Milford High School will be remembering a very happy time as its honors the varsity football team of 1986, the school’s only state playoff qualifying team. The event will take place Aug. 25 before the Eagles’ season and home opening game. Turpin will provide the competition in a game that will begin at 7:30 p.m.

There will be a tailgate party before the game in the shot put area at the east end of the stadium. Food and drinks for the party are to be purchased from the booster’s concession stand located in that area. On Saturday there will be a team picnic at the American Legion Annex (450 Victor Stier Dr., next to the Little Miami River and Riverside Park, 12-5 p.m.) To cover the expense of the picnic, a donation of $20 per person or $40 per family is requested.

“Concentrate, intimidate, win, win, win!” was the slogan of the Milford varsity football team of the 1986-87 school year and win they did including a nine-game winning streak.

“It was a wonderful season. They were a great group of kids who worked hard and loved football,” said Jim Prather, the head football coach and athletic director at Milford during the ’86 season.

“It was a team of destiny. We won several of the games in overtime.”

It was Prather’s third season at the helm of the Eagle griddders. Today he is retired and living in northern Kentucky.

“I knew before the season this was a special group. They put in a lot of work in the weight room and they even painted the weight room and the lockerroom together during the summer. This group of seniors were great leaders.”

The season began with a loss at Loveland. “The Loveland loss was a wake-up call. After that game we got on a roll,” Prather recalled.

He is looking forward to the reunion. “This will be fun. I look forward to seeing the kids. I love them. I hope they are all leading great lives and have great careers. The whole time I was with them I loved it and I loved the community and the support we got.”

Chris Davis was one of the team’s co-captains his senior year. He was an Eastern Metro League (EML) all-star center who went on to play at the University of Cincinnati. Now the principal at Milford Junior High School, he said, “The relationships is what has mattered the most to me. There was great chemistry. We came together. We were a close-knit team. The seniors and the underclassmen jelled.

“Probably for me the biggest game was winning at Withrow for the (Eastern Metro League) championship. That was the first time that I believed we were for real