But in an even crazier play, Stone with 1:04 left heaved one downfield that somewhow Tanner Ames had the presence of mind to tip to Justin DeCarlo in a crowd around the Spartan 25. DeCarlo raced the rest of the way untouched for a 55-yard pass play that with the PAT made it a 17-14 game at halftime.
The Raiders looked to be putting together a solid drive to start the second half, but Nyeoti Punni fumbled the ball away after a 9-yard gain at the 50. The Spartans then put together one of their patented long drives, and 10 plays later, Barnhill powered in from the 3 on a fourth-and-1 to help give the Spartans their 24-14 advantage.
“We had momentum going and put the ball on the carpet, and that kind of hurt us,” Childs said. “We go down in the second half and punch that one in, I think it’s a different game for sure.”
Then the monsoon arrived, and perhaps it was a sign. The Raiders were said to have requested to move the game from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. earlier in the week, looking at an early forecast that called for rain the first half of the day. But that changed later in the week, and in the pouring rain there was no reason for Milford to heed Lebanon’s speed.
Stone, forced to the air, was 8-of-14 for 99 yards, one TD and two picks, the second by Francoeur sealing things with 2:54 to play. Not what the Raiders were hoping for.
“I told them they had a hell of a year, to keep their heads up,” Childs said. “They accomplished a lot in high school, and this isn’t what our goal was at the end, but they had a helluva year and they need to be proud of that for sure.”