Ohio high school football: Milford blasts Loveland, 47-13, for Miami Township Victory Bell
Scott SpringerThough it was technically a non-conference game due to a scheduling quirk, Milford lit up Loveland in the Skyline Chili Crosstown Showdown battle between Eastern Cincinnati Conference (ECC) rivals Friday night, 47-13.
Oddly, the pair will play again in two weeks, this time at Loveland in what will officially be an ECC game.
Hunter Johnson picked apart Loveland for five touchdowns, three to Max Ward and two to Vince Ringland. Johnson was 12-for-23 for 271 yards. Ringland led receivers with four catches for 112 yards, and all of Ward's catches resulted in scores for 101 total yards. Junior Caleb Johns also scored twice.
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"It's been awhile for us to really have a good night from our receiving corps, but we faced some really good DBs," Milford Head Coach Tom Grippa said. "We're really happy to get that passing game rolling."
In a game featuring a 30-minute heat lightning delay, Milford torched the Tigers for 34 first-half points, 18 of those coming courtesy of seniors Johnson and Ward, who zapped the Loveland secondary three times.
"Today was really a confidence booster," Johnson said. "Our defense played well, as we expected, so it was a really nice night."
It was Johnson's best game in terms of passing touchdowns since last year's meeting with Loveland when he had six.
"I had noticed he was kind of side-arming some of his balls," Grippa said. "On those deep balls he needs to have a higher trajectory, so we got him to go over the top. He did it two or three times and it was really effective."
New Loveland Head Coach Andy Cruse tried to catch Milford off-guard to start with an onside kick, which the Tigers recovered at the Milford 36-yard line. However, their offense sputtered and Milford quickly took over.
The Eagles couldn't move in their first possession, but a punt was dropped and recovered by Milford's Ray Clayton on the Loveland 15. Two plays later, Caleb Johns was in from a yard out for the game's first score.
Junior Calvin Cloud got Loveland on the board midway through the quarter on a 19-yard pass to Austin Lodor in the back of the end zone. The extra point was blocked, preserving Milford's early lead.
Before the end of the quarter, Milford's Johnson found Ward on the right for a 20-yard screen pass to put Milford up 14-6.
The two would hook up again in the second quarter for a 62-yard score. Then two-way player Johns had a pick-six, giving Milford a three-touchdown advantage at 27-6. Before the half, Johnson and Ward made it a trifecta of touchdowns with a 19-yard scoring strike.
Then, with 1:14 left in the half, heat lightning was sighted and both teams were sent to the locker rooms with Milford leading 34-6.
Johnson continued to spot open Eagles in the second half, hitting Ringland in the third and fourth quarters for scores as Milford continued to keep the stats crew alert.
"Max (Ward) is great out of the backfield, one of the best I've ever seen," Johnson said. "Vince (Ringland) is tall and fast and has great hands and can make plays."
The Tigers were playing without injured running back Liam Hamill, who ran for more than 1,200 yards a year ago.
It was the second rout in a row for Milford over Loveland as they trounced the Tigers 71-21 last year. The 2018 Milford squad scored 50 or more points four times a year ago and 40 or more six times. This Milford team hadn't displayed that firepower until Friday night.
"We'll see," a tentative Grippa said. "We face a good Walnut team next week and we've got to go over to Loveland in two weeks. It's a journey. Sometimes you don't know."
Milford – 14 20 6 7 – 47
Loveland – 6 0 0 7 – 13
M – Johns 1-yard run (Bauer kick)
L – Cloud 19-yard pass to Lodor (kick blocked)
M – Johnson 20-yard pass to Ward (Bauer kick)
M – Johnson 62-yard pass to Ward (Bauer kick)
M – Johns 36-yard interception return (kick failed)
M – Johnson 19-yard pass to Ward (Bauer kick)
M – Johnson 50-yard pass to Ringland (kick failed)
M – Johnson 33-yard pass to Ringland (Bauer kick)
L – Aquilino 14-yard pass to Lund (Farnsworth kick)
Records: Milford 2-1, Loveland 0-3