2003 Football Schedule

Milford 20, Lake Forest 13

The Bucs may not have reached their goal of winning the Henlopen Conference Southern Division, but they had quite a bit to say about who did when they beat rival Lake Forest on Friday, Nov. 14.

Not only did the win give Milford the coveted Bell awarded to the winner of the season-ending game between the rivals, it also prevented Lake Forest from winning the Henlopen South.

Lake's loss, combined with Indian River's 7-6 victory over previously unbeaten Smyrna, gave Indian River the South title and automatic Division II state tournament berth.

The victory also gave Milford its second consecutive .500 season, as it finished with a 3-3 mark in the division and a 5-5 record overall.

Milford trailed Lake Forest 13-7 at halftime but put together scoring drives of 55 and 66 yards in the second half.

The Bucs capped the 55-yard drive with a 5-yard run by R.J. Chandler late in the third quarter to make it 13-13, and scored the go-ahead TD in the fourth period on a 3-yard run by quarterback Devon Hughes with 10:00 remaining.

The Buc defense held Lake Forest off from there and finished the game with a quarterback sack.

Hughes scored the Bucs' other touchdown with a 3-yard run that tied the game 7-7 in the second period.

Chandler led the Bucs with 57 yards rushing on 14 carries.

Lake leads the series for the Bell 19-16.

Indian River 21, Milford 14

The Bucs suffered another heart-breaking loss to lose their goal of a winning season on Friday, Nov. 7.

Leading 14-13 in the fourth quarter following a 12-yard run by quarterback Devon Hughes, Milford saw Indian River come back with a touchdown and two-point conversion for the go-ahead points.

The Bucs are now 2-3 in the Henlopen Conference Southern Division and 4-5 overall. They can salvage their second straight .500 season with a win over rival Lake Forest on Friday, Nov. 14.

Against the Indians, Milford trailed 7-0 before tying the score by halftime on a 17-yard run by running back R.J. Chandler.

IR then went ahead 13-7 in the third period before Hughes scored his touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Milford 6, Woodbridge 0

The Buccaneers snapped a two-game losing streak with their first shutout of the season on Friday, Oct. 31.

Despite the win, Milford was officially eliminated from the Henlopen Conference Southern Division race due to Smyrna's win over Laurel.

In improving to 2-2 in the South and 4-4 overall, the Bucs used a 30-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Devon Hughes to Stephone Dukes with just 9 seconds to go in the first half.

The Buc defense then held on to the lead in the second half as it held Woodbridge to just 63 yards of total offense and 2 first downs for the game.

Milford rushed for 117 yards with running back R.J. Chandler leading the way with 122 yards on 18 carries.

Hughes completed 5 of 12 passes for 85 yards and intercepted a pass at the Milford 4 with less than a minute remaining to preserve the win.

Smyrna 19, Milford 13

The Bucs became the first team to score on Smyrna this year but in the end, they saw their state tournament hopes evaporate with the Henlopen Conference Southern Division defeat on Friday, Oct. 24.

In falling to 1-2 in the South and 3-4 overall, the Bucs would need a miracle to capture the South now. Smyrna remained unbeaten at 4-0 in the South and 7-0 overall with key Henlopen South games remaining against Indian River and Laurel.

Milford looked like it would knock Smyrna from the ranks of the unbeaten early when it scored the first points put up against the Eagles on a 84-yard kickoff return by Keshon Hughes.

And while that didn't dent the Smyrna defense's shutout streak, the Bucs would do that, as well, when Kris Kendzierski, in at quarterback, scored on a 1-yard run with 11:55 left in the game to give Milford a 14-13 advantage.

Smyrna came right back, however, with a 1-yard quarterback sneak by Daniel Henry with 9:55 left in the game, and the Eagle defense kept the Bucs off the scoreboard from there.

Milford's best chance after Smyrna took the lead was a drive to the Eagle 12 with 6:41 to go. But the drive stalled there with three consecutive losses followed by an incomplete pass on fourth down.

Laurel 20, Milford 15

The Bucs' post-season hopes took a serious blow in the Henlopen Conference Southern Division loss to Laurel on Friday, Oct. 17. For details, click the score above.

Milford 30, Delmar 23

On a night of big plays, the Bucs opened their Henlopen Conference Southern Division campaign with a comeback win on Saturday, Oct. 11.

Milford trailed Delmar 17-15 at halftime but eventually secured the victory when R.J. Chandler capped a 3-play, 78-yard drive with a 3-yard touchdown run with 2:04 left in the game.

The touchdown broke the 23-23 tie that Delmar had forged just 31 seconds earlier on a 94-yard scoring drive and lifted the Bucs to 3-2 overall.

