Milton on wrong side of shutout in Week 2
MILTON—The mystique of Waunakee football has clearly cast a spell over the Milton Red Hawks.
Facing the Badger North powerhouse for the third time in 13 games, Milton once again played like it was in a trance.
Sam Musso rushed for 209 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Warriors to a 28-0 win Friday night in a Badger crossover game.
Milton managed just 51 yards of total offense, including one yard rushing.
In the last three meetings between the schools, Waunakee has outscored Milton 87-9.
“I'm telling you right now, that's the best football team we'll play all year, at least in the regular season,” Milton coach Bill O'Leary said. “They're fabulous defensively, and they did a lot of things up front that they didn't show on film.
“They're a very, very good football team. They're well-coached. They use a two-platoon system where everybody is disciplined and knows their assignment. And let's face it, there were times tonight where they were in the backfield before we could even get the play off.”
Musso changed the entire complexion of the game with one play. On second down at the Waunakee 11-yard line, Musso busted through the middle on an off-tackle play and ran untouched to the endzone for a 89-yard score. The first of Max Allen's four PATs made it 7-0.
Bruising sophomore running back L.O. Johnson pushed the lead to 13-0 when he scampered in from 31 yards out with 10:01 left in the opening half.
Waunakee then blocked a punt at the Milton 2-yard line, and Alex Hansen fell on the ball in the end zone to push the lead to 20-0 with 6:20 left in the half.
How much of a struggle was it for Milton offensively? The Red Hawks finished with three first downs and rushed 31 times for one yard.
“That's how good they are defensively,” O'Leary said of the Warriors. “They held a pretty potent Edgewood offense to three points last week, and we didn't even come close to scoring.
“And really, the big plays hurt us, too. Musso gets loose for a long touchdown when we've got them pinned down deep, and then they score off a blocked punt and suddenly we're down 21-0.”
Waunakee (2-0, 0-0) finished with 447 yards of offense, including 375 rushing.
Milton (1-1, 0-0) plays at Madison Edgewood (0-2, 0-0) in the Badger Conference South opener next Friday.
WAUNAKEE 28, MILTON 0
Waunakee 7 14 7 0—28
Milton 0 0 0 0—0
Scoring: W—Sam Musso, 89 run (Max Allen kick). W—L.O. Johnson, 31 run (Allen kick). W—Alex Hansen, recovered blocked punt in end zone (Allen kick). W—Musso, 41 run (Allen kick).
Statistics: First downs—W 22, M 3. Rushes—W 58-375, M 31-1. Yards passing—72, M 50. Passes—W 13-8-0, M 12-6-0. Fumbles—W 3-2, M 2-0. Penalties—W 7-71, M 6-54.