OREM — Bryson Barnes put Milford’s football fortunes on his back and his successes Saturday afternoon have the Tigers moving to the 2A state championship game.
Barnes ran for one touchdown and threw for three more, including a 10-yard scoring pass to Zach Sherwood with 9.5 seconds left, as Milford rallied to edge Millard in a 2A semifinal game at Orem High School.
“Bryson’s legs are as good as his arm. Millard played a great game, but Bryson held us together and made our offense flow.” — Milford coach Thane Marshall, on Bryson Barnes
With the win, the Tigers advanced to play Beaver, a team it lost to 41-0 earlier this season, in the title tilt next Saturday at Dixie State University’s field in St. George.
“(This game) was by far the best,” Barnes said, just minutes after the hard-throwing quarterback led the Tigers on a long drive with a series of throws to Sherwood, Bret Beebe and Gage Griffiths on the game-winning drive. The Tigers were also helped by a personal-foul penalty when Barnes scrambled and was hit out-of-bounds near the Millard sideline.
“You never want to end the season one game short,” Barnes added. “We made the plays down the stretch, so that made the end perfect.”
- Watch replay: Milford 28, Millard 21
Milford led 6-0 early, but then Barnes had trouble dealing with Millard’s defensive pressure and Eagles’ quarterback Brooks Myers threw two touchdown passes and Austin Burraston added a 1-yard run to build a 21-12 lead. Millard’s lead even still felt safe when Barnes found Blake Barnes on a 26-yard touchdown pass, and a two-point conversion cut the margin to 21-20 with 6:48 left.
The teams traded punts and the offenses appeared rattled until Milford got one final chance with less than two minutes to play.
Milford coach Thane Marshall said it was weeks of preparation between Bryson Barnes and the Tigers’ offensive coordinator that kept him confident as the final drive ensued.
“Bryson’s legs are as good as his arm,” Marshall said. “Millard played a great game, but Bryson held us together and made our offense flow.”
On the game-changing play, Bryson Barnes dropped back, moved around the pocket to find more time and finally found Sherwood cutting across the back of the end zone. The Tigers chose to go for a two-point conversion and Barnes appeared to throw the ball away, but Beebe dove and collected the ball just before it hit the ground to add to the Tigers’ good fortunes. The game ended when Millard was stopped on the ensuing kickoff return.
The Eagles, who fell to Milford 37-29 earlier this season, finished with a 9-3 record.