Milford's Marcus Kern (0) and Wes Martin (behind) congratulate Spartans teammate Jacob Hill (13) after his second TD roun in the first half of Saturday's win over Pembroke. (Photo by Dan Attori)

PEMBROKE — Last year Jacob Hill stepped up at quarterback when the team needed him. This year, he opened the season in a new role. Once again, he delivered.

Playing as a lead back, Hill ran for two first-quarter touchdowns, finishing the game with 100 yards on five carries and a 22-yard reception, sophomore Wes Martin played well in his first start at quarterback as the Milford football team defeated Pembroke Academy on the road, 30-6, in a battle of two Spartan squads to open the Division II season.

Milford forced a three-and-out on the first possession of the game and Hill weaved through Pembroke’s defense on Milford’s second play from scrimmage, eventually finding open field along the sideline for a 46-yard touchdown.

Sophomore Lucas Neubeck connected on the extra point to make it 7-0 at 9:27 of the first quarter and Hill displayed his agility again with a 40-yard TD to make it 14-0 with 20 seconds left in the first quarter.

“Hill played (quarterback) out of necessity due to a last minute roster thing,” Milford head coach Max Morelli said. “It was nice to be able to get him the ball in a place that’s a little bit more natural for him. We certainly appreciate him stepping up last year, but it was great to see him carry to rock and have such a good performance.”

Sophomore Max Cote executed a fake punt to extend a drive that continued deep into Pembroke territory. Milford fumbled the ball away at the 6, but sophomore Mason Wheeler tackled a Pembroke receiver in the end zone a few plays later for a safety.

Cote scored a 9-yard TD with 23.5 seconds on the clock and Neubeck had an interception to end the half with Milford leading 22-0. Cote also had an interception to end the game.

“I think a lot of kids had good individual performances,” Morelli said. “I think the effort was really high. We really ran to the ball well on defense. Really proud of them.”

Among those strong individual performances was Martin’s performance in his first varsity start under center.

“He took three snaps in the last game of the year last year when the other kid got hurt. So yes, it’s his first live action varsity (start),” Morelli said.

Junior fullback Jace Wilhelmi ran in a 4-yard touchdown with 1:12 left in the game and Martin saved a broken play on the extra point. The snap went too high for Martin to get down in time for a kick, but he scrambled to get open and found senior Gavyn Tessier in the end zone for a 2-point conversion.

Martin finished the game 2-for-6 passing with 36 yards in the air.

Wilhelmi (108 yards on 13 carries) and Tessier (113 yards on 14 carries) had strong individual efforts, breaking through tackles and wearing down Pembroke’s limited depth in the second half.

It wasn’t a flawless performance. Tessier fumbled the ball on the 6 in the first half and Pembroke’s only score came with 5:35 left in the game when sophomore quarterback Dom Brady found senior Nate Lawrence for a medium gain. Lawrence was surrounded by four Milford defenders, but they couldn’t finish the play and he broke away from the tackles with 40 yards of open space in front of him for a 51-yard TD.

“The high end was good, but there was too much inconsistency play-to-play that we need to fix,” Morelli said. “We’re not going to get away with that every week.”

Milford’s home opener is Friday when the Spartans host the Hanover Bears, who lost a competitive 18-11 game to perennial D-II power Plymouth.

Morelli’s goal moving forward is a simple one.

“Get better faster than everybody else does,” Morelli said. “But I’m proud of the kids.”