The Friday Night Lights shown brightly on Anderson’s Charles L. Brown Stadium during Week 6, but no one shined brighter than Milford senior RB Cameron Kells as his astonishing seven touchdown performance keyed the Eagles to a big 56-20 win over the host Redskins. Not to be outdone, the Milford defense kept one of the Eastern Cincinnati Conference’s most high-flying offenses in check, while forcing four turnovers. Kells rushed for a career-best 251 yards, adding 45 yards receiving. The victory keeps Milford in a tie for first place in the league with Kings, each at 3-0.

First Quarter

• The Redskins looked like they would draw first blood as they took the opening possession into the red zone. But Milford senior DB Owen Martin had other ideas, snagging an interception and racing 64 yards the other way. The Eagles couldn’t take advantage as Anderson returned the favor with an Ethan Hamilton pick.
• Anderson capitalized on the turnover with a 13-play, 71-yard scoring drive, taking a 7-0 lead on an Owen Koelle one yard dive and Willie Johnson’s PAT.
• After turning the ball over on downs on its ensuing possession, the Milford defense got the ball right back for its O as pass break ups by Max Ward and Dustin Laudermilk on third and fourth down handed the Eagles the ball near midfield.

Second Quarter

• As the game rolled over to the second quarter, Milford tied the score in the first minute as Kells blasted in for his first score from one-yard out, taking advantage of the defensive’s stand.
• The Eagles’ D did it again on the next Anderson drive as Hayden Johnson and Laudermilk stopped the Redskins’ Joey Newton on fourth and three.
• The momentum really turned in the Eagles favor in the next few minutes as the scoring barrage continued. First, connections by Hunter Johnson to Kells and Jake Ayler set up Kells’ second TD, another one-yard plunge to make it 14-7 at the 6:14 mark.
• Milford’s special teams then came up huge, setting up Kells’ third score of the night. Sophomore kickoff specialist Vince Ringland dropped a perfectly placed kick into no mans land and an alert Dakota Frank jumped on the free ball, setting up the Eagles at the Anderson 22. Two plays later, it was Kells bursting in from 14 yards out.
• Another big play by the Milford D, this time an interception by Jared Engelman kept the advantage in the visitors favor. Then, it was Johnson finding Kells for a 10-yard touchdown and all of the sudden, Milford was leading by a 28-7 margin with just over 3:30 before the half.
• The theme of defensive big play leading to Milford touchdown continued as senior DL C.T. Phillips stripped Anderson QB David Thompson on the home team’s next drive. With just four seconds until half, Ayler ran in from a yard out for Milford’s fifth touchdown of the quarter. It also marked the final play of the night for Thompson who entered the game leading the ECC in passing yardage.

Third Quarter

• One of the season’s most exciting plays started the third quarter and ended 35 seconds later with Kells celebrating touchdown number five. Starting left, the hard running senior stiff armed a defender, before breaking back right all the way across the field and scampering 67 yards for another touchdown.
• With the 30-plus point deficit queuing the running clock rule, Anderson finally scored in the waning seconds of the period on Koelle’s second one-yard plunge of the game.

Fourth Quarter

• The start to the fourth quarter was not much different than others as just over a minute in, Kells was in the end zone for the sixth time, this time on a 46-yard run. Grace Ertel’s seventh PAT of the night gave the Eagles a 49-13 lead.
• Anderson was able to stop the running clock on its next possession as freshman QB Evan Upchurch found Newtown for a 49-yard TD pass.
• The clock situation lasted just over a minute and ended with Kells scoring number seven, a 22-yard bolt with 6:31 remaining that wrapped up the night’s scoring.

Notable

• Kells’ six rushing touchdowns tied for the most by a Milford player over the last decade as he now shares the mark with Nathan Termuhlen who accomplished the feat against Woodward in 2010. No player in the last decade has accounted for seven TDs.
• Kells’ 251 rushing yards were not only a career-high, but was the third-highest single game mark by an Eagle since 2007. Chase Witte rushed for totals of 281 and 267 yards in 2016.
• Kells picked up his fourth 100-yard game of the season and the fifth of his career.
• Ertel was successful on all eight of her PAT attempts and leads the ECC in extra points with 30 and is tied for the most points by kicking with 30.
• Hayden Johnson led the defense with 12 tackles, while Phillips recorded a pair of sacks. Engelman, Martin and Ward all had interceptions, marking the first time the Eagles picked off three passes in a game since, ironically, last season’s game at Anderson.

Click here for the final Milford-Anderson game stats and here for a photo gallery from the game courtesy of Tammy Ruehrwein.

Up Next

• The Eagles, now 5-1 overall and tied for first in the ECC at 3-0, return home in Week 7 for Homecoming against Withrow. Kickoff inside Eagle Stadium is slated for 7 p.m.