Kickoff Classic: Milton's run game proves to be vital in preseason victory over Pensacola

Keeping calm heads and forcing turnovers, the Milton football team began its season on a high note, winning its Kickoff Classic, 24-7, over Pensacola on Friday.

The Panthers executed both in the air and on the ground, while taking advantage of miscues from the Pensacola offense. After being shut out in the first quarter, Milton kicked off the second quarter with its fourth offensive drive of the game, and after utilizing some short passes and outside runs, it was quarterback Ethan Diamond who ran in for the short-run touchdown.

Senior running back Malik Cobb added to the Panthers’ lead after running in for a 25-yard touchdown, utilizing some shifty moves before a long pass from Jamarcuz Fountain to Dominique Hughley cut into the lead for the Tigers.

Thursday's Kickoff Classic: Tate shows new 'brand' of football in Kickoff Classic against Washington

Around the State: Best games, recruits to watch during Kickoff Classic week

Hughley’s 76-yard touchdown reception made it 14-7, but that’s all Pensacola would muster. The Panthers added a field goal from seven yards out and an 11-yard rushing touchdown from Matthew Farrar.

But Milton’s offense was primarily put into good positions thanks to a strong defensive unit.

Here are four takeaways from Milton’s win over Pensacola:

Surplus of turnovers

It took a little time for the Milton defense to get up to speed. It’s an early-season process of changing the defensive mindset, Milton head coach Kelly Gillis said. But all-in-all, Gillis said the Panthers’ defense looked better on Friday than it did “a lot of times all of last year.”

And that came from causing several turnovers. The Panthers forced three fumbles once Pensacola began to gain some momentum on the offensive side of the ball. The third fumble, which was at the beginning of the second stanza, was the only offensive possession that Milton was able to score on.

Causing turnovers “has been some of (their) focus,” Gillis said. It worked on Friday.

“We’ve got a long way to go on both sides, but we’re pleased with some of the things we saw tonight,” Gillis said.

A quarterback battle, but running was strong

If Milton’s offense proved anything, it showed the Panthers have talent both in the air and on the ground.

The quarterback battle between Ethan Diamond and Tate Williams is still alive and well, Gillis said. The Panthers’ quarterbacks rotated every drive. During preseason practices, Gillis initially said that one of them is going to have “to learn to kind of alleviate the pressure and let it take care of itself.”

“We’ll evaluate the film and see where it goes from there,” Gillis said. “They both, again, did some good things and did some bad things.”

Diamond did score a rushing touchdown and completed a few passes – one that got Milton into field-goal range, where the Panthers did convert the three-point kick – and Williams also gained ground in the air on some short passes.

Gillis noted that he’d “always love to be able to hand it to one guy,” but if using both quarterbacks during the season works, it works.

“The job’s waiting on one of them. But look, we can run efficient with both of them as well,” Gillis said. “If that position doesn’t present itself (to name a starter), then you continue to do this. As long as we’re continuing to have success and not stalemating, then I have no problem.”

While the two quarterbacks remained knotted, Milton’s run game presented itself to be a strength. With some shifty moves from Cobb, Drake Densman and a few others, that’s where Milton found its groove on offense.

The strong performances from the running back crew help “alleviate some of the pressure off the (quarterback) and the five (linemen) up front,” especially with a new offensive line compared to last season, Gillis said.

“We got some skill guys that do good things with the ball in their hands,” Gillis said. “Our coaches have done a really good job. Our running game coaches, our quarterback coach, they’ve done a really good job of getting the patience and getting them to understand the blocking scheme to play into what we do.”

Cobb said “it feels good to finally get a chance to run it,” after the Panthers historically were a pass-focused team.

“This year, we’ve incorporated a lot more run plays. And we’re happy to do it,” Densman said. “It’s what we practice. It’s what we do. It’s what we’re here for.”

“Always feels good to do it,” Cobb added.

‘We really stopped ourselves’

Throughout the contest, Pensacola head coach Cantrell Tyson called the numerous five-yard penalties – such as being offsides – “demoralizing.” At one point, the Tigers had Milton in a third-and-six situation, and after Pensacola’s defense jumped offsides, Milton capitalized and scored on a third-and-one play.

“I tell them all the time, ‘Those offsides penalties are the most undisciplined penalties you can get,’” Tyson said. “Those are penalties that you can control.”

The Tigers’ defense – after keeping Milton off the scoreboard in the first quarter – started strong, notching several sacks and defending a good chunk of passes away. A couple players, E’Ziyah Richardson and Dequan Gaddy, “played really well,” Tyson said – creating some havoc for the Panthers in the backfield.

"Some of these scores last year, it would’ve been 42-0 at halftime," Tyson said.

Pensacola’s offense showed some bright spots early, gaining enough ground to head into Milton’s defensive half of the field, but the trio of fumbles led to a different story.

“We really stopped ourselves offensively. Those are things we’ve got to take care of. We’ve got to take care of the football,” Tyson said. “If we play that type of defense for four quarters, and we play the offense that we played the first three drives minus the fumbles, we’re going to be a pretty dang good football team.”

‘We’ve got to learn to control ourselves’

Calm heads were necessary after a minor scuffle broke out between one player each from Pensacola and Milton, but coaches from both said it was an isolated incident and didn’t expect it to be cause for concern.

Eyes might’ve been on Pensacola purely because of what happened last year during the Mayor’s Bowl between the Tigers and Booker T. Washington in Week 1 of the 2022 season. But, as Tyson noted, the incident was off the field last year – “it was just football” this time around.

"I don’t think the kid from Milton is a bad player or a bad person. I don’t think the kid we’ve got is a bad player or a bad person. … Things got a little bit escalated,” Tyson said. “We’ve got to learn to control ourselves, though. Guys have got to understand that we stay our sidelines, they stay on their sidelines, and we avoid bigger problems that could’ve occurred."

Gillis understood that tensions got high. Other than the one incident, “it was all good.”

"Look, when tensions get high, you can see the love and care the kids have one another, they wanted to make sure they’re taking care of each other. And that’s fine," Gillis said. "I’m glad it didn’t get any further than that. … That was it, and we were able to continue to play football.”

Ben Grieco is a sports reporter for the Pensacola News Journal. He can be reached on Twitter (@BenGriecoSports) and via email at BGrieco@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Milton football wins Kickoff Classic against Pensacola