SHARON, Mass. - Senior Evantz Elisma picked over 202 all purpose yards and scored three touchdowns - all in different fashions - as Sharon rolled to a 27-0 win over Milford.
Elisma scored on a 56-yard reception, a 2-yard run in the first half and opened the second half with a 75-yard kickoff return.
"Running the ball he actually had the best vision I've seen him have in the last three years," Sharon head coach Dave Morse said. "He was finally seeing little creases and hitting them good. Obviously the kick return and the pass he caught thats just him being an athlete. In the trenches he did a good job of seeing a hole and hitting it."
Sharon's defense dominated up front and kept the Scarlet Hawks offense from getting into any sort of rhythm, especially in the run game. Milford's best drive of the game was their very first one that took them from their own 27-yard line to the Sharon 34 before turning it over on downs.
The Eagles were forced to punt on their first drive but on their first play on their second series, quarterback Sean O'Neill went play action and was able to toss it deep to Elisma, who ran it in the final 25 yards for the opening score. Sharon led 7-0 with just 9 seconds left in the first quarter.
Milford punted on their next two possessions and Sharon took over at their own 45. Elisma's first run went for 20 yards and a couple plays later he carried it for 8 more. After two running plays that went for just a yard, Elisma took it left and went for 28 yards down to the Milford 2-yard line. The next play Elisma punched it in putting Sharon up 13-0 with 1:42 left in the first half.
"We knew we matched up pretty well but we knew we had start fast," Morse said. "You don't want to get into a slugfest with a team playing like it's their Super Bowl. We did a good job starting fast. The second series with the touchdown lifted us about a little bit."
The Eagles started the second half with a bang, as Elisma took the opening kickoff up the right sideline and into the end zone for a 20-0 lead just 14 seconds into the second half.
Sharon continued their defensive dominance up front and Milford was forced to punt on their first two possessions of the second half and turned it over on downs on their third series.
"When the guys actually execute their assignments we actually play pretty well fundamentally and our linebackers can run around a little bit," said Morse. "The guys up front did their job and let the linebackers fly around and the safeties came down and helped out too so it was a good job on the line of scrimmage."
Sharon capped the scoring on their first offensive drive of the first half as O'Neill connected with sophomore Bryce Smith for a 14 yard touchdown with 4:02 left in the third quarter.
The Eagles will now await their fate in the Division 3 Southeast bracket. Despite being 2-5, Sharon is projected to sneak into the 8th and final playoff spot.
"It's a weird situation because of where we were last year and looking at this year, I think they're still in disbelief they have a chance," Morse said. "They went out and executed and didn't shy away from it. We're going to prepare like its just like that year and now its our job to be the spoiler."
A FRESH FACE FOR MILFORD
When Milford quarterback John Hearns went down injured while playing safety, the Scarlet Hawks turned to back up QB Zach Lanzetta, just a sophomore.
But the youngster made a good impression, showing strong chemistry with junior wide out Pete Schuler. He connected with Schuler on three of his four completions.
"He's a young, budding quarterback," Milford head coach Joe Todd said. "We always thought we had the best back up quarterback in the league and he's our starter now. We just have to get him ready to go and he's our guy right now."
The Scarlet Hawks finish their first regular season in the Hockomock at 1-6 and look to be about two spots out of making the D3 Southwest playoffs.
"Right now our record is 0-0," Todd said. "We treat every game like its the last one we're going to play. I don't know who we have but I know we'll be matched up with someone in a similar boat us and we'll go out and try to get better every week."
Ryan Lanigan can be contacted at [email protected] and followed on Twitter at @R_Lanigan.