Buchanan falls to defending D7 champ Millington 35-8
Published 1:13 pm Saturday, October 4, 2025
(Maxwell Harden / Leader Publications)
(Maxwell Harden / Leader Publications)
(Maxwell Harden / Leader Publications)
(Maxwell Harden / Leader Publications)
(Maxwell Harden / Leader Publications)(Maxwell Harden / Leader Publications)
(Maxwell Harden / Leader Publications)
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BUCHANAN — The Millington football team played spoiler to Buchanan’s homecoming festivities Friday night.
The defending Division 7 state champions made the most of its six-hour round trip, scoring 28 unanswered points on its way to a 35-8 win.
Lucas Zeiger completed 5 of 20 passes for 107 yards and one touchdown and had 15 carries for 21 yards including a pair of fourth down conversions to keep Buchanan’s scoring drives alive. Max Cornelius, the team’s leading rusher, finished with 10 carries for 15 yards and one catch for 33 yards while Carson Deming had four carries for 13 yards. Thompson had one catch for 71 yards and Isaiah Nelson had one catch for 21 yards.
On defense, Jameson Pleasant had nine total tackles and Nelson had eight while Thompson had four and one sack.
The Cardinals outgained the Bucks 413-178 in total yards, including a 305-34 edge in rushing yards. Millington also had four turnovers compared to Buchanan’s two. While the Bucks struggled against a physical Cardinals team, they had two drives into the Millington red zone that ended with turnovers on downs as well as a fumble into the Millington red zone that was recovered by the Cardinals.
According to head coach Mark Frey, what unfolded on the field Friday night was not Buchanan football.
“We made a lot of mistakes,” Frey said. “You can’t leave three touchdowns on the field in the red zone, so we gotta clean that up. We knew it was gonna be a battle. You can see it on film. They’re gonna be a tough team. They won state last year, so most people are afraid of scheduling them. So we tried to take that next step and as a program and we’ve got a little bit of work to do.”
Millington got on the board with a one-yard run by Drake Terwilliger to take a 7-0 lead on their opening drive. The Cardinals scored three more touchdowns in the first half on explosive plays: a 40-yard pass from Garret Woodward to Layden Delong, a 34-yard run from Logan Myers and a 24-yard pass from Woodward to Delong on 4th and 12 to make it 28-0 with 1:18 left in the half.
The Bucks’ lone touchdown of the game came in the closing minutes of the first half as quarterback Lucas Zeiger connected with Owen Thompson on a 71-yard touchdown pass. The Bucks converted the two-point conversion to make it a 28-8 game at halftime.
After a scoreless third quarter, the Cardinals found the end zone one more time via a 60-yard run by Hudson Myers to go up 35-8 with 5:21 left in the game.
“They’re just a physical team and if we don’t stay gap-sound, which is what occurred on three of the touchdowns, that’s gonna happen,” Frey said. “You stay gap-sound and you don’t give up big plays on 3rd and 16 and 4th and 12, you know, then you come out the winner.”
The Bucks (4-2, 3-0) will host Dowagiac next week in a key Lakeland Conference matchup. The Chieftains (4-2, 1-1) fell to Berrien Springs 21-0 on Friday. While the loss hurts, Frey believes playing against state championship pedigree will pay dividends through the regular season and beyond.
“When you walk past [the Millington kids] in the handshake line, you can see they have the size and the speed that we haven’t seen all season,” Frey said. “So getting it under our belt and knowing that this is the best team we’ll probably have faced and maybe face until the playoffs is a good place to be. So next week, we can come out a little more confident against a more equal opponent.”
