West Clermont’s Cameron Sleet leaps in the air to deflect a pass intended for Milford’s Luke Ray.
Photo/Garth Shanklin
Milford’s Jacob Smith had 16 tackles, a pass breakup and an interception against the Wolves.
Photo/Garth Shanklin
After a one-year hiatus, football teams from Milford and West Clermont once again renewed their rivalry on the field.
The Eagles came out on top, using three Tofa Luani touchdowns to avenge a 2019 loss at home. Milford finished the 2021 contest with a 28-7 advantage.
“Our seniors rose to the occasion,” Milford head coach Tom Grippa said. “We played a really good football game, our best game of the year. The defense gave up one touchdown, should have been a shutout because we gave up a fourth and 13 on a play that we practiced all week.”
It wasn’t exactly an offensive tour de force by either team. Milford finished with just 266 yards of offense while West Clermont totaled 198 yards.
The Eagles had three different running backs rush for at least 30 yards. That type of versatility in the backfield was difficult for West Clermont to defend.
We lost control,” “It’s on me. I have to fix some things that we didn’t do, we didn’t tighten down. They had some versatility, they hit us with different types of backs. All their backs ran really hard.”
The Eagles took advantage of short fields, scoring their first touchdown on a three-play, 38 yard drive that began when the Wolves turned the ball over on downs. Natwan Webster’s 29-yard run put the hosts ahead 7-0 after one quarter.
The second Milford touchdown came after a West Clermont punt from their own four. The Eagles drove 41 yards in six plays on that drive, capping it off with a three-yard touchdown run by Tofa Luani.
Adriel Orona scored West Clermont’s lone touchdown in the third quarter, hauling in a 21-yard pass from Nolan Lucas on fourth down. Luani scored twice in the fourth quarter (10 yards and 17 yards) to put the game away.
Individually, Milford’s Sayer Copp had 12 carries for 68 yards. Luani finished with 34 yards and three scores on five attempts. Webster had five carries for 72 yards and a score.
Austin Hardin completed 12 of 16 passes for 97 yards.
Reece Davis led the Eagles in receiving yards with 63 on seven receptions. Luke Ray had 23 yards on three catches. J.P. Naylor totaled one catch for 10 yards.
Defensively, Tahj Price and Jacob Smith recorded interceptions for Milford. Smith led the team in tackles with 16.
Luani had a sack for the Eagles. Nick Klenk and James Crouch had a half-sack each.
West Clermont totaled 161 yards on the ground. Mysaun Sanders had 77 yards on 13 carries. Orona tallied 60 yards on 16 attempts. Zach Moats finished with 32 yards on six carries.
“We did a good job stopping the wing-T, which is tough,” Grippa said. “The defensive coaches worked really hard. They worked their butts off to prepare for this week, because we don’t see it that often.”
Lucas completed three passes in 11 attempts for 37 yards and two interceptions. Cameron Sleet (nine yards) and Jace Hesketh (seven yards) had receptions for the Wolves.
Seven different players had at least four tackles for West Clermont led by Caleb Stepp with seven. Cameron Sleet, Carter Sleet and Landen Earley had six tackles each. Lucas Carter had the team’s lone sack.
As a squad, West Clermont recorded six tackles for loss.
“We rallied to the ball well,” Ayers said. “When the kids play that hard, it makes the game much more exciting and fun to coach.”
Both teams now advance to the postseason in Division I. Milford finished the year as the No. 6 seed in Region 4 and will host Lebanon on Friday, October 29.
Milford lost to Lebanon 24-20 in a week nine road matchup.
“The thing that we like is that we would have made the playoffs even if everybody didn’t make it,” Grippa said. “We’re proud of that, we were a top eight seed.”
West Clermont finished as the No. 14 seed and will again face No. 3 Lakota West on the road. The Wolves dropped a 45-7 contest at Lakota West in week two.
“We said we wanted the big dogs and that’s what we’re doing,” Ayers said. “We can’t complain. We wanted these games, these rivalry games where you have 3,500 people chanting good and bad at you. I wish it was 10,000. One day, we’re going to get to that. I promised Clermont County, I promised West Clermont. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Both first-round games are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.