For the Milano football team, Friday night ended with the Eagles jumping in front of Iola in the playoff picture when they defeated the home team 35-22.
Throughout the first half, both teams were neck-and-neck with Milano’s Alan Maldonado starting things off by breaking through defenders to score a 57-yard touchdown in the opening quarter. Following a made extra-point by Irvin Juarez, MHS led 7-0.
The Bulldogs quickly bounced back, making their way down the field before IHS quarterback Brian Crosby got the ball across the goal line from the oneyard line. A successful twopoint conversion gave Iola an 8-7 lead.
However, the Bulldog lead didn’t last long as Maldonado returned the following kickoff for 70 yards. Although the conversion immediately after failed, MHS led at the close of the first quarter 13-8.
More of the same occurred in the second, with Ioa regaining the lead on another goal line run by Crosby to make it 14-13.
Milano answered back when Jayce Todd found Josh Millar open for a 39-yard TD. Maldonado’s two-point conversion put the Eagles back in front, 21-14.
The advantage went back to the Bulldogs on the next play as Phillip England returned a kickoff for 80 yards. A successful twopoint conversion made the score, 22-21.
But it was Milano that went into halftime with the lead 27-22 after Ethan Gordon scored his first touchdown of the game on a goal-line run.
MHS held their lead for the remainder of the game, adding one more touchdown in the fourth on a two-yard run by freshman Alejandro Ruelas, giving their second district win, 35-22.
Top performers for Milano were Maldonado, who had 103 yards on seven carries and Todd, who finished the evening throwing 3-for-8 with 93 passing yards. The junior QB also had two carries for 42 total yards.
Top defensive players were Gordon with 10 solo tackles, Millar with eight and Edison Bui with seven.
THIS WEEK—With two more district games to play, the Eagles playoff hopes are very much alive.
They take on Burton this week, an undefeated team that gave Granger their first district loss this past Friday.
With 19 of their 22 starters returning, the Panthers have a lot of experience on both sides of the ball. Linemen Waylon Hinze and Eric Flores have years of varsity football games under their belt which allows a lot of wiggle room for running back Jaydon Brown.
Quarterback Vicente Veliz is also a dual-threat quarterback with options such as Tanner Gore and Peirson Speiss.
Game time is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
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