MILLEDGEVILLE — The Missiles left little doubt that they are deserving of their No. 1 ranking Saturday afternoon, pounding Deer Creek-Mackinaw in the opening round of the Class 1A state football playoffs, 59-12.
Milledgeville scored at will, dominated on defense, and rolled to a 59-0 halftime lead over the Chiefs, rolling up more than 300 yards of offense in the first half with long runs by Carrigan Hunter, Jake Workman and Greg Fredericks.
“I guess we were ready for this one,” Milledgeville coach Gary Hartje said after the game. “We moved the ball very well, and I thought we played physical and good defense early in the game. It was a good team effort.”
The Missiles blocked a punt and recovered on the Chiefs 26-yard line after less than a minute of play in the game. On the first play from scrimmage, Hunter broke through the right side of the line and raced into the end zone. Quarterback Kirk Engelkens connected with Fredericks on the 2-point conversion for an 8-0 lead.
The Chiefs turned the ball over on their next possession, fumbling on the Dee-Mack 31 yard line. Ryan Imel recovered for the Missiles.
Hunter struck again, this time on a 19-yard run off the left side. Engelkens tossed to Kurt Landis for the conversion, and with just under three minutes gone in the game, Milledgeville led 16-0.
Fredericks provided the next thrill for the Missiles, busting a 60-yard run to put the ball at the 1-yard line later in the first quarter. Engelkens finished the effort with a 1-yard plunge for the touchdown two plays after the long run. A penalty on the extra point attempt moved the Missiles back to the 17 yard line, and the ensuing play failed, leaving it 22-0 at the end of the first quarter.
Deer Creek-Mackinaw collected two touchdowns in the fourth quarter on the Milledgeville reserves. Running back Adam Vandervort punched in a 2-yard score to close a long drive by the Chiefs with 11:09 left in the game, and quarterback Max Seibert connected on a 31-yard pass to Jake Vincent for the second Dee-Mack score at the 5:17 mark.
Milledgeville tallied 428 yards of total offense and the Missile defense allowed only 188 total yards on 55 offensive plays by the Chiefs.
- Eric Petermann, GateHouse News Service
