Breaks don't go Malcolm's way in opener

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Football can be a game of breaks. In the Aug. 27 season opener, Malcolm struggled to get any as Milford relied on two first-half touchdowns to hang on for a 14-7 win on the Eagles’ home field.

Milford struck first when Jaxon Weyand connected with Ayden Shook on a 43-yard strike down the middle of the field to put the Eagles up 6-0.

“Our coverage was good,” Malcolm head coach Scott Amen said. “Our safety, Hayden (Frank), was right there and went up for the pick and just missed it by a couple inches.”

It was more of the same in the second quarter when Weyand found Seth Stutzman for a 33-yard score.

“On that one, Connor (Zegar) was close,” Amen said. “Their guy just got up a little higher than ours and that made the difference.”

After a safety put the Eagles up 14-0 early in the third quarter, Malcolm was finally able to complete a drive when Frank got the Clippers on the board with a quarterback sneak.

“Things definitely got better for us in the second half,” Amen said. “We started to move the ball on the ground with confidence.”

The Clippers had a chance to tie the game in the fourth quarter but came up short when a third-and-five pass from Frank was just out of the reach of Brayden Boehle.

“We had a great play drawn up and we just missed on it,” Amen said. “If we’re going to win games, we need to be able to throw the ball.”

While Frank amassed 108 yards rushing on 20 carries, the junior signal-caller was 0-for-12 through the air.

“It’s definitely an area we need to keep working on,” Amen said. “Our receivers need to find ways to get open and Hayden needs to believe they’ll be there to catch the pass.”

Gavin Zoucha added 43 yards on the ground while Lucas Christensen rumbled for 36 yards.

Milford had a balanced attack with 140 yards on the ground and 124 through the air.

“Our defense was pretty solid on first and second downs,” Amen said. “But, we struggled to get off the field too many times when we had them third and long.

“That has to be a priority for us this week.”

The Clippers (0-1) host Yutan (0-1) this Friday in Malcolm’s home opener.

“Yutan has been a solid program the past few years,” Amen said. “They usually run the ball well and play physical football. We have our work cut out for us.”