“We fought back right down to the end and I am proud of our guys for that,” said Eaton coach Ron Neanen. “But it seems like nothing went right for us tonight.”

By KATHY TYLER

Sports Writer

In a marathon game where 106 points were scored, nearly 900 yards of offense were recorded and 61 passes were attempted, Milton-Union Bulldogs came up with one last grab on an onside kick to hold on to a 57-49 Southwestern Buckeye League win over the Eaton Golden Eagles Friday night at Memorial Stadium.

“We fought back right down to the end and I am proud of our guys for that,” said Eaton coach Ron Neanen. “But it seems like nothing went right for us tonight.”

Milton’s head coach Bret Pearce must have pulled out all his good-luck charms in an attempt to end a four-game losing streak. The Eagles took the opening kickoff and fumbled on the first play of the game. Nikko Johnson recovered the loose ball, and the Bulldogs were off to the races. The ’Dogs capitalized on the turnover with a seven-play drive for a 1-yard touchdown by Dakota Burke. After the successful extra-point kick, the kickoff turned into a worm-burner, bouncing off the Eagles and into the hands of Matt Fryman for the recovery. On the second play from scrimmage, Milton quarterback Jon Mason found Chris McCoy for a 49-yard touchdown pass. With the extra-point kick by Zack Smith, Milton held a 14-0 lead with only four minutes off the clock.

“We really challenged our guys to come out with more energy tonight than they have had all year,” said Pearce. “We would like to think we caused those fumbles, but we were able to capitalize on them. You have to capitalize on the other team’s mistakes — which is what has happened to us a lot this season.”

Eaton got on the scoreboard before the end of the first quarter with a 38-yard interception return by Daryl Bishop.

Mason, who had thrown less than 25 passes all season, threw 29 Friday while completing 20 for 256 yards. Thomas Ford kept a drive going with a 44-yard catch which led to a third Milton touchdown.

The Milton defense held Eaton’s running game early and teamed up for a defensive score when Johnson tipped an Austin Fudge pass into Matt Fryman’s hands. Fryman found open field down the sideline for the 75-yard interception return. On the extra-point attempt, Chris McCoy took the snap for kicker Zack Smith, but instead of holding the football McCoy tossed the ball up to Trent Warner, who happened to be running by and rounded to the right wide open for the two-point conversion. The play gave Milton a 29-6 halftime lead and put the Milton fans on their feet.

“At half, our defense played hard,” Pearce said. “They had a running game against us and the only score they got was an interception return. In the second half, they found some soft spots in the backfield for some big plays. We were physically exhausted, but our emotions carried us through to the end tonight.”

The second half was a whirlwind of offense from both sides as 10 touchdowns were scored. The Eagles went to the air as Fudge connected on 18-of-31 pass attempts for 259 yards. And when he didn’t throw the ball, he was able to scramble out of the pocket to lead the Eagles in rushing with 110 yards on eight carries.

Milton opened the half with a 16-play drive ending with Mason connecting with Johnson for a 14-yard touchdown pass. The drive took 6:30 off the clock and gave Milton a 30-point lead. But Fudge had other ideas. On the first play from scrimmage, the Eaton quarterback ducked under the Milton defense and took off for a 57-yard TD run. His two-point conversion pass made the score 36-14.

Milton answered with a 30-yard pass from Mason to Kyle West, but Eaton followed with another score on a 6-yard pass to T.J. Woods. The Bulldogs were forced to punt at the end of the third quarter and Eaton opened the final period with a 16-yard TD pass to Ryan Paxton, making the score 43-28.

Milton hit the half-century mark with 6:21 remaining in the game on a 7-yard pass to Johnson — his second score of the night. But the Eagles were not finished.

Needing three scores to take the lead with just over six minutes remaining, the Eagles appeared to be out of the game— but got right back into it.

Fudge scored on a 1-yard keeper, and after recovering the onside kick, the Eagles scored again on a Dalton Caudill 5-yard run making the score 50-42 with 4:07 remaining in the game.

However, luck would be on the Bulldogs’ side as a broken play turned into a 29-yard gain to set up what would be the game-winning touchdown. McCoy lined up as quarterback and took the snap with three receivers wide to the right. He turned and found nothing but Eaton defenders on his heels. McCoy scrambled long enough to find Trent Warner open for the 29-yard gain, giving Milton first-and-goal at the four. Two plays later, Jon King powered into the end zone.

“McCoy went the wrong way,” Pearce said. “The receivers were lined up to give him more running room, but the defense caught up with him. He was able to find the open receiver for the good recovery.”

McCoy would finish the game with 16 yards rushing, 97 yards receiving, one pass completion for 29 yards, a 49-yard touchdown reception and a pitch for the two-point conversion. All-in-all, the Bulldog offense would see 12 different players rush, catch or throw the ball.

“We have to spread it around to be successful,” said Pearce. “We have a lot of good talent and we have to put the ball in as many hands as we can. That is Milton football, that is team football.”

Eaton would get its third touchdown in the quarter on a 3-yard pass, but the Bulldogs were able to recover the third onside kick and move the ball enough to let the final 1:56 expire.

“Jon Mason really stepped it up tonight,” said Pearce. “That is what we see during practice and we are glad he was able to bring it to the field tonight.

“This is the offense we thought we would have at the beginning of the season. We were not executing the way we wanted the first few games so we changed some things around. Tonight, we went back to what we were doing from the beginning. Jon came through. Our receivers caught the ball. We has pass blocking. But I really didn’t think we would score 57 points.”

For the record, the 57 points is not the most points Milton has scored in one game. That would be 63 points — but the 106 total points is a school record.

The Bulldogs will hope the momentum carries into week seven as the ’Dogs host the undefeated Brookville Blue Devils in their annual Homecoming game.

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