Braxton Miller?s Big Day
By Kyle Nagel | Saturday, October 24, 2009
HUBER HEIGHTS ? There was probably only one person rooting for Wayne in Heidkamp Stadium on Friday, Oct. 23, who had a problem with Braxton Miller?s breakout, 320-total-yard game against Centerville.
That was Javon Harrison, the Warriors? backup freshman quarterback who, for the first time in five games, didn?t see the field when the game mattered.
By the time he entered, with just kneel-down time remaining, Harrison ? like everyone else in the stadium ? had watched Miller, the junior starter, run for 165 yards and four touchdowns and pass for 155 more yards and another score as Wayne topped Centerville 42-20.
It was a result that surprised almost everyone (even the Wayne fans would have to admit that). The Elks, entering the game, had lost only to Moeller 21-19 in Week 3, and Moeller had ascended to the state?s No. 2 ranking in Division.
Wayne, just the week before, had beaten Beavercreek (which is now 4-5) by a score of 9-5, and the Warriors needed to rally to even do that.
In that game, Wayne coach Jay Minton had effectively used Harrison as a substitute for the highly recruited Miller, splitting Miller out at receiver instead of placing him under center. The Wayne offense, admittedly, had been sputtering.
Then came Friday. It was clear from the game?s first two plays ? a 22-yard pass from Miller to Bear Westmoreland and a 49-yard Miller touchdown run ? that Wayne was emerging from its offensive cocoon.
Miller?s left leg, as well, seemed to have a new life. He suffered what coaches called a deep thigh bruise in Week 4 against Trotwood-Madison, then missed the next two games before playing at a clear partial speed in the next two.
Hence the expectations for a close game, if not a similar score going Centerville?s way instead. The Elks had been winning games (including the previous week 32-0 against Northmont, a team that defeated Wayne) by nearly 40 points apiece.
Centerville moved the ball respectably against Wayne, but three stops on fourth down in the red zone stunted them on the scoreboard.
Wayne had no such trouble. Behind Miller?s legs and his arm ? his tosses more accurate and powerful as the game progressed ? the Warriors moved into a better playoff position, having entered the game No. 9 in the Division I, Region 4 computer points. With a season finale against Springfield remaining, things look much better for Wayne than they did three weeks ago after the loss to Northmont, 27-14.
