Running for Miles: Clippers can't keep up with Bedford QB's 265 rushing yards and 5 total TDs

Sep. 17—NEWBURYPORT — For the past week, the Newburyport football team had been in the lab trying to devise a gameplan to slow down dual-threat Bedford quarterback Eric Miles.

Turns out, he's a little harder to tackle in person than on tape.

On Friday night, the 6-foot, 180-pound senior was unstoppable in leading his Buccaneers to a 34-15 road win over the Clippers. He rushed for a whopping 265 yards on 23 carries and four touchdowns behind a stout offensive line, and he also completed 10-of-13 passes for 92 more yards and another score through the air.

"He's the real deal," said Newburyport coach Ben Smolski. "And their offensive line, they just out-toughed us. They were bigger and stronger than us and they were impressive, they pushed us around. I thought in the second half our kids stepped up, but it just wasn't enough in the end. But Eric Miles did a hell of a job. He's definitely a football player and an athlete, and he ran all over us tonight with the help of that big O-line."

Fresh off a tough loss to Shawsheen Tech last week, Bedford (1-1) came into Friday night angry.

And the Bucs wasted no time putting their foot on the gas.

After winning the coin toss an electing to receive, a massive return by Nicholas Tatarczuk set the Bucs up at the Newburyport 31 yard line. Three plays later, Miles scampered into the end zone from 11 yards out to make it 7-0 just a minute into the game.

The Clipper offense — led by a Miles of their own in junior QB Sean Miles — jogged onto the field, but three plays later they were forced to punt. Bedford then methodically drove down in 12 plays and scored again on Miles' second TD run of the game (a 4-yarder), with the offense converting on two 4th downs and a 3rd-and-6 on the drive.

Followed by another 3-and-out, and another Newburyport punt.

But this time, Newburyport caught some fortune with a muff on the punt catch and was able to recover. Sean Miles then hit Kane Brennan for a first down on the drive, but the Clippers were eventually stopped on a 4th down from the 13.

A false start pushed Bedford back to the 8, but on the first play after the infraction Miles — Eric Miles, that is — took the shotgun snap, tucked it under his arm and weaved through Newburyport defenders on his way to a 92-yard touchdown.

Not even midway through the second quarter, and it was already 21-0.

"Our offense just couldn't get going in the first half," said Smolski, whose team started with a season-opening win over Masconomet last week. "But Bedford is a very good team. They had a lot to do with that."

A Jan Steinkeller 29-yard field goal got Newburyport on the board and made it 21-3 at halftime.

But after the break, Newburyport certainly didn't quit.

The Clippers got the second half kickoff and drove 71 yards on 9 plays for a touchdown. Sean Miles hit his older brother Ryan — yes, another 'Miles' in this game! — on a big 51-yard pass on the drive, and on a 4th-and-goal from the 13 Sean hit Bryan Mendez-Heavilin in the back of the end zone. A blocked PAT made it 21-9, but the Clippers weren't done just yet.

On the game's ensuing possession, Bedford was driving at the Newburyport 20 when the ball came out and was scooped up by Ryan Miles. The senior co-captain turned on the jets, and returned the fumble 80 yards for a TD to mirculously make it a 21-15 game with 5:33 left in the third quarter.

"They just started to execute and do their jobs during that stretch," said Smolski. "I didn't have a good angle, but I saw that ball on the ground and Ryan Miles with the good scoop and score. He just had great awareness of what was going on and getting himself down into the end zone. That really brought us back in the game, that gave us the momentum at the time."

But, to Bedford's credit, it responded immediately.

Facing their first test of adversity all night, Eric Miles drove the Bucs 87 yards on 16 plays and capped the clutch drive with a 22-yard strike up the seam to Ricardo LaBoy. That made it 27-15 early in the fourth quarter, and an unfortunate Newburyport fumble on its first play gave the Bucs the ball right back at the 2 yard line.

A quick snap to Miles, and he was in for his fourth rushing TD of the day.

That basically proved to be the dagger, as both teams got their subs in to finish off the game. Sean Miles completed 17-of-27 passes for 215 yards and a TD for the Clippers, with his top target for the second straight week being big brother Ryan (5-102). Middle linebacker Jack Hadden was a tackling monster for Newburyport, and linemen Gus Webster, Peter Osazuwa, Chris Salvatore and Niko Silvreio each made a handful of plays defensively.

Up next, it's Rivalry Week, as Newburyport will travel to archrival Triton for a 6:30 p.m. kickoff Friday night.

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Bedford 34, Newburyport 15

Bedford (1-1): 14 7 0 13 — 34

Newburyport (1-1): 0 3 12 0 — 15

First Quarter

B — Eric Miles 11 run (Nicholas Tatarczuk kick), 10:50

B — Miles 4 run (Tatarczuk kick), 1:43

Second Quarter

B — Miles 92 run (Tatarczuk kick), 6:32

N — Jan Steinkeller 29 field goal, 4:20

Third Quarter

N — Bryan Mendez-Heavilin 13 pass from Sean Miles (kick blocked), 7:29

N — Ryan Miles 80 fumble return (pass failed), 5:33

Fourth Quarter

B — Ricardo LaBoy 22 pass from Miles (pass failed), 10:07

B — Miles 2 run (Tatarczuk kick), 9:40

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING: NEWBURYPORT (15-(-2)): Kane Brennan 3-17, Colin Fuller 3-0, Sean Miles 9-(-19); BEDFORD (35-313): Eric Miles 23-265, Ricardo LeBoy 3-28, Aaron Kreiter 5-11, Dylan Siwik 4-9

PASSING: N — S. Miles 17-27-1, 215; C. Fuller 2-4-0, 35; B — E. Miles 10-13-1, 92

RECEIVING: N — Ryan Miles 5-102, Bryan Mendez-Heavilin 3-57, Jack Hadden 2-29, Iyobosa Osazuwa 4-23, Brennan 2-19, Jack Sullivan 2-15, Gus Webster 1-5; B — Jayvon Williams 3-32, LaBoy 4-25, Nicholas Tatarczuk 2-20, Kreiter 1-15