Souhegan moves to 3-0 with 42-0 rout of rival Milford
MILFORD — A heated rivalry with a recent history of shootouts and wild finishes held plenty of intensity on Friday night but not nearly the drama.
Souhegan High moved to 3-0 with a 42-0 win here over Milford High behind three Riley Lawhorn touchdown runs and a near-spotless effort from senior QB Austin Jain.
“We probably left a few points out there in the first half, too many penalties. But we cleaned it up and we executed well,” said Souhegan coach Robin Bowkett.
“That’s a good Milford team, and I’m just really happy with our performance.”
Indeed, the Sabers have stamped themselves as a team to beat in this short Division II season sprint, out-scoring their three victims by a cumulative, 79-7, including last week’s KO of Division I Bishop Guertin.
“It makes things so much easier this year, having so many seniors, and so many of them have been starters since they were sophomores. In any year, that’s a great thing to have,” said Bowkett. “This group has been studs since their freshmen year. We always knew it was a good group. There are certainly plenty of other great teams out there. We worry about what we control, but we are certainly capable of taking this all the way to the end, as long as we take care of what we need to take care of.”
Souhegan struck almost immediately when Mitch Hauser blocked a punt that was scooped up by Tony Garrant and returned to the Milford 15.
Three plays later, Lawhorn (12 carries, 90 yards) rolled in from the 6 and a 7-0 Saber lead.
On the next Souhegan possession, it was Jain connecting four straight times with Luke Manning (team high 6 catches, 87 yards), the last being a 20-yard TD hookup that made it 14-0.
Honestly, the margin could be bigger but Milford’s grit and some painful Souhegan mistakes kept things within reach with no more scoring in the half.
“I wasn’t satisfied at all. We could have put up double the points we had,” said Jain, who finished the night a today 12 of 15 for 121 yards through the air with six carries for 31 yards. “We were the only ones who were going to stop us.
“We’re all working. We have a bunch of weapons, Luke (Manning), Riley … We’re getting comfortable and we’re just making plays.”
Souhegan finally took charge for good with a 21-0 flurry in the third.
Lawhorn busted off tackle twice for TDs of 30 and 37 yards, while Jain scrambled around left end and soared to the pylon on a seven-yarder.
That sent the clock to running time and hastened the calls to the reserves on both sides.
Saber sophomore Ryder Florence finished out the scoring on the night with his late TD run.
Under Bowkett, the Souhegan offense has always been innovative and explosive. But it’s the Saber defense that continues to make statewide noise. Friday night, the Milford regulars were held to just 58 scrimmage yards in just over three quarters of work.
With all-staters like Alex Karpawich and Mike Maroun leading the way defensively, Souhegan has been the epitome of stout.
“They’ve been awesome,” said Bowkett. “They’re doing a great job, just flying around to the football, tackling and getting the ball out. This is the best defense we’ve had since I’ve been here.
“(William) Boyle, (Mitch) Hauser, Tony Garrant, Riley Lawhorn, I could list 12, 13 or 14 guys.”
The 1-1 Spartans will just keep at it, according to their coach.
“We’re a young team. Everything is going to be building blocks. We knew we were swinging a heavy bat,” said Milford High coach Keith Jones. “I wish we executed some things better, regardless of how good they are. We did some good things on defense out there, and we did some really bad things.
“We have a bunch of sophomores out there. They’re going to make sophomore mistakes. That’s what film is for. We’ll be back.”
Both teams hit the road on Friday night with Milford off to Pelham and Souhegan at Manchester West.