After battling back to tie the game in the second quarter, the Milford football team couldn’t get to the endzone in the second half and lost to Syracuse 32-20 Aug. 29.
“It was a tough loss Friday night, but it showed us what we need to work on,” Coach Ryan Voelker said.
Syracuse scored on a 35-yard run early in the first quarter for a 6-0 lead.
Milford used a five-yard run by Connor Adams and Jay Wissenburg kick to take the lead 7-6 with 7:15 to play in the second quarter.
On the first play of its next drive, Syracuse raced 63 yards for the score to retake the lead 14-7.
On the second play of its next possession, Milford took the lead back on a 57-yard pass from Landon Roth to Isaac Roth. Wissenburg’s kick put the score at 14-12 with 6:21 to play in the first half.
Syracuse turned the ball over on downs with 3:46 to go in the second quarter, and Milford used seven plays to go 44 yards and scored on an eight-yard pass from Landon Roth to Zane Wittstruck with 1:25 to go.
Syracuse took the kickoff and, thanks to a pair of Milford penalties, went 43 yards in five plays and scored on a 25-yard pass with 31 seconds left in the half, tying the game at 20-20.
Neither team scored in the third quarter. but Syracuse scored twice in the fourth on runs of seven and 77 yards.
Landon Roth finished the game completing 14 of 25 pass attempts for 142 yards. Wittstruck led the ground game with 153 yards on 22 carries. Isaac Roth caught six passes for 93 yards.
On defense, Isaac Roth finished with seven solo tackles and four assists. Zeb Reil added five solo stops and two assists. Cory Langenberg notched three solo tackles and nine assists.
“Our players have drive and love the game, so we will improve. Their response has already been exciting. We move on,” Voelker said.
Milford is at Louisville Friday, Sept. 5, for a 7 p.m. game. The Lions defeated Schuyler 54-0 Aug. 29.
