Plymouth Steamrolls Milford, 45-0

When the Plymouth Wildcats played host to the visiting Milford Mavericks on Thursday, a 45-0 rout wasn't quite what the home team or its coach had expected.

"I've got the utmost respect for coach (Pat) Fox," Plymouth coach Mike Sawchuck said of his Milford counterpart. "The kids just went out there and played hard."

Plymouth struck early, when senior quarterback Jamarl Eiland found senior Jared Davis on a five-yard touchdown pass following a 68-yard punt return by senior Matt Janke with 9:32 remaining in the first quarter.

The Wildcats wouldn't look back, building such a wide early lead that the game clock ran through most of the game's second half, as is the case in games with lopsided leads.

Plymouth senior Nate Emminger's speed presented problems for the Mavericks. Emminger set up a Wildcats score at the start of the second half with a 40-yard kickoff return, boosted by a facemask penalty, placing the ball at Milford's 37-yard line. Eiland took advantage of the field position and scored himself, running up the middle into the end zone. 

That play, Emminger said, helped maintain his team's momentum heading into the second half.

"We came out in the first half pretty strong, the second half we knew we had to keep it up or else we were going to lose momentum," Emminger said. "We can't lose momentum to a team like this because it will come back and bite us."

Emminger capped the Wildcats' scoring with a 20-yard interception return with 9:12 remaining in the third quarter.