No. 3-ranked Miller showed its Class 1 muscle Friday night in a 41-12 victory over Diamond.
The Wildcats, with the loss, drop to 1-6 overall, 1-5 in Spring River Valley Conference, play, while Miller improves to 7-0 (7-0 in SRVC) as both teams enter district play next week. Diamond opens district action by playing host to Lamar. Lamar fell to Monett 18-7 Friday night.
Miller went up 7-0 on Diamond at the 1:17 mark of the first quarter when quarterback Justin Jack connected with Tyler Hinshaw for a 22-yard touchdown pass. Jack, under pressure from the Diamond defense, scrambled to his left and launched a pass for Hinshaw, who managed to out-leap the Diamond cornerback for the ball and then land on his feet and hustle to the end zone.
Nearly three minutes into the second quarter, Miller went up 13-0 when Darin Clark broke though the Diamond defense up the middle of the field for a 10-yard score. The extra point by Dan Parscal failed, hitting off the upright, giving Miller a 13-0 edge.
On Diamond’s next possession, Miller’s Jeremy Gulick blocked Kenny Newman’s punt and Derek Jack recovered the ball at the Diamond 25-yard line.
Two plays later, Clark scored his second touchdown on a 17-yard run. Clark spun off a tackle at the line of scrimmage to break free for the score to put Miller up 20-0.
Miller scored on its final possession of the first half when Jack connected with Sean Erpelding for a 53-yard touchdown strike with 3:16 left in the second quarter.
Diamond’s two scores came in the second half.
Quarterback Craig VanLue scored on a one-yard run in the third quarter, and running back Cameron Scribner scored on a six-yard run.
Scribner finished the game with 140 yards rushing on 29 carries. C.P. Bycroft rushed for 92 yards on 22 carries.
Diamond, Mo. —
