Football Preview: Milligan ready to ignite ‘fire’ under talented Strath Haven
NETHER PROVIDENCE >> Another summer practice at Strath Haven had just ended in a flood of sweat and optimism when Kevin Clancy called his players together to appreciate a couple of gems.
One was Bill Bradley, football royalty, the former All-Pro safety who still holds Eagles records for interceptions.
The other was what Bradley had draped from his neck.
“See this?” Bradley said, addressing the Panthers. “This is my medal from 1964, when we won a state championship at Palestine High School in Texas. I still have it. And that’s what you should strive for, too. Win a championship together and never forget it.”
By then, Sam Milligan — who was among the captivated gathering — already had that inkling. The quarterback last season as the Panthers won the PIAA District 1 Class 5A championship before falling in the state Final Four to Imhotep of Philadelphia, Milligan was back for the encore.
“It feels like that just happened,” Milligan said, eight months later. “That’s definitely going to be on our minds a little bit. It wasn’t the best way to end the year. But it’s fire for this year.”
The Panthers were 8-1 in the Central League, falling only to Class 6A district champion Garnet Valley. They were nicked by graduation, but not terribly, and will return 10 starters, including Milligan, a strong safety who was first-team All-Delco for his all-purpose skills. The quarterback is rarely a statistics accumulator in Clancy’s wing-T offense – which has produced a Delaware County record 332 victories in 31 seasons – but Milligan will be responsible for more than numbers.
“He is an outstanding leader,” Clancy said. “The biggest problem is that we have to keep him out there on defense. We have to keep him healthy. My heart is going to be in my stomach. He is really fast. He is legitimately a 4.5 guy. His ‘worst’ sport is wrestling, and he made it to states last year. College coaches want him to play baseball. He can really hit the ball and is an outstanding outfielder. He is one of the best athletes ever to go through this place.”
Among Milligan’s chores will be to help spread the touches to, among others, senior fullback Anthony Crawford, junior Austin Conner, senior Bobby Fooskas and senior Chase Nangle, he of the big-play capabilities, in a committee-style offense.
For more potential scoring oomph, athletic 6-3,230-pound tackle Ben Farabaugh will slide over to tight end.
“Everybody knows we are going to run,” said Milligan, who is receiving Division 1 recruiting attention as a safety. “It has worked for years. No one has stopped it. We know what we have to do. And if we do that, there’s not going to be anybody who will be able to beat us. That’s how we feel.”
Milligan will be central to the defense, as will Crawford, a three-year starter at middle linebacker. With fellow linebacker Fookas and gifted returning cornerbacks Nangle and A.J. Glavic, throwing on the Panthers will be a problem. Up front, Clancy has been wowed by 6-3, 280-pound tackle Jason Williams, who broke his ankle in the Imhotep game but recovered nicely to become an eye-opener in camp.
“We took it about as far as we could last year,” Clancy said. “Now the challenge is, when you play a team like Imhotep, is to get better and see if we can play at that level now.”
Bradley, 75, was brought to camp by former Eagles center Mike Evans, whose daughter Katie Evans is a Strath Haven English teacher and an alum. Both former pros provided inspiration. Since Strath Haven has won 11 Central League championships, two state championships, once had a 94-game winning streak against District 1 competition and is the sitting division champion, meeting his state-championship challenge is not an outrageous assignment.
“It was a nice season last year, but I don’t think we’re finished,” Crawford said. “I have talked a lot with Sam about building on that and getting to the next level of a state championship. That’s always the goal.”
