Huntingdon football uses late first-half touchdown for momentum to beat Milan

HUNTINGDON — One big decision that coaches sometimes have to make is what to do when a team gets the ball back with less than a minute to go until halftime.

Huntingdon's Eric Swenson knew exactly what he was going to do, and it resulted in a touchdown and a nine-point lead at halftime.

"In that situation, we have a couple of plays that we like to call because we think people will run up the field, and we were fortunate that it hit," Swenson said. "I was surprised when we got up there and still had seven seconds. I was looking at the guy keeping the clock on the sideline, and I thought that was the end of the half."

The Mustangs used that momentum going into halftime to knock off Milan in the annual "Dawg and Pony" Show 36-14 at Paul Ward Stadium.

Did Huntingdon have the lead with less than a minute to play in the half? Yes, but to make matters worse the clock had malfunctioned, so there was no time showing on the clock.

"It is tough whenever you don't have a clock," Swenson said. "You are standing next to the referee trying look over his shoulder."

The first two plays resulted in a gain of 13, but it was a 33-yard run by Tyrese Mebane that gave the Mustangs (6-0) the opportunity to score with a pass from Kade Pearson to Hunter Ensley.

"There wasn't a doubt in my mind that we couldn't score," Pearson said. "When we want to do something, we are going to do it. With our offense, that is what it is designed to do."

And about that run by Mebane. "Big-time players make big-time plays in big-time games. That is all that I can say," Pearson said.

So instead of a 16-14 lead for Huntingdon at halftime, the Mustangs led 23-14.

"Milan is a good team, definitely," Pearson said. "I was never nervous at any point in the game. We stuck to our game plan."

From that point on, Huntingdon's defense shut out Milan (3-3) in the second half, and the offense had 202 yards of total offense in the half.

"We had several chances to put it away, but Milan played very good defense," Swenson said. "We had a dropped touchdown pass, a holding penalty on the touchdown. I kept thinking those were going to come back to bite us, but our kids fought."

Reach Michael Odom at michodom@jacksonsun.com or 731-425-9754. Follow him on Twitter @JSWriterMichael.