First Round: Millennium 45 Gilbert 14

WEEKLY BLOG: 11/8/19

Millennium kept Larry Craft under the radar pretty much all season. The 5-9, 185-pound senior has mainly been used out of the slot during the Tigers' 5A Desert West Region title-winning season. Craft had carries in eight games for MHS this year for a grand total of 27 rushing attempts, never more than nine in a single game.

The secret is no more as Craft lined up at tailback and set the tone with a pair of long touchdown runs in the opening quarter. With cold efficiency, the Millennium attack strayed away from its usual balance and took advantage of both its size and depth in the trenches and most importantly, its speed.

The result was an easy first-round playoff win on home turf in Goodyear for the second straight season. Millennium rolled past Gilbert (also named the Tigers) on Friday night, 45-14.

The Tigers will travel to Queen Creek to face Casteel (8-3) next Friday in the quarterfinals.

"That was so fun," Millennium quarterback Jalan Early said. "We came out ready to play. It was a real great win by both sides of the ball."

The game started with a three-and-out by the Millennium defense, then it only took one play for MHS to get on the board. Craft took the handoff, got a block, and turned on the jets for a 67-yard touchdown.

What did Craft, a track athlete, think about all that open field in the clip above? I asked him.

"Once you get the speed, you can't beat it," Craft said. "It's like running to heaven."

Millennium may not get enough credit for its defense, but it showed in the first half that it was up to the challenge of a Gilbert team that came in averaging almost 35 points per game. GHS went for it on fourth-and-one near midfield and senior quarterback Will Plummer scrambled out of the shotgun, tried to run for the first down and was stopped for no gain.

Both Plummer and Early were the leading rushers for their teams during the regular season. Early took off on a 32-yard run to set up a scoring run by senior Brady Murphy.

Millennium (9-2) was feeling confident enough about its run game that it kept the ball on the ground even though it was third-and-10 on Murphy's touchdown.

In the opening quarter, the usually-balanced MHS Tigers attempted just two passes and ran for 163 yards.

Craft's second touchdown came on a 39-yard run featuring some great cuts and that speed again.

"We knew it was going to be hard for them to stop the run," Craft said. "So we kept utilizing that throughout the game."

Gilbert's lone scoring threat in the first half came to an end at the 4-yard line. Once again facing fourth-and-one, the Tigers tried to run it. This time (not in the shotgun), a pitch to the running back was stopped for no gain.

It's not all about the run with Millennium. The team came in as balanced as you can be, averaging 172 yards each on the ground and through the air. The Tigers made it five scores in five possessions, closing out the first half with a scoring pass from Early to a diving Kyle St. Pierre and it was 31-0 at the break.

It's been an opportunistic defense all season for MHS. The Tigers came in with 21 sacks, 19 fumble recoveries, and 13 interceptions. While they didn't get Plummer to add to that total, the defense did continue on its average of three takeaways per game.

Treydan Stukes was just one behind the 5A leader with six interceptions through the regular season. His seventh came in the second half as he picked one off in the end zone. Why do teams continue to throw at Stukes? Because they don't have much of a choice. The other corner is Kaysan Barnett, who had seven interceptions last year as a junior.

Freshman Daniel Delponte also intercepted a pass and Kewon Modica dove on top of a ball that was caught and then dropped by a receiver.

"Our defensive coordinator, Mike Loprich did nothing but study film all week," Millennium head coach Lamar Early said. "We tell them to stay humble and always stay alert."

Gilbert (4-7) reached the playoffs on the strength of its difficult San Tan Region. Four teams from that league won first-round games on Friday night. The Tigers scored twice in the fourth quarter on passes from Plummer to Alex Wick and Tyler Hironaka. Plummer, who is committed to Arizona, went over the 3,500-yard mark for the season with 281 yards on 20-for-39 passing. A two-year starter, he threw for 58 touchdowns as a Gilbert Tiger.

This was Gilbert head coach Derek Zellner's fifth year at the school. He took over a tumultuous situation where the Tigers had gone through three coaches in four seasons. After a rebuild (1-9) in 2016, GHS took Mountain Pointe to the brink in the last regular season game, falling on a last second field goal. Then Pride head coach Norris Vaughn addressed the GHS team on the field afterwards and called them warriors. Last year marked Gilbert's first playoff appearance since 2010 and a win over Maricopa last week got GHS into the dance once again in 2019.

"We fought, we scratched, we play in the SEC of the East Valley," Zellner said. "From where we were in 2015, to where we are now, we are making strides. I couldn't be more proud of these guys."

Another difference between the two schools is the number of seniors. Gilbert has 14 while Millennium will move on for at least one more game with its group of 35.

Craft finished the night with 18 carries for 253 yards and a pair of touchdowns. As a team, the Tigers rushed for 435 yards. That was the highest total for MHS in a game since 2017 (La Joya).

"Our line blocked very well tonight," Lamar Early said. "They did a great job opening up holes for Larry and Jalan to run."

When you rush for 435 yards in a playoff game, the guys up front deserve a mention in this space. That group of Shamar Donaldson, Dontae McKibbon, Lee Sampson, Devin Keith, and Mikaele Fuamatu controlled the line of scrimmage. Four are seniors. The lone junior in the group, Fuamatu, scored a big-man touchdown recovering a fumble in the end zone.

Early, whose father is the head coach, was a defensive player on last year's Millennium team, which dropped a second-round game at Notre Dame Prep. Now, as the quarterback, he wants his group of seniors to get (at least) one step further.

"The focus is 1-0," Jalan Early said of this coming week against Casteel. "It's the only thing on our minds. Last year, we lost in the second round. We don't want to come out like that again."

First Quarter:
Mill - Larry Craft 67 yard run (Davis Rubel kick), 10:37
Mill - Brady Murphy 15 yard run (Rubel kick), 6:10
Second Quarter:
Mill - Rubel 23 yard FG, 11:56
Mill - Craft 39 yard run (Rubel kick), 9:05
Mill - Kyle St. Pierre 10 yard pass from Jalan Early (Rubel kick), 0:36
Third Quarter:
No Scoring
Fourth Quarter:
Gilb - Alex Wick 27 yard pass from Will Plummer (Ilya Uvaydov kick), 9:43
Mill - Mikaele Fuamatu fumble recovery in end zone (Rubel kick), 6:15
Mill - St. Pierre 14 yard pass from Noah Kharoufeh (Rubel kick), 2:55
Gilb - Tyler Hironaka 7 yard pass from Plummer (Uvaydov kick), 0:55