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Football Earns Long Awaited Victory Over Turpin
It was a long time coming, but it was worth the wait as the Milford High School football team picked up an Eastern Cincinnati Conference opening win over Turpin by a 14-7 score on a warm Friday evening at Eagles Stadium. Junior RB Cameron Kells had the biggest game of his short varsity career, rushing for 166 yards, including a 55-yard first half jolt to key the Milford win. The triumph over the Spartans is believed to be Milford’s first over Turpin since the 2000 season.
The Eagles defense also proved up the challenge throughout the night, including making a game-clinching stand deep in their own territory as the Spartans moved towards the tie. Milford improves to 3-1 on the season, already surpassing the team’s win total from a year ago and is victorious in its league opener for the first time since 2014.
Turpin (1-3, 0-1 ECC) entered the evening ranked as the top defense in the league in several categories. Yielding just 223 yards per contest entering the night, the Milford offense put up 326 for the evening, including a season-best 162 on the ground. Blake King threw for 164 yards on 17 of 25 passing, with four different receivers hauling in four passes each, including junior Dylan Hughes who totaled a game-high 83 yards receiving.
The night didn’t start so well for the Eagles as King was intercepted on the game’s opening drive which ultimately led to Turpin’s only points of the night. Turpin signal caller Lucas Smith engineered a five-play, 61-yard drive that was keyed by a 41-yard catch and run by wideout Jake SIilverstein to get the Spartans rolling. Smith took it the last yard, bulling in from a yard out to give Turpin a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter.
The defenses took over for the balance of the quarter until Kells came alive early in the second quarter, single handedly leading a 63-yard scoring drive, the last a 55-yard run to paydirt that knotted the score at seven with 9:28 to play before halftime.
Both teams were able to move the ball over the rest of the first half and through most of the third quarter, but neither squad could dent the scoreboard for several possessions. With under four minutes remaining in the third and the Eagles holding the ball near midfield, King found Hughes for a 44-yard bomb down the right sideline to push Milford inside the Turpin five. Two plays later, King called his own number, crashing in over the left side for a one-yard touchdown and a 14-7 Eagles lead.
At the start of the fourth quarter, Milford rode the legs of Kells down the field again as they drained nearly 10 minutes off the clock, but came up fruitless as a Dillon Coleman field goal attempt sailed wide left. Needing a score to tie, the Spartans looked as if they might just do that as they methodically drove down the field into the redzone as the clock wound down. Facing a fourth-and-three at the Milford 13, Smith attempted to hit Silverstein on the right sideline, but senior Evan Baugh came up with the winning pass break-up, handing the ball back to the Eagles to run out the remainder of the game clock.
The Spartans were limited to just 72 yards on the ground, with Will Hausfeld gaining a team-best 40. Smith completed 13 of 21 through the air for 158 yards. Hunter Pemberton had a monster day on defense for Turpin, finishing with 17 tackles. Hayden Johnson and Bryce Dugan paced Milford with eight stops apiece.
Having played three straight home games, the Eagles will now go on the road for the next two, starting next Friday night at Miami Township rival Loveland.
