Milford junior quarterback Chuck Urda will be a player to watch in Saturday's Division II semifinals at Lebanon. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

MILFORD – The name means quarterback success for Milford High School football.

Yes, Chuck Urda knew that when he signed up.

“At the beginning, I kind of felt pressured, then I kind of got used to it and started loving the sport,”Urda, the Spartans junior quarterback, said. “And it kind of came naturally to me. … I felt pressured that I had to, but then I loved it.”

It couldn’t have been easy to avoid that destiny. His dad, Rick Urda, is a Spartan assistant coach and former Merrimack head coach. His brothers, Harrison, Max and Garrison all played the QB position here. So as a freshman, the the coaches would kid him, “and I got used to it pretty quickly.”

“He’s great,” Milford coach Keith Jones said. “We call him ‘Chuckles.'”

And “Chuckles” learned the ropes pretty quickly, to the point where he was starting as a sophomore and on Saturday he hopes to add a highlight to his junior season when the No. 3, 7-2 Spartans head to Lebanon to take on the No. 2, 9-0 Raiders in the Division II semifinals.

The family football affair has certainly taught him a ton, especially since his brothers are all older.

“I think it’s just experience,” Urda said. “We played so much (neighborhood) football, just the physicality. I got so much from having older brothers.”

Can you believe the quarterback didn’t always want to be a QB? And prefers playing defense?

You’d never know it from the way he helped lead the Spartans past Plymouth in last weekend’s quarterfinals, running for four touchdowns.

“He’s elusive,” Jones said. “Sneaky fast.”

“I always wanted to be a slot receiver,” he said, “because I think I have good footwork and I think I can do it well.

“But at Milford it’s (playing QB) been tradition and it works out well because I love running the option offense. I think it’s amazing, it works so well in high school. I love it.”

Urda started playing youth football in the fifth grade, but the program wasn’t the greatest until it switched to a more competitive league and won a championship, furthering Urda’s enjoyment of the game.

Urda makes good decisions rolling out, but doesn’t think he’s much of a thrower, even though he throws every day in practice. But there’s less work on reading defenses, etc., as Milford basically works on controlling the ball and then popping the eventual big play if it’s there.

Opponents focus on the running attack of Caden Zalenski and Logan Barnhill, but as last Saturday proved, they can’t sleep on Urda.

“I think teams don’t pay attention to me when they’re looking at film,” Urda said. “But then we get into the game and they see me. But definitely not as much as Logan or Caden.”

“It takes a little of the public eye off of him,” Jones said. “And then he sneaks in there sometimes.”

Here’s another little known fact. The player who is holding up the family quarterback tradition loves playing defensive back even more. In fact, he prefers it.

“As a quarterback, it’s like an automatic pressure for me,” he said, noting that as a defender he can sit back and see the play develop without linemen trying to get to him for their lunch.

And being a QB helps him be a better defensive back.

“Definitley,” he said. “I can definitely feel what the quarterback is doing.”

Urda isn’t quite sure beyond his senior season whether he’d like to play in college.

“Not really,” Urda said. “But if I got an opportunity, I’d take it.”

It might be too early to think about all that, anyway, as he not only has another year in a Spartans uniform, he has another big game Saturday vs. a Lebanon team that won here 27-14. But,that was way back on Sept. 17.

“I’m confident,” Urda said. “They had that punt return at the end of the game. I think if they didn’t get that, we would’ve won that week, and I think we can definitely win again (this) week.”

Either way, getting this far is something special for Urda. Last Saturday’s win is something he’ll cherish.

“It means a lot,” he said. “My brother Gavin went to the quarters and lost, both years he went. It feels great to actually win a playoff game, because I haven’t experienced it in a long time.”

Charlie Urda hopes it’s something he and his whole family can experience again on Saturday.

“I love them all the same,” Jones said of the Urda clan.

But Chuck will be the current apple of his eye even more if things work out vs. Lebanon.