Miller football forces five turnovers to speed past Veterans Memorial in rivalry matchup

With its offense admittedly 'stuck in the mud,' the Miller football team turned somewhere else for a spark Thursday night.

The often maligned Bucs defense shined and took center stage, allowing the offense to find its footing, eventually earning a 41-7 win against CCISD rival Veterans Memorial to open the 2024 season at Buc Stadium.

Junior Kahlil Davis pulled in the first of Miller's four interceptions in the end zone to stop Veterans Memorial's promising opening drive.

While the Bucs' vaunted offense, which was one of the most prolific in the state in 2023, only posted one touchdown in the first half, the defense pitched a shutout for three-plus quarters and had a 25-yard pick six from George Simmons.

"People have been very critical of our defense for years at Miller," Bucs senior quarterback Trevor Long said. "Our defense takes it personal and take it as a challenge. They made a statement that we aren't that Miller team that will allow 50, 60 points in a game. We are going to stomp on your neck, play great defense and be physical and fast."

Momentum shifts

Other than Davis and Simmons' first-half interceptions, Corey Holmes helped kick start the Bucs offense in the second half with a 51-yard touchdown jaunt that was sprung by a key block 15 yards downfield four plays into the third quarter.

Combined with a forced fumble on the next drive and highlight reel 48-yard catch-and-run from Roderick Taylor, the Bucs found big plays repeatedly to break open a 13-0 game at the half.

Miller finished with 435 yards including 262 yards passing and three touchdowns from Long, while the Bucs defense limited Veterans Memorial to 255 yards, 47 of which came on a touchdown in the final moments from running back Andrew Charlebois.

The Bucs forced five turnovers on the night, including two interceptions from Donovan Cristan.

They said it

Veterans Memorial coach Ben Bitner on the loss: "We have to take care of the ball and finish drives when we can and execute. That is on me and I have to do a better job as a coach. We have to go back and try to get better."

Miller's Justen Evans on building off the win: "I told the team you can go 1-0 and still finish 1-9. We have to keep getting better every single week. We have to have attention to detail and be willing to go back and watch the film and still be critical of ourselves. We have a really good Seguin football team coming in here next week."

More: As 75th season begins, Joey Allen holds special place in Ray football history

Up next

Veterans Memorial (0-1) will face Carroll next Thursday. Miller (1-0) will host Seguin next Friday.

NON-DISTRICT

Miller 41, Veterans Memorial 7

Miller 0 13 21 7 — 41

Veterans Memorial 0 0 0 7 — 7

SCORING SUMMARY

Second quarter

MIL — George Simmons 25 interception (kick failed), 8:47

MIL — Broderick Taylor 20 pass Trevor Long (Christian Torres kick), 2L27

Third quarter

MIL — Corey Holmes 51 run (Torres kick), 10:45

MIL — Eathen Vela 9 pass Long (Torres kick), 7:58

MIL — Roderick Taylor 48 pass Long (Torres kick), 0:08

Fourth quarter

MIL — Long 3 run (Torres kick), 10:06

VET — Andrew Charlebois 47 run (Ryan Carmona kick), 2:09

TEAM STATISTICS

First downs: (M) 18; VM (11)

Rushes-yards: (M) 26-173; (VM) 28-129

Passing: (M) 262; (VM) 126

Comp-Att-Int: (M) 21-32-0; (VM) 13-27-4

Punt-Avg: (M) 1-24; (VM) 4-31

Fum-Lost: (M) 0-0; (VM) 2-1

Pen-Yds: (M) 9-80; (VM) 4-30

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Miller, Trevor Long 1-3; Broderick Taylor 17-67; Corey Holmes 5-80; Isaiah Alvarez 3-23; Veterans Memorial, Noah Endres 3-13; Andrew Charlebois 25-116.

PASSING: Miller, Long 21-31-0—262; Veterans Memorial, Endres 13-27-4—126

RECEIVING: Miller, Roderick Taylor 6-100, Eathen Vela 6-81, Holmes 2-10, B. Taylor 3-36, Izaiah Gidrey 1-16, Jaihum Cook 1-11, Christian Torres 2-8; Veterans Memorial, Derrick Gray Jr. 6-43, Charles Perry Jr., 2-51, Braeden Rhodes 3-24, Isaiah Early 2-8

RECORDS: Miller 1-0; Veterans Memorial 0-1

This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Miller football forces five turnovers to speed past Veterans Memorial in rivalry matchup