Prep football: Red Hawks grind out Badger Large win over Parker
Sep. 18—MILTON — Two Badger Large Conference teams looking to keep their playoff hopes alive met at Anderson Field in Milton Friday night.
And it was the Milton Red Hawks who sent their Homecoming Night crowd home happy—and keeping its eyes on the prize of a WIAA Division 2 playoff berth—with a 17-0 win over Janesville Parker.
With the loss, Parker dropped to 1-4 (0-3 Badger Large). Milton improved to 2-3 (1-2).
Parker coach Clayton Kreger said his team again had trouble finishing drives.
"We have to be able to put the ball in the end zone," Kreger said.
It was a sloppy start to the game for both teams, who traded three-and-outs and penalties for most of the first half.
On the night, the two teams combined for 20 penalties for 165 yards.
Milton finally got on the scoreboard with 3 minutes, 3 seconds left in the second quarter. The Red Hawks recovered a high snap on a Parker punt attempt at the Vikings 9. Two plays later, Milton quarterback Brayden Bastian connected with Brogan McIntyre on an 11-yard TD pass. A failed kick left the score 6-0 in favor of the Red Hawks.
The Red Hawks added a 23-yard Colton Conway field goal with 8:03 left in the third.
Meanwhile, Parker had several good, sustained drives, but wasn't able to find the end zone.
Milton added what appeared to be the game-clinching score with 1:56 left to play when Jack Campion found pay dirt from 15 yards out on a direct snap.
A few plays earlier, Campion called his own number on the same play to convert a fourth-and-1 from the Red Hawk 33 and keep the drive alive.
Campion's statistics line showed just five carries for 36 yards. But as is often the case in football, the stats didn't necessarily tell the story: Those two touches for Campion were two of the most important plays of the game.
Campion said, "The coaches had confidence in me, and me and my teammates executed."
Milton coach Rodney Wedig said his team had to make some adjustments at halftime to clean up some of the penalties and other unforced errors.
"It was a bit of a slog there in the first half," Wedig said.
Milton travels to Watertown next week. Parker will meet Craig at Monterey Stadium in the highly anticipated annual "Battle for the Rock."
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MILTON 17, JANESVILLE PARKER 0
Parker;0;0;0;0;—;0
Milton;0;6;0;11;—;17
Scoring—M: Brayden Bastian 11 pass to Brogan McIntyre (Kick failed). M: Colton Conway 23 FG. M: Jack Campion 15 run (Bastian pass).
Statistics—First downs: P 7, M 10. Rushing: P 20-113; M 31-114. Yards passing: P 87; M 58. Passes: P 33-12-0-; M 13-7-1. Fumbles-lost: P 1-1; M 0-0. Penalties-yards: P 10-80; M 10-85.
