Exeter-Milligan-Friend’s tough ground game took control in the second, churning out 309 yards on 34 carries to remove any doubt from a 54-28 win over Shelby/Rising City Friday night in Milligan.
The Bobcats (3-0) led 16-14 at halftime, overcoming three giveaways to take a two-point lead into the intermission. But, after forcing a three-and-out from the Huskies (1-2), EMF leaned on its ground game, running the ball on 34 of their 35 second-half plays while scoring on five of their first seven drives to clinch the victory.
Sophomore running back Breckan Schluter did the bulk of the work for the Bobcats, rushing for 363 yards on 40 carries with five touchdowns, including two TD runs over 65 yards. Quarterback Christian Weber was 3-for-6 through the air for 34 yards, including a 23-yard touchdown pass to Chase Svehla.
Early on, Shelby/Rising City looked like they’d hang in with EMF. After allowing a touchdown on the first drive of the game, the Huskies’ Hunter White ran a jet sweep 62 yards for a touchdown on the first SRC offensive snap. Then, on the ensuing drive, Grant Brigham hit Weber just as he was trying to pitch the ball on an option. The ball skipped away wildly, was picked up at the 15 by Landon Sliva and ran in for a touchdown, giving the Huskies a 14-8 lead with 8:23 to play in the first quarter.
But the Shelby/Rising City offense struggled after that, failing on three fourth-down attempts while throwing an interception and punting once on the Huskies’ final five drives of the first half. In total, EMF scored 32 straight points to take control of the game.
EMF will head to Tri County next week, while Shelby/Rising City will host Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family.