The Bucs took a 7-0 lead on a 36-yard fumble return by Dontae Tilghman but saw Delmar score three times on a field goal and two touchdown passes to take a 17-7 lead.

Milford cut the gap to two points by halftime on an 85-yard pass from quarterback Devon Hughes to Tilghman and took a 23-17 lead on its first possession of the third quarter on a 60-yard pass from Hughes to Stephone Dukes.

Big plays like that carried the Bucs, who trailed in time of possession 32:47 to 15:13.

For the game, running back R.J. Chandler paced the Bucs with 97 yards rushing. Hughes added 64 yards rushing while completing 7 of 8 passes for 182 yards.

Tilghman and Dukes caught two passes apiece -- Tilghman for 90 yards and Dukes for 78 yards.

The Bucs broke or tied numerous records. Hughes set a record for most passing yards in a game and tied the record for most TD passes in a game. His 85-yard pass to Tilghman broke the record for the longest pass.

Kris Kendzierski, meanwhile, tied the school record for most two-point conversions in a career.

Milford 47, Polytech 6

The Bucs snapped a two-game losing streak on Friday, Oct. 3, in their final tuneup for the Henlopen Conference Southern Division.

Milford got a stellar effort from quarterback Devon Hughes, who completed all four of his passes for 157 yards and accounted for a pair of touchdowns, including one on the ground.

Hughes scored on a 32-yard touchdown run and threw a 67-yard scoring strike to Dontae Tilghman as the Bucs opened a 40-0 halftime lead and went ahead 47-0 before Polytech could score.

Rashad Waples scored on a pair of touchdown runs of 20 and 19 yards.

Also scoring were R.J. Chandler on a 5-yard touchdown run, Donovan on a 9-yard run, and K. Hughes on a 5-yard run.

The Bucs head into their Henlopen South opener at Delmar on Saturday, Oct. 11, at 3 p.m., with a 2-2 overall record.

Archmere 25, Milford 22

The Bucs suffered their second heart-breaking loss in a row on an Archmere touchdown in the game's final minute on Friday, Sept. 26.

Now 1-2 overall, Milford took a 22-19 lead on a 6-yard run by R.J. Chandler early in the fourth period.

The Auks, however, would eventually win the game on the third of halfback Dan Meaney's touchdowns with 50 seconds remaining.

Milford was led by quarterback Devon Hughes, who ran for 118 yards and passed for 60 more. He scored Milford's first two touchdowns in the first half on runs of 68- and 1-yard runs.

His 1-yard TD gave the Bucs a 15-13 halftime lead.

Caravel 29, Milford 21

The Bucs hurt themselves with four second-half turnovers after leading the nonconference contest at halftime.

Milford took a 21-15 lead into the third quarter on a 66-yard run by running back R.J. Chandler and a pair of touchdowns by Kris Kendzierski -- one on a 37-yard fumble return and the other on a 2-yard run.

Caravel, however, took advantage of the Bucs' second half miscues for 14 fourth quarter points, including a 46-yard interception return that turned a 22-21 Buc deficit into a 29-21 deficit with 4:14 to go.

Chandler led the Bucs with 120 yards rushing and 69 receiving. Milford is 1-1 overall.

Milford 28, Dickinson 22

The Bucs opened their season with a dramatic nonconference victory and their third consecutive season-opening win over Dickinson.

The Bucs trailed 22-20 in the fourth quarter but pulled out the win with 4:25 remaining on a 73-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Devon Hughes to wide receiver Karel DeVore.

Kris Kendzierski's two-point conversion run put Milford ahead to stay, 28-22, but the game wasn't secured until the Bucs stopped Dickinson at their 15-yard-line with a minute to go.

The Bucs had taken a 12-0 halftime lead on a 14-yard run by R.J. Chandler and a 16-yarder by DeVore.

Dickinson, however, put 16 points on the board in the third period on a pair of touchdowns and a safety to hold a 16-12 advantage entering the final quarter.

The Bucs surged ahead 20-16 with 10:37 left in the game on a 1-yard run by fullback Dontae Tilghman, but Dickinson regained the lead on a 65-yard touchdown pass with 5:28 left.

The Bucs were led on the ground by Hughes, who ran for 103 of Milford's 261 rushing yards. Chandler added 53 yards and Rashad Waples contributed 52 more.

DeVore, Kendzierski and Waples paced the Bucs' defense with 8 tackles apiece, with two of DeVore's tackles going for losses. Tackle Devon Youmans recorded three tackles for losses, while linemen Derrick Jones and Ed Morris had two tackles for losses each.

Chandler accounted for three fumble recoveries. Hughes, Kendzierski and Shay Lindale also recovered fumbles.