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Football Reclaims Victory Bell With Convincing Win At Loveland
The Miami Township Victory Bell has returned to Milford for the first time since 2014 as the Eagles dominated Loveland on both sides of the ball, storming past the Tigers by a 41-6 score on Friday night. The win improves Milford’s record to 4-1 on the season and 2-0 in the Eastern Cincinnati Conference as the Eagles’ resurgence under first-year head coach Tom Grippa continues.
The Eagles’ dominance started early and often as they scored on their first offensive possession of the night en route to three first quarter touchdowns and a 20-0 lead after 12 minutes of play. Senior QB Blake King was super efficient throughout the contest, completing 18 of 22 passes for 215 yards and three touchdowns in less than three full quarters of action. Milford had outgained Loveland (1-4, 1-1 ECC) by a 357-206 margin when the final whistle blew.
After the Milford D forced an opening possession three and out by Loveland, King and company went right to work, quickly going 65 yards in six plays for the first score of the night. King laid a perfect ball into the endzone that junior wideout Dylan Hughes hauled in from 29 yards out to make it 6-0 after the two-point conversion attempt failed.
Following another fruitless Loveland possession, the Eagles took 4:09 off the clock on a 10-play, 75-yard drive that wrapped up with King’s second TD pass of the night, this one a 13-yard connection to junior Jake Ayler. After coming up short on its first conversion try, this time the Eagles got the two points they sought when King found Jacob Turner wide open in the back of the endzone.
The following Loveland possession actually ended up in points for the Eagles, courtesy of a huge play by senior DB Adam Bartrum. With the Tigers facing second and 21, Loveland QB Calvin Cloud tossed a pass to his left that Bartrum tipped in the air and grabbed before racing 47 yards to the endzone for a touchdown. The pick-six was the first by an Eagle since Noah Robinson had a 96-yard interception return for a score in 2014 at Withrow.
The King to Ayler connection worked again just before halftime as a 10-yard score made it 27-0 Milford at the half.
Not much changed as the second half got underway as the Eagles marched directly down the field after receiving the opening kick, finishing with the first career touchdown for freshman Caleb Johns from three yards out. Milford’s final score came with just over three minutes left in the third quarter when senior Bailey Knox scored his first career touchdown on a rare offensive appearance. Loveland finally dented the scoreboard midway through the fourth on a J.T. Popp 12-yard rushing touchdown.
Seven different receivers hauled in passes from King and back-up Hunter Johnson for the Eagles, with Ayler catching eight for 69 yards and a pair of scores. Hughes totaled five catches for 94 yards. The Eagle D got a huge game from senior DE Bryce Dugan who finished with 13 total tackles.
Loveland was led offensively by Kyle Whitaker who rushed 11 times for a game-high 94 yards.
Click here for the final Milford-Loveland game stats.
The Eagles will now look to improve to 3-0 in league play when they take to the road again next Friday night, traveling to Walnut Hills for a 7 p.m. kickoff.
