'What a game.' Milford football survives late comeback attempt to beat Lebanon, 34-29

LEBANON, Ohio – On Friday in the Eastern Cincinnati Conference, Lebanon hosted Milford and mounted an unbelievable 26-point comeback, but fell short as the visitors won, 34-29.

Milford got out to an early lead and went into halftime with a 21-3 advantage before scoring an early touchdown to make it 28-3 early in the third. That was where the tides turned in favor of the home side.  

“What a game,” Milford head coach Tom Grippa said.

Lebanon’s burst of momentum came in during most of the third quarter, where the Warriors scored a short touchdown and followed up the scoring with an early onside kick, delivered and recovered by Carson Forte. The Lebanon crowd lit up in excitement as just two plays later, quarterback Luke Faler handed the pigskin off to Daniel Wallace, who tossed a 42-yard throw to Kyle Koch for a touchdown.

A long fourth quarter saw Lebanon score a fourth-down attempt with four minutes left as momentum was still on the side of the home team. The Warriors were incomplete on the two-point conversion, though, and the following onside kick was received by the Eagles.

Lebanon’s defense stood firm in the late game, forcing a punt and giving the Warriors' offense a chance to score. On the first play of the new drive, with two minutes left, Faler delivered a 70-yard touchdown and the Eagles were up, 29-28.

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The drama did not end there.

Milford mounted an efficient drive to the red zone, where Reece Davis, who had himself a massive evening, scored a go-ahead touchdown with 30 seconds remaining. The game ended on an interception from Milford’s Timothy Dick.

“We told (the team) it was going to be a four-quarter game, and it was going to come down to us making plays,” Grippa said. “At the end with two minutes left, no timeouts, we went 70 yards and scored. So I’m proud of our kids. That’s a good football team.”

Three keys to victory

• Shutting out the noise. The Warriors’ second-half explosion caused plenty of problems for the visiting Eagles, as both sides of the ball faltered to the hosts. Milford, though, weathered the storm on the field and the wave of support from it to sustain the lead and take the victory in the dying seconds.
  • “We have poise,” Grippa said. “When you have poise and then you practice that, you can do it … we never panicked, even when they scored.”
• Third-down defense. Milford held Lebanon to just three conversions on 13 attempts on third down. Lebanon countered this with quick offense, often scoring on the first or second play of drives, but Milford’s ability in the first half proved to be a difference maker.
• Filling holes. The lines on both sides of the fields were trenches, but the Milford fronts gave enough to secure the victory.
  • “We saw some holes. We got exposed. We’re not as good on the line as we thought; we couldn’t block them. Their front four were really good,” Grippa said.

Standout performers

Reece Davis, Milford: Milford’s No. 7 posted an absurd 143 yards on punt returns against Lebanon. In the offense, Davis caught 131 receiving yards and scored two touchdowns. The highlight of Davis’ night came on an 89-yard punt return, which opened the scoring in the game. Davis was also on the receiving end of a 52-yard bomb in the first half, which quickly led to a Milford touchdown.

“I have a good receiver in Reece Davis,” Grippa said. “He’s a dude.”

Luke Faller, Lebanon: Faller, suffice to say, brought the stadium and Lebanon to life in the second half. Faller threw for 267 yards and three touchdowns, including two 40-plus yard touchdowns, on 18 completions. Faller was sacked twice, and even visibly tweaked his ankle in the first half, but overcame to post a more-than-stellar performance.

Luke Brand, Milford: Brand threw 241 yards and three touchdowns on 20-37 efficiency. Brand connected on two momentous deep balls in the contest, including a 39-yard rope to Ethan Melgard in the third quarter. Brand threw the game-winning touchdown with 30 seconds left.

What’s next

Next Friday Milford hits the road again, this time traveling to rivals Loveland High School. A year ago, Milford bested Loveland 47-21 at home. Milford will look to its 2-0 start against a Loveland squad that finished with a 4-7 record in 2022. This season, Loveland lost to Middletown in the season opener and lost to Anderson on Friday.

Lebanon is now 1-1 on the year, the win coming in the season opener at Springboro High School. Lebanon will look to break the .500 seal when it travels to Anderson next Friday.

Milford 34, Lebanon 29

Milford 14 7 7 6 - 34

Lebanon 0 3 14 12 - 29

MIL: Davis 89-yd punt return

MIL: Davis 16-yd rec TD

LEB: Forte 21-yd FG

MIL: Luani 3-yd rush TD

MIL: Melgard 39-yd rec TD

LEB: Edmonds 12-yd rec TD

LEB: Koch 42-yd rec TD

LEB: Williams 13-yd rec TD

LEB: Roddy 70-yd rec TD

MIL: Davis 14-yd rec TD