Week 4: Milledgeville vs EPC

The Carroll County showdown between Milledgeville and EPC took place on Friday, April 9 and the game lived up to the hype between the two 2-1 programs. By the looks of the early part of the game, it seemed as if a high scoring affair would take place.

In the opening drive, a 17-play march down the field saw was capped by a touchdown from senior quarterback Kellen Henze who scored on a fourth-and-goal from the 11-yard line to put the Wildcatz up 6-0. The lengthy drive included a long touchdown run called back for Henze, but he was able to capitalize on the first score of the game.

Milledgeville didn’t get the ball until the 2:50 mark of the first quarter, however their drive wasn’t as lengthy as a long kick return by the Missiles and a penalty on the Wildcatz set up the boys in Orange on the EPC 18-yard line. A rushing touchdown for the Missiles capped the short two-minute drive and put Milledgeville up 8-6 with less than a minute to go in the opening period.

The next drive for the Wildcatz was yet another successful march down the field as EPC got the ball at their own 42-yard line, but a 33 yard run by Henze set the Wildcatz up in favorable field position. After a few rushes by the Wildcatz, a third-and-12 put EPC behind the chains early, however Henze was able to go over the top for a 27 yard touchdown pass to Sturtevant to put the home team back on top 12-8 with 10:39 left in the half.

The Missiles would go on a short lived drive on their next possession as a fumble on the run gave the Wildcatz possession and favorable field position. On a third-and seven at the Milledgeville 30-yard line, a sack by the Missiles sunk the EPC drive and forced a punt at the 42-yard line.

The Missiles and Wildcatz would trade a pair of four-and-outs to set up a final drive for the Missiles before the halftime break in hopes of taking the lead and momentum. Beginning on their own 30-yard line with about four minutes to play a balanced attack of pass and run, including a fourth-and-six conversion by Toms-Smith at the EPC 26-yard line allowed Milledgeville to continue to build momentum, the 14-play drive was capped with a pass from Smith to Lohnes to put the Missiles up 14-12 with 13.2 seconds left in the half.

The Missiles regained possession on the opening kickoff as a 16-play drive would continue the momentum gained in the first half to give the Missiles a two possession lead after a two-yard run by Smith with 4:28 left in the third quarter.

EPC tried to regain momentum during their ensuing drives, but were unable to capitalize as the Missiles were able to hold on to the 22-12 lead.