Keith Jones is in football heaven.

Why?

Because the Milford High School football coach is taking a team into Saturday’s Division II championship game vs. Timberlane that he loves. One of his favorites in his 20-plus years as the Spartans coch.

“Oh, absolutely,” Jones said the other day. “This group of kids is awesome. Oh myGod, we have so much fun at practice, it’s insane.”

Fun? Practice? That’s not supposed to happen in football.

But it happens at Milford with this group, within reason.

“They work hard at practice,” Jones said. “They know when to goof around, and they know when it’s time for business, and time for work. And they get it done every day.”

As a coach, that’s all you can ask. Jones simply asks for one thing: Maximum effort. If he doesn’t see it, he’ll let you know. It’s unlikely he had to let many know with this group.

They’re the ultimate underdogs. Hard-nosed. Scrappy. The offense, led by backs Caden Zalenski and Logan Barnhill, and the defense, led by big guy Ben Kilgore, just play to the whistle and play to the final whistle.

“These kids will scrape, scratch, bite and crawl through mud and blood to try to win,” Jones said.

Just ask Lebanon. The Raiders had blown by everyone in Division II all season, but their toughest game was a 27-14 regular season win at Milford that was closer than the final score indicated. On Saturday, their 24-14 loss to the Spartans was nowhere near as close as that score indicated. The Raiders, a big play speed team, were beaten, battered, bruised, and appeared to want to avoid contact whenever possible.

“They definitely punched us in the mouth up front,” Lebanon coach Chris Childs said after Saturday’s game.

Now Saturday, Jones’s Spartans will be looking at a Timberlane team that likes to play the way they do – perhaps with a tad more finesse – but is bigger, stronger, and may outnumber the Spartans 2-1.

But Jones’ team had a 14-7 lead going into the final quarter in the regular season meeting, so don’t count them out. Lebanon may have made that mistake. The Owls likely won’t.

But that doesn’t mean the Spartans aren’t feeling good about their chances to win their first state title since 2003.

And there’s a reason they’re finally in their first title game since 2004.

“Why not us?” Jones said. “These kids are relentless. Nothing fazes them. They do not get down, they do not get down on their teammates. They face adversity the best they can.

“And they come to the conclusion that sometimes you’re not going to win, but it’s not going to be for a lack of effort.”

Jones said the program has been snakebit over the years. B

“It’s been 17 years, and unfortunately it’s been one point here or one play there,” Jones said. “There were just years of heartbreak. … Footballs are shaped funny for a reason. Ball rolls a funny way sometimes.”

But really, its shape is perferct for Milford because it’s the same ball that’s been used over all these years.

Perfect for a team that plays old-time football.

Tom King may be reached at tking@nashuatelegraph.com, or you can follow him on twitter @Telegraph _TomK.