By Chuck Reherman, Sports Editor – Yukon needed a game that would get the No. 8 Millers back on the winning track.
Norman was just “what the doctor ordered.”
The Millers had a breakout night on offense, rolling up nearly 550 yards in routing the Tigers 56-28 in a district 6AI-1 game at Miller Stadium.
The Millers collected their first district win of the season, a win they needed, and evened their overall record at 3-3.
The win over the Tigers snapped a two-game losing skid to Norman, as well as a two-game losing streak for the season.
It was a game that saw the Millers roll up 35 first half points for the first time this season and took control of the game basically late in the first quarter.
“I took last week’s not being prepared on me, we tightened up the reins and the kids responded,” Miller head coach Jeremy Reed said. “I didn’t know how they would, we had five starters that sat out that first series. We just said we are going to do things a certain way and the kids came around and responded really well.
“We changed things in pregame that got them more prepared and I think it is very evident that we came out on fire.
“Our offense did a great job of getting going and the defense after that one big run really tightened. I told them when we play on well on both sides of the ball, we are pretty good. When we don’t play well on both sides, we are pretty bad. I was just proud that both sounds played well finally.”
The offense did come out “swinging.” On the first play of the game, quarterback Perry Olsen found a seam in the Norman defense and scored on a 75-yard run. It was the first of three rushing touchdowns for the senior quarterback, who also threw for one more score.
Norman did tie the game on their first series when Cade Horton teamed with Mark Williams on a 46-yard touchdown pass four plays after the Millers scored.
But, that would be the last time the game was even close.
The Millers came right back with a 71-yard drive in 11 plays and took the lead on a four-yard Noah Davis scoring run. Parker Kenley had the key play in the drive, a 20-yard run on a second and five play.
Yukon took a two touchdown lead on their third possession (YHS scored on their first five possessions of the half) when Olsen tossed a 43-yard touchdown pass to a wide open Blaine Roark. Roark had gotten behind the defense, made the catch and ran to the end zone with no one within 15 yards of him.
Olsen added his second touchdown run of the half with 5:41 remaining before intermission, scoring on a 42-yard run. Olsen finished the night with a season high 214-yards rushing on only 13 carries.
Antonio Washington capped the fifth scoring a drive, a five-play 74-yard scoring effort. Washington scored on a 20-yard run with 1:38 left in the half.
Olsen connected on a 36-yard pass to play Carvelle McKinley, then kept the ball on a 17-yard run. The Millers avoided disaster on both those plays after the ball was fumbled. But, a Miller player was there to make the recovery each time.
Yukon opened the second half just like the first, scoring on their first two possessions. Olsen scored on an 11-yard touchdown run to open a 42-7 lead.
Jackson Young’s eight-yard touchdown pass to McKinley made it a 49-7 lead and Landon Donoho scored on a 40-yard run with 1:10 left in the third to open a 56-7 advantage.
The Millers finished the night with 442 yards on the ground on only 43 rushes. The Millers also passed for 95 yards.
Kenley had 62 yards on four carries, Washington 46 on five and Donoho 42 on three. Eight different players rushed the ball in the game.
“It was a must, I told the kids this was a huge game for the future of our program, not just this year,” Reed said. “We tightened down this week and we were curious to see how we would respond. And, we responded real well.”
