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Central Columbia downs Milton in wild double overtime thriller, 42-34

Tagged under: District 4, Gameday Hub, News, pfn

| October 5, 2024

SOUTH CENTRE TOWNSHIP – Right from the opening kickoff all the way to the last play of the game, Blue Jay Stadium was rocking and for good reason too, as they’d welcome in Milton for their annual homecoming game, and it ended up being a wild one for sure. The Black Panthers were coming off two straight blowout home losses to Danville and Mifflinburg, while the Blue Jays were looking for their first win since their opening game against Midd-West.

Central Columbia opened the game up with great starting field position at Milton’s 48 yard line, however this would ultimately lead to nothing but a punt, however this punt was a beauty from Dylan Shultz as it was downed inside the one yard line. Two plays later this would prove to be beneficial for the Blue Jays as a fumble by Milton running back Chris Doyle led to a recovery by Shultz in the end zone, putting the Blue Jays up early 7-0. Milton’s next drive had better starting field position, this time at Central Columbia’s 48 yard line, however the drive ended quickly as the Blue Jays defense made a stop on 4th and 8, giving the ball right back to their offense.

Central Columbia took over at their own 46 and orchestrated a beautiful 54 yard touchdown drive, which was capped off by a 3 yard run by senior running back Ty Regan, increasing the Blue Jays lead to 14-0. Milton refused to back down yet, as they answered right back with a 66 yard touchdown run by Lucas Ditty, his first of three on the night, cutting the lead down to 14-6, which is where the score would stay at the end of the first quarter.

Offense died down quite a bit on both sides in the second quarter. The Black Panthers opened up the frame with an interception as Lucas Ditty picked off a third down pass by quarterback Parker Day, setting Milton up at their own 44 yard line. Milton took the ball and proceeded to drive all the way down to the Blue Jays 7 yard line, where on first and goal, quarterback Izayah Minium would fumble the snap, leading to a recovery by Alex Zeisloft at the 8 yard line, ending Milton’s drive. Milton’s defense stood strong however, not letting the Blue Jays get any further than their own 38 yard line, forcing them into a punt. Dylan Shultz once again took advantage of this opportunity though, as he booted another beautiful punt which pinned Milton all the back at their own 10 yard line.

This poor field position didn’t phase Milton’s offense though, as they drove 90 yards in almost 6 minutes, all the way to the end zone, with the drive being capped off by a 5 yard touchdown run by Chris Doyle, redeeming himself after his costly fumble in the endzone. Milton tied up the game shortly after on the two point conversion, with a direct snap to junior running back Montgomery Fisher who made his way into the end zone tying the game at 14 with 36 seconds left to play in the half. The final seconds were uneventful, leaving us with a 14-14 game going into the halftime break.

After the homecoming ceremony at halftime, it was time to get back to the game, and both sides were ready to play in the second half. The Blue Jays started the second half strong, forcing Milton to punt on the opening possession of the quarter, and then followed it up with a touchdown drive of their own, this one going for 60 yards. The drive was capped off with a 31 yard touchdown run on a 4th and 1 by Ty Regan, his second touchdown run of the night, putting the Blue Jays back ahead 20-14 with 7:49 remaining in the third quarter. Milton’s offense would respond once again with a 57 yard touchdown drive, which ended with a 6 yard touchdown pass from Izayah Minium to Lucas Ditty along with a blocked extra point, keeping the score tied at 20 heading into the fourth quarter.

Milton took their first lead of the game in the fourth quarter as just over a minute in, Ditty would cash in with a 59 yard touchdown run, giving Milton a 26-20 lead. Not even 20 seconds later, the Blue Jays answered right back, tying the game back up again, this time at 26, as quarterback Parker Day scrambled 56 yards all the way to the end zone, tying the game back up with 10:45 left in the fourth quarter after a failed two point conversion.

Both defenses would step it up big time for the rest of the fourth quarter. The two teams exchanged punts, leading to the Blue Jays taking over with the football at their own 37 yard line with 5 and a half left in the fourth. Central Columbia drove down into Milton territory, taking the clock with it, bringing it inside of 2 minutes, as well as getting into the red zone, all the way down to the 12 yard line. Unfortunately for Central Columbia the drive stalled, as on 4th and 4 from the twelve, a quarterback keeper by Day would only get a yard, giving Milton possession at their own 11 yard line, with 1:51 to go and three timeouts.

If the crowd wasn’t loud enough already, it only got louder as the home crowd tried to support their defense in the biggest spot of the game to that point. The noise worked as the Blue Jays defense forced a 3 and out for Milton, along with a punt. Nate Lopez lined up in his own end zone ready to send it back to the Blue Jays who had no timeouts remaining, and senior running back Aidan Huntington took the punt from the Milton 42 yard line and took it down the right sideline, getting tackled at the 10 yard line with 16 seconds remaining, bringing the crowd to its feet once again. Since the Blue Jays had no timeouts remaining, they were forced to throw for the end zone, their first pass attempt was one to the left corner of the end zone which was over the head of Dylan Shultz. Their second pass attempt went to the left side once again, this time to the goal line and appeared to be completed to Alex Zeisloft, but was ruled incomplete. With just 3 seconds let on the clock, Central Columbia sent out Cordell Heggenstaller to try to win the game with a 27 yard field goal attempt. His first attempt got blocked but an offsides penalty on Milton gave him another shot, this time from 22 yards, the kick went up and over the left goalpost and appeared to have won the game, however referees came in and said the kick was no good, thus sending this wild game into overtime.

Milton got the ball first in overtime, and scored on the first play with a 10 yard touchdown run by Chris Doyle, his second of the night, and they would add on the two point conversion with yet another run by Chris Doyle, giving Milton back the lead, 34-26. Central Columbia got the ball next and had to use all four downs to get into the end zone with a one yard run by Parker Day. After the two point conversion to Alex Zeisloft, we were tied up once again at 34-34.

The second overtime began with a 10 yard touchdown run by senior tight end Josh Worthington, putting the Blue Jays back ahead, and with the two point conversion to Alex Zeisloft for the second time, Central Columbia made the score 42-34. As Milton’s offense took the field, the entire capacity at Blue Jay stadium rose to their feet. The Blue Jays’ defense stuffed the first run by Doyle, causing Milton to go to the air. After two straight incompletions on 2nd and 3rd down, it came down to the final play from the 9 yard line. On the final play was a pass to the end zone intended for Montgomery Fisher, which was knocked down to the ground by Aidan Huntington, securing the Blue Jays win with a final score of 42-34.

“I think we learned how to play with some heart,” Blue Jays head coach EJ Smith said after the win. “One of the things we’ve been struggling with is when things don’t go our way , we kinda nosedive, and the kids really fought back tonight, and i was really happy to see that because that’s what we’re going to need moving forward.”

Central Columbia (2-5) will hope to ride the momentum from this hard earned win into next week on the road against Mifflinburg (2-5) who is coming off an upset win over Southern Columbia, meanwhile Milton (2-5) will hope to rebound next week as they have a home date with Midd-West (0-7).

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