Miller runs wild as Chichester soars to win
POTTSVILLE >> Ryan Smith was a wreck.
His Chichester football team arrived at Nativity BVN High School Friday night only to find out that the football team plays several miles away at Veterans Memorial Stadium in St. Claire, which meant an even longer bus ride.
The Eagles did not get to the field until shortly before the scheduled 7 p.m. kickoff. That late arrival only added to Smith’s anxiety.
“You know me,” Smith said by phone. “I was panicking.”
Good thing the players remained cool, calm and collected.
The Eagles did not let the long bus right, the late arrival or an early deficit keep them from making the long trek worthwhile.
Running back Kevin Miller had a career night as the Eagles rolled to a 55-15 victory over the Green Wave to extend their winning streak to two games.
Miller, a senior, ran for 246 yards and four touchdowns on just 13 carriers as the Eagles (3-1) used a straight-forward attack to top the 50-point mark for the second consecutive week. Miller scored on runs of 21, 87, 5 and 36 yards as Chi used its ground-and-pound attack to erase an early 7-0 deficit.
“We knew we were going to be able to keep it between the tackles with our power running game,” Smith said. “The game plan came through and the offensive line did a phenomenal job.”
Those road-graders, Andrew Wilson, Eric Weah, Hunter Thornton, Jake Lancianese, Serge Filipskyi, led the way as the Eagles piled up 310 yards on 36 attempts. Chichester’s running game was so efficient that quarterback Clarence Bowens only had to throw the ball three times, with one completion. However, the one completion was a 36-yard TD toss to Martin Frempong that gave the Eagles a 28-7 lead at halftime.
Miller broke off a 21-yard touchdown run in the second quarter to tie the game and then sprinted 87 yards to put the Eagles in front for good. Chichester scored 41 points after Nativity BVM jumped out to that 7-0 advantage.
The difference, Smith said, was his team’s composure.
“The kids showed great poise,” Smith said. “They didn’t let anything bother them. They just lined up and played football.”
The highly intense Smith wasn’t surprised.
“We have a group of seniors who are thick as thieves,” Smith said. “They’re really tight and they just want to win. They’re doing a great job of leading us and they really stepped up tonight. It was a great team win.”
