The most impressive play from Blue Springs running back Darrian Miller during the Wildcats’ 54-17 thumping of Lee’s Summit on Friday was quite simply the least noticeable play on a night the junior running back scorched the Tigers for 213 yards and four touchdowns on 22 carries.
Sure, Miller’s rumbling, stumbling, down-but-not-down, drag a few defenders 29-yard run in the third quarter was a doozy. Even his powerful 13-yard touchdown run straight up the gut in the third quarter was a looker. And the 55-yard sprint that ended his night in the fourth quarter was a thing of beauty.
But nothing compared to the jarring block Miller put on a Lee’s Summit defender on a reverse that sprang wide receiver Nick Halterman for a 36-yard gain to the Tigers’ 3-yard line. The Wildcats were ahead 28-14 with just over eight minutes to play in the third quarter and Miller scored two plays later to put the game out of reach.
“You don’t understand, man, we are too good of friends,” Miller said as Halterman helped Miller remove his shoulder pads after the game. “Honestly, I can’t even say I got a favorite on the team, but me and Halt, we kick it. We kick it everyday.”
Miller was at full-speed when he made the block. The teams had just traded turnovers – Lee’s Summit on a fumble the first play from scrimmage in the third quarter and Blue Springs on turnover on downs – when the Wildcats got the ball back on a punt. On a first-and-10 from the Tigers’ 39-yard line the Wildcats pulled the reverse out of the bag and the rout was on.
“I just thought to myself, ‘I’m I going to stay over here and leave (Halterman) to do everything by himself or I’m I going to man up,’” Miller said. “‘Forget the fatigue and just sprint over there and see what I can do.’ It wasn’t even a second thought. I knew I was going to run over there and block.”
Halterman said he wasn’t surprised that Miller was in on the block that set him free in his only rushing attempt of the game.
“Our whole offense, we just have confidence in each other,” Halterman said. “There is a connection with every single player. We’re all good friends off the field and it can’t get much better than that.”
Wildcats head coach Kelly Donohoe wasn’t surprised by Miller’s unselfishness either.
“That’s Darrian,” Donohoe said. “That’s Darrian. He really does want to be a great team player. We’ve gotten on him quite a bit recently about that – and not that his desire isn’t there – it’s just that sometimes he tries to do too much and sometimes with him trying to do too much he gets away from what it is we are trying to get him to do.
“He did a much better job tonight of staying true to what we do and helping guys out on fakes and blocks. I’m just happy to see him have a big game running. I thought that he had a really good week of practice.”
That good week of practice is what Tigers head coach Mike Spiegel feared most. Spiegel said he knew that Donohoe’s group was going to come out with a nasty taste in their mouth after the Wildcats’ loss last week to Rockhurst.
“Kelly had his kids well prepared,” Spiegel said. “You knew that they would have some sort of ‘Come to Jesus’ meeting after the Rockhurst game and Blue Springs being the prideful program that they are, they responded to their coach’s request. They did an outstanding job tonight.”
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The most impressive play from Blue Springs running back Darrian Miller during the Wildcats’ 54-17 thumping of Lee’s Summit on Friday was quite simply the least noticeable play on a night the junior running back scorched the Tigers for 213 yards and four touchdowns on 22 carries.
Sure, Miller’s rumbling, stumbling, down-but-not-down, drag a few defenders 29-yard run in the third quarter was a doozy. Even his powerful 13-yard touchdown run straight up the gut in the third quarter was a looker. And the 55-yard sprint that ended his night in the fourth quarter was a thing of beauty.
But nothing compared to the jarring block Miller put on a Lee’s Summit defender on a reverse that sprang wide receiver Nick Halterman for a 36-yard gain to the Tigers’ 3-yard line. The Wildcats were ahead 28-14 with just over eight minutes to play in the third quarter and Miller scored two plays later to put the game out of reach.
“You don’t understand, man, we are too good of friends,” Miller said as Halterman helped Miller remove his shoulder pads after the game. “Honestly, I can’t even say I got a favorite on the team, but me and Halt, we kick it. We kick it everyday.”
Miller was at full-speed when he made the block. The teams had just traded turnovers – Lee’s Summit on a fumble the first play from scrimmage in the third quarter and Blue Springs on turnover on downs – when the Wildcats got the ball back on a punt. On a first-and-10 from the Tigers’ 39-yard line the Wildcats pulled the reverse out of the bag and the rout was on.
“I just thought to myself, ‘I’m I going to stay over here and leave (Halterman) to do everything by himself or I’m I going to man up,’” Miller said. “‘Forget the fatigue and just sprint over there and see what I can do.’ It wasn’t even a second thought. I knew I was going to run over there and block.”
Halterman said he wasn’t surprised that Miller was in on the block that set him free in his only rushing attempt of the game.
“Our whole offense, we just have confidence in each other,” Halterman said. “There is a connection with every single player. We’re all good friends off the field and it can’t get much better than that.”
Wildcats head coach Kelly Donohoe wasn’t surprised by Miller’s unselfishness either.
“That’s Darrian,” Donohoe said. “That’s Darrian. He really does want to be a great team player. We’ve gotten on him quite a bit recently about that – and not that his desire isn’t there – it’s just that sometimes he tries to do too much and sometimes with him trying to do too much he gets away from what it is we are trying to get him to do.
“He did a much better job tonight of staying true to what we do and helping guys out on fakes and blocks. I’m just happy to see him have a big game running. I thought that he had a really good week of practice.”
That good week of practice is what Tigers head coach Mike Spiegel feared most. Spiegel said he knew that Donohoe’s group was going to come out with a nasty taste in their mouth after the Wildcats’ loss last week to Rockhurst.
“Kelly had his kids well prepared,” Spiegel said. “You knew that they would have some sort of ‘Come to Jesus’ meeting after the Rockhurst game and Blue Springs being the prideful program that they are, they responded to their coach’s request. They did an outstanding job tonight.”
