Reggie White has had a lot of sleepless nights the last several months. The Milford Mill football coach’s been wondering what might have been after his team’s 4-6 record in 2009.
“We weren’t able to finish. We had a lot of close games,” said White, whose team reached the Class 3A state playoffs in 2008. “We should have been 6-4, that’s two games we missed. We made too many mistakes.”
The Millers hope to have staying power in crunch time this season. Milford Mill opens the season Saturday afternoon against defending Class 2A state champ Eastern Tech in Baltimore County action.
White is excited about the offense, which will be led by sophomore quarterback Kyle McEachern. Along with senior fullback Anthony Velasquez and sophomore wideout Tyric Hopkins, McEachern is hoping to revive an unit that averaged less than 16 points a game last fall.
McEachern will have solid protection on his blind side with 6-foot-5, 275-pound right tackle Kelvin Njoku. He said the Millers have matured since last season.
“There was some games we simply let things slide,” said Njoku. “This year, that’s not an option.”
Junior Stanley Smith and Velasquez will lead the defense. McEachern said unit, which allowed under 18 points a game in 2009, has established itself during the preseason.
“If the defense can keep that tempo, the offense can feed off that energy,” said McEachern.
The Millers hope to have the energy to make a postseason berth this fall.
“We have to be consistent from the first game all the way through the season,” said McEachern. “We’re not going to be the biggest team, but we’re going to be the fastest.”
