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Upset-minded Milford runs out of steam, falls to unbeaten Timberlane

By Hector Longo - Special to The Telegraph | Oct 30, 2021

Hector Longo photo -- Milford's Logan Barnhill beats Timberlane's Ethan Stewart to the corner and heads up the field. Barnhill ran for 95 yards and a TD but the Owls took the 21-14 win in the regular-season finale.

PLAISTOW – Part football game, part scouting mission and part learning experience.

Victory would have been sweet in Friday night’s regular season finale for the Milford High football team at Timberlane Regional. Spartans’ coach Keith Jones and his crew will take the reconnaissance and the experience — along with their solid 6-2 regular-season mark after a 21-14 loss at the hands of the unbeaten (9-0) Owls – and prepare for what they hope will be a three-week playoff ride beginning next week.

“I don’t know who the best team is (in Division II) but we slugged it out with Lebanon, too, for four quarters and we just came up a little short,” said Jones.

“Obviously, every game you play you want to win, but the real season starts (now).”

It appears when the dust settles and final calculations are made, the Spartans will host an opening-round playoff game, most likely as the fourth seed.

“Now we have to get healthy and get ready to go, and whatever our first opponent is, it’s a one-game season each week,” added Jones.

Just as it did in an earlier loss to the other D-II unbeaten, Lebanon, Milford proved it could trade blows, one for one, with the best, at least for a while.

Milford carried a 14-7 lead into the fourth, before the bruising Timberlane running game simply wore the Spartans’ down.

“You saw late in the game, they were wearing us down, getting five and six yards a clip. Hats off to them, their front line is awesome. We knew that coming in,” said Jones.

“We knew we had to play perfect, and we did not play perfect in the second half, too many mistakes. When we had them at 14-7, we knew we needed it to be 21-7 after the first drive (of the second half). And we didn’t do it.”

The hosts, playing before a full house on their side of the field, scored a pair of fourth-quarter TDs, both coming on Dom Pallaria runs, to claim the victory.

On the night, Timberlane ran 42 times for 255 yards, as both Pallaria (111) and Dan Post (123) rolled over the 100-yard mark.

Milford’s Caden Zalenski and Timberlane’s post traded first-quarter TD runs as the teams played to a 7-7 stalemate.

The Spartans would grab the lead on as unique a two-minute drill as you’ll ever see, a real Jones’ special.

Taking over at their own 31 with just 1:57 on the second quarter clock and just one timeout, Milford covered 69 yards on eight runs with a pair of incomplete passes mixed in.

The final sequence was frenzied and phenomenal. Jones called a wingback sweep to Logan Barnhill with 15 seconds left.

The senior broke to the goal line coming up inches short. Milford, with amazing discipline, got lined up again and ran the same play, with Barnhill busting in as time expired, making it 14-7 Spartans. But instead of building on it in the third, Milford, stifled by key penalties, only held even. That was costly.

Timberlane ground out a pair of long drives in the fourth to take the lead and preserve their perfect regular season.

“We’re smaller than them, and our kids played with heart. I’m very proud of my kids,” said Jones. “Swinging a heavy bat, I thought we played great. We just ran out of gas a little bit.”

Barnhill led the Milford attack with 95 yards on 13 rushes. Milford only totaled 157 yards on the ground and eight yards through the air.

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