Milford running back Logan Barnhill barrels over Plymouth's Brock Tanner (26) and Joe Peters during last Saturday's quarterfinal win. Barnhill will be one of the keys for the Spartans in today's semifinals at Lebanon. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

It’s the special teams play that has haunted the Milford High School football team to this day.

Today at Lebanon High School, the No. 3, 7-2 Spartans are hoping to exorcise that demon in the Division II semifinals against the 9-0, second-ranked Raiders at 3 p.m. in Lebanon.

The play was a 55-yard punt return by Lebanon’s Jackson Stone that erased a 14-12 Milford lead with just over four minutes to play, keeping Lebanon unbeaten and handing Milford its first defeat. The Spartans’ only other loss was even closer, 21-14 to No. 1 Timberlan.

Clearly, Milford is just a couple of plays away from being the favorite in the division. Stone scored another TD, giving him three for the game back on Sept. 17.

“They’re a handsfull,” Milford coach Keith Jones said. “They’ve got athletes, their quarterback (Stone) is legit is fast, real fast. They’ve got two other kids (C.J. Childs and Nyeoti Punni) who are real fast.”

Lebanon actually played in Division III two years ago, losing in the finals to Trinity. They outscored the opposition 168-0 before Souhegan got to within 27-20 in the third quarter of last Saturday’s quarterfinals before pulling away for a 47-20 win.

They can score in the blink of an eye. Stone had 115 yards in 22 carries vs. the Sabers, while Childs had 89 in 19 and Punni, a superb track sprinter, 130 in 23.

“They’re tough, tough Lebanon kids,” Jones said. “They haven’t lost a game now going back two or three years, like 2019 before they had COVID issues. (they basically didn’t compete with a full schedule last year due to the pandemic).

“It’s at their place, we’re going to have to get ready to go.”

The key, Jones said, will be to use the Spartans’ grind-it-out offense with backs Caden Zalenski and Logan Barnhill to put together long drives and lengthy time of possession. Milford’s best defense may be its offense, keeping it out of the quick-strike hands of Stone & Co.

“We’ve got to control the clock,” Jones said. “We’ve got to limit their possessions and grind it out. We can’t have mistakes like we did the first time.

“It’s the same thing. You know what you’ve got in (Nos.) 22 (Zalenski) and 23 (Barnhill). You’ve got to handle them. You’ve got to do different things to stop them, and then (Nos.) 10 (QB Charlie Urda) and 7 (Cade Cloutier) are the next two guys up, and they’ve got to get it done.”

“They’re (Milford) more of a downhill team that runs double dives and powers,” Lebanon coach Chris Childs told octupus athletics.com after the win over Souhegan. “It’s definitely the opposite of what we saw (in the quarters), when Souhegan wanted to spread us out and chuck the ball all over the field.”

If the Spartans have to do that, it will be a bad sign. For much of this year, all the signs for Milford have been positive.

OTHER SEMIS

The other Division II semifinal pits No. 4 St. Thomas (8-2) at No. 1 Timberlane (10-0). The Owls romped over the Saints 43-0 in Dover way back in the season opener on Sept. 3.

Also today at 1 p.m., Winnacunnet hosts Exeter while Salem (7-2) visits Londonderry (9-1) in the Division I semifinals. Salem raised eyebrows by handing the Lancers their only loss, 35-21, three weeks ago while Winnacunnet beat Exeter 14-7 early in the season in their huge rivalry.

CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES

In Division III, No. 1 Pelham (9-0) faces No. 2 Trinity (8-1) at 1 p.m. in the championship game at Bedford High School. The two teams did not play each other in the regular season due to COVID protocols.

And in Division IV, also at 1 p.m., No. 2 Somersworth squares off against No. 4 Fall Mountain I for the title at Laconia’s Bank of New Hampshire Stadium.