Milne paces Eagles past Braves

The Sir James Dunn Eagles have landed in the city championship game.

Backed by a solid five touchdown performance from Nigel Milne, the Eagles rolled past the Bawating Braves 42-15 on Thursday night in high school football senior division semi-final playoff action at Rocky DiPietro Field.

The victory advances the Eagles into the city championship game next Friday night at 7:30 p.m.

Sir James Dunn will face the winner of tonight's other semi-final game between the St. Mary's Knights and Korah Colts, which begins at 7:30 p.m. at Rocky DiPietro Field.

Milne, who rushed for a total of 177 yards on 16 carries, opened the scoring with a 29 yard run 3:13 into the contest on the first offensive possession.

Dan Vaz answered for the Braves later in the quarter when he scooped up a fumble and ran it back into the end zone 76 yards to tie the score at 7-7.

D.J. Idehen fumbled the ensuing kickoff return but quickly made up for the miscue by returning Bawating's next punt 110 yards for the touchdown to close the opening quarter.

In the second quarter, Milne added to the lead with a 16 yard touchdown reception from quarterback Frank Weise.

Kyle Gauthier added a single on a missed field goal attempt for the Braves to give the Eagles a 21-8 lead at half time.

Bawating recovered an onside kick to open the second half but the Eagles' Nick Lang stopped the ensuing drive with an interception. Gauthier then brought the Braves back into the game with a 111 yard punt return to pull the Braves with within six at 21-15.

In the fourth quarter, the Eagles controlled the ball on offense as Milne added three more touchdown runs of 15, 17 and 17 yards to close the scoring.

Matt Irving kicked six converts for the Eagles while Gauthier added a pair for Bawating.

Kosi Osei added 59 yards rushing on six carries for the Eagles while Peter McGonegal added 51 yards on seven carries. Weise completed five of 14 pass attempts for 56 yards.

Defensively, Mike Beharriell led the Eagles with 6.5 tackles and a sack. Graham Weija added 5.5 tackles and Luke Tenhagen four. Jordan Running and Alex Lemay also recorded sacks while Graham Weija and Lemay added an interception each. Beharriell and Cavell McCrae each recovered a fumble.

Brad Radbourne led the Braves offense with 96 yards on 13 carries. Quarterback Mike Storozuk completed five of 17 attempt for 52 yards. Gauthier caught four passes for 52 yards

Gauthier and Kyle Oldham paced the defense with six tackles while Kyle Lanteigne and Geoff Olar added five each. Zach Clement and Jon Turner each recovered a fumble.