Rushing attack helps lift Milford football to win over Souhegan

AMHERST - The Milford High School football used its triple-option offensive scheme dominated Souhegan in a 47-27 win in their annual Division II South rivalry matchup.

Milford dominated the game from the opening drive, as the Spartans took the opening possession over 80 yards down the field for a touchdown. The drive was capped off with a 15-yard scoring run by Milford’s Tristyn Shattuck. The Spartan defense, which gave the Sabers trouble all night also, forced the Sabers to punt on their first two drives.

Milford (3-2), again pinned deep in their own territory, used its powerful run game to drive the length of the field again for another scoring drive, capped off this time by Spartan running back Owen Zalenski from 5-yards out to make it 14-0.

The Sabers (2-3) had a strong chance to answer with a score of their own, but quarterback John Lohnes was picked off by the Milford defense in the closing moments of the first quarter.

With excellent field position, the Milford offense gashed the Saber defense for a third consecutive drive with a long touchdown run by Zalenski to put the Spartans up 21-0.

The Sabers offense was hurried off the field once again after another excellent defense series by the Spartans. Milford made it 4 for 4 on the next possession, going the length of the field for another Shattuck touchdown and a 28-0 with five minutes left in the first half.

Trey Johnson gave the Sabers some life, as he returned the ensuing kickoff over 80 yards for a touchdown, cutting the Milford lead to 28-7.

Unfortunately for the Sabers, they had yet to figure out the Milford offense. The Spartans pieced together a well-managed drive that would end up chewing all but 19 seconds of the second quarter.

Shattuck was able to burn the Saber defense for his third touchdown run of the night, this time from 15-yards out to give Milford the 34-7 lead heading into half. The Sabers were able to move the ball to midfield, but Milford’s Junior Ughu was able to sack Lohnes to end the half.

The second half was more of the same for Milford, as the Spartans offensive was firing on all cylinders for the entire night. The Spartans had two more scoring drives in the second half, as Ughu carried defenders on the goal line in for the touchdown, and Zalenski later carried in for his third touchdown.

The Sabers were able to put together two drives of their own, but ultimately wasn’t enough to overcome the large deficit. Lohnes opened the second half with an 80-yard screen pass touchdown to running back Tyler Hall. Later in the half, Lohnes was able to hit Aidan Casey wide open in the back of the end zone for the touchdown.