Milford rides big win into game against Pembroke

The Milford High School football team knows there's about to be a lot of change in the season, starting with Saturday's game at Pembroke.

For starters, this game counts toward the Division III standings, unlike the Spartans' big 13-6 win over Londonderry a week ago. And after facing Londonderry's single-wing, run-heavy offense, Milford will face the first of what should be seven straight games against a spread offense in Pembroke Academy.

Unless the Spartans have improved the way they defend the pass, it could be a long stretch.

"Unfortunately, it's what we're going to see for the next six or seven weeks," Milford coach Keith Jones said. "Tyngsborough does it. Con-Val isn't a spread shotgun, but a spread option. Portsmouth, Bedford, Souhegan, Goffstown, we're going to see four or five receivers for the next few weeks."

Last season, defending the pass was something Milford did not do well. During the offseason and the preseason, Jones and his coaching staff worked at improving that.

"We needed to rethink our game plan," Jones said. "We didn't do a good job stopping the pass. This summer, we went back to the drawing board with new concepts and new philosophies. We'll see how they work."

Jones was impressed with the way his defense played against the Lancers. Milford won a lot of the battles up front, and for the first half, the Spartans kept Londonderry's offense off the field.

"Every time they ran the ball, we had eight or nine guys running to football," Jones said. "It was surprising that we were winning the battle against Londonderry, but that's where we had the most strength coming back. Did we know we'd be able to line up with Londonderry? We did not know that."

While Milford is coming off a win, Pembroke is trying to regroup after a 48-14 loss to Alvirne.

"One thing we've always been lucky with, the kids understand the task at hand," Jones said. "As far as their concerned, Pembroke is the best team in the country. We don't ever look ahead."

Milford and Pembroke kick off Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at Pembroke.