Souhegan football holds off Milford

AMHERST – It took a little more than a quarter for the Milford High School football team to force Souhegan’s offense off the field.

By then, the damage had already been done.

The Sabers ran 20 plays in the first quarter, to the Spartans’ three, and scored on the first play of the second quarter, taking a 14-0 lead on the way to a 21-12 win.

Tyler Ford threw for 236 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another 128 and a score, but also threw three interceptions and lost a fumble. On Souhegan’s first two possessions, Ford was 8 of 11 for 150 and both touchdowns, as the Sabers had drives of 12-plays for 69 yards and nine-plays for 87 yards.

“We came out pretty strong and we were clutch early, executing on the first couple of drives,” Souhegan coach Mike Beliveau said. “We converted some key third and fourth downs, particularly through the air.”

Brandon Len caught eight of Ford’s passes for 102 yards and two touchdowns and Ryan D’Auteuil added five catches for 64 yards.

But after those first two drives, the Spartans defense tightened. Until its final two drives, the Sabers managed just 56 yards rushing, and after starting hot, Ford completed 4 of 12 for 33 yards and three interceptions in the second quarter.

“They certainly executed fantastically in the first quarter,” Milford coach Keith Jones said. “The kid (Ford) was awesome. We never got anything going in the first half. They had the ball an awfully long time. It seemed like they had the ball for two quarters and we ran three plays. It’s the opposite in order to beat them. You have to keep them off the field, and that was in reversed.”

Milford (4-1 in Division III, 5-2 overall) had just 71 yards of offense in the first half, 33 of which came on the ground, as Souhegan (5-0, 6-1) held the Spartans’ Connor Borne to just three yards on five carries.

“I think our defense is really coming on each week,” Beliveau said. “That’s a very good Milford rushing attack and I think we did a pretty good job taking away their internal run and a good job on their outside run.”

After the teams traded punts throughout the third quarter, it looked like Souhegan dealt Milford the final blow early in the fourth when Ford hit Len for a 60-yard touchdown. But the play was called back on offensive pass interference, and two plays later, Ford fumbled and Milford recovered at the Sabers’ 31-yard line.

The Spartans finally got their running game going, as Tyler Cooney picked up 19 yards on the drive and Mitchell Banuskevich had 16, setting up Harrison Urda’s 1-yard touchdown run. Milford missed the extra point, making it 14-6 Souhegan with 5:21 left.

Souhegan answered by picking up yards on the ground. The Sabers moved into Milford territory, but a sack left them facing second-and-20 at midfield. Ford stepped up, running for 16 yards, and on third down, he scampered for a 36-yard touchdown run, putting the Sabers back up two scores.

Milford got the ball back on its 33, and on the first play, Urda found Banuskevich alone over the middle for a 77-yard touchdown. The Spartans lined up for the extra point, but a bad snapped forced Urda to improvise and his desperation pass was knocked down at the goal line.

“I told (Urda) to throw it to the open guy and he did,” Jones said. “Our pass game is sometimes drawing the plays in the dirt. It kills you, to know that you’re down nine, you still have to get the onside kick, but when you miss the extra point, it’s down to a two-possession game no matter what you do. With that kind of time left, it’s deflating.”

The win puts the Sabers in the driver’s seat in the division, with a non-division game at home against Manchester Central on Oct. 19. Souhegan finishes the season with games at Merrimack Valley and at Goffstown.

Milford falls into a tie for second with Portsmouth (4-1), while Goffstown (3-1) plays on Saturday. The Spartans will host Goffstown on Oct. 19 and Portsmouth on Oct. 26 before finishing the season at Hollis Brookline.