Milford senior receiver Ben Greenwell has been the Eagles’ most potent aerial threat this season. (File photo)

Milford senior receiver Ben Greenwell has been the Eagles’ most potent aerial threat this season. (File photo)
By Chris Chaney
Sports Editor

At the halfway point of the regular season, it’s getting late early for area teams with playoff aspirations.

As Glen Este and Milford enter into their third week of conference play — in which they will play one another — the Southern Buckeye Conference contingent wrapped up their non-conference schedules and will now chase league championships.

Milford 28, Anderson 14: The statement win that Shane Elkin had been waiting for this season came to fruition on Friday night as the Eagles took down Anderson for the first time since 1999.

Tied at 14 at halftime, the Eagles offensive line controlled the line of scrimmage in the second half springing junior running back Dawson Slone for 177 yards in the second half alone. Slone ended the game with a career-high 189 yards rushing.

Milford quarterback Tyler Smith scored twice on the ground and completed seven of his 14 passing attempts for 75 yards. He accounted for 108 total yards on the night.

Wide receiver Brendan Dugan rounded out the Eagles’ scoring threats, taking a pitch from Smith around the edge for nine yards and a score.

The Milford defense held Anderson scoreless in the second half to improve the Eagles’ record to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the ECC. Milford will travel to Glen Este on Friday night.

New Richmond 26, Bethel-Tate 0: For the second week in a row, the New Richmond defense paved the way for a Lions victory in the school’s second consecutive shutout of the Tigers (NR beat BT 42-0 last season).

New Richmond opened up an 18-0 halftime lead and extended the margin to 26-0 by the end of the third.

Four different Lions found the end zone in the win led by senior running back Michael Williamson who racked up 137 rushing yards on 21 carries.

Quarterbacks Austin Torrens and Josh Anderson both ran in a score while Anderson also found wide receiver Evan Grippa for a 14-yard touchdown.

The win moves the Lions to 3-2 on the season and gives them some momentum as they host Amelia in Week 6 to kick off SBC-American divisional play.

Bethel-Tate falls to 2-2 and they will host Manchester on Friday, Oct. 2 at 7 p.m.

Norwood 30, Batavia 7: A snowball effect of bad breaks doomed the Bulldogs as they fell to Norwood on Saturday at Shea Stadium.

Leading 7-0 after the first possession of the game resulted in a Shaun Howe one-yard touchdown run, the Bulldogs defense was able to bend, but not break, holding Norwood scoreless well into the third quarter.

A high longsnap deep in Batavia’s own territory resulted in a safety for Norwood and their first points of the game. From there, the flood gates opened. The Indians returned the ensuing kick and scored two more touchdowns over the next 2:25 of game time to open up a 23-7 lead.

Norwood would ice away the victory with one final touchdown with a minute remaining to drop Batavia to 1-4 on the season.

The Bulldogs will open SBC-National play this week at Clermont Northeastern.

Turpin 31, Glen Este 17: In a game that pitted two top-10 teams in Associated Press Division II state poll, the No. 9 Spartans bested the No. 10 Trojans in an ECC showdown.

After three consecutive wins that came in dramatic fashion, Glen Este was unable to muster any late-game magic in their second week of league play.

Falling behind 17-0, GE got within 24-17 midway through the third quarter, but couldn’t find the offensive rhythm that had the Trojans scoring just short of 50 points per game previously.

Senior quarterback Tyler Pilcher completed 25 of his 43 pass attempts for 313 yards, a touchdown and an interception. He also rushed 15 times for 35 yards.

Standout running back Robby Boone was bottled up for 45 yards on 16 carries. He also scored and caught five passes for 52 yards.

Isaiah Toole led the GE receiving corps with 110 yards on six catches. Tanner Ayers also hauled in six balls for 82 yards.

The Trojans, now 4-1 overall and 1-1 in the ECC, will host Clermont County rivals Milford on Oct. 2.

Blanchester 29, Amelia 25: An impressive second-half comeback by the Barons turned out to be for naught as Blanchester was able to find the end zone last to earn their first win of the season.

Trailing 14-0 midway through the second quarter, Amelia found its lone first-half highlight in a 60-yard touchdown run by quarterback Cage Meyer. Another Blanchester score before the halftime whistle left Amelia trailing 21-6.

With adjustments made at the break, Amelia scored 13 unanswered points to start the third quarter. Another touchdown with 8:46 remaining, a 36-yard strike from Meyer to Mitch Mentzel, gave the Barons their first lead of the game.

The Wildcats mounted an impressive drive to take the lead back and a Meyer interception on the ensuing drive seemed to be the icing on the cake for Blan. But the Amelia defense forced a fumble with under three minutes remaining to give the offense another shot.

Amelia’s final chance to secure the win stalled around midfield when a 4th and 9 pass fell incomplete.

The Barons drop to 1-4 on the season and will travel to face New Richmond on Oct. 2 to begin their SBC-American slate.

Miami Valley Christian Academy 43, Clermont Northeastern 29: The Rockets picked a tough opponent to have their best outing of the season against. MVCA came into Week 5 ranked 12th in the Associated Press Division VII state poll and enter Week 6 ranked 10th thanks to a win over a hungry CNE team.

The Rockets hitched their wagon to senior running back Dalton Miracle and rode their workhorse for a school-record 358 yards.

The one-man show wasn’t enough to derail the Lions multiple weapons, however, dropping the Rockets to 0-5 on the season.

CNE will host Batavia on Thursday, Oct. 1 at 7 p.m.