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Eagles Ground Way To Homecoming Win Over Walnut Hills
Milford rushed for 292 yards and pulled away from Walnut Hills with a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns, picking up its first Eastern Cincinnati Conference win of the season with a 29-15 triumph on Friday night. Three Eagles went over 75 yards on the ground to pace a balanced rushing attack, while the Milford defense yielded a season-low 192 yards of total offense. Milford improves to 2-4 overall and 1-2 in the ECC with the win, while Walnut slips to 4-2, 1-2 ECC.
Dawson Slone came on strong in the second half, accounting for all but 12 of his 126 yards on the ground after the break, along with one touchdown. Tyler Smith added a career-high 87 yards and a pair of scores, while Chase Witte, the ECC’s leading rusher entering the game, finished with 76 yards and a score of his own.
The night got off to a fine start for Walnut Hills as they took the opening kickoff and drove 80 yards over 13 plays for an early touchdown. The 5:19 drive culminated with Robvae McDonald plunging in from two yards out. The Eagles went for the two-point conversion and were successful on a run by Jonathan Hollis.
Late in the first quarter, Milford took over on its own 42 yard line after a fourth down defensive hold. Seven plays later, Chase Witte was celebrating in the end zone after a one-yard touchdown run. Looking to even the score at eight early on, the Eagles elected to also go for two and it was Smith racing around the right end for the successful conversion.
The defenses took over for the next almost two quarters, until Milford junior Luken Dalessandro came up with the Eagles’ first interception of the year with just over three minutes remaining in the third. The combo of Slone and Smith then went to work over the next five plays, combining for 37 yards on the ground, with the latter going the final 11 to give Milford a 15-8 lead.
Milford’s lead last just 53 seconds however, as on the second play from scrimmage after the score, Walnut’s McDonald burst up the middle for an 82-yard jolt down the Eagles Stadium turf to once again tie the game.
As the third quarter came to a close and the fourth got underway, the Eagles began what would prove to be the game-winning drive. Smith, Witte and Slone were nearly unstoppable on the 12-play, 57-yard drive that took 5:18 off the clock. Smith again did the scoring honors, powering in from two yards out with 7:23 left to play.
Looking to stay alive, Walnut faced a third and 10 on its next drive when it attempted an option play that went awry. Luckily for the visitors, they jumped on the fumble, but were forced to punt. That set-up the Slone Show as Milford’s diminutive runner tied a bow on the win by handling the ball on all 63 yards of the night’s final scoring drive, ending with a 12-yard scamper with less than two minutes to play. Senior Jeremy Dentino got the home crowd really riled up on the next Walnut drive when he grabbed his first career interception and returned it 28 yards into WHHS territory.
Click here for the final Milford-Walnut Hills game stats.
Milford will look for a second straight win when it starts a two-game road stretch next Friday night at Kings. Kickoff is on tap for 7 p.m.
