Cross Plains Buffaloes race to early lead, hand Miles Bulldogs first loss

MILES — The Cross Plains Buffaloes got off to a blistering start in the first half en route to a convincing 42-6 victory against the Miles Bulldogs in a nondistrict Class 2A showdown Friday night at Krejci Memorial Stadium.

The Buffaloes led 35-6 at the break after scoring two TDs in the first quarter and three in the second.

Cross Plains, which improved to 5-1, won the previous two meetings in 2016 and 2017. Miles dropped to 5-1.

Cason Allen scored three touchdowns in the first half for the Buffaloes. He caught TD passes of 32 and 21 yards from Caleb Hernandez, and he added a 22-yard TD run with 36 seconds left before halftime.

Cross Plains head coach Daniel Purvis said the two teams are closer than Friday's score would indicate.

"Miles is an extremely good team," Purvis said. "We were able to take advantage of a couple of things, but they're good and we feel very fortunate to come out on top.

"We kind of thought we had the potential to put a game like that together. We just hadn't been able to this season. And to finally do it, it's a relief to us as coaches and a relief to the kids to kind of show them what we're capable of and what we can do."

The Buffaloes' offensive front manhandled Miles from start to finish.

"We give it all to them because there were holes that I could've run through tonight," Purvis said. "They did a great job of doing what we worked on and executing our game plan. They did it to perfection, and every once in awhile they'll do that. 

"But I was really proud of them tonight. They were able to execute the game plan and we had a big night."

Cross Plains was able to spread the wealth with four rushers getting at least 59 yards. Cody McWilliams ran for 90 yards and a 53-yard TD, Allen finished with 79, quarterback Caleb Hernandez had 68, and Casen Conlee added 59.

Allen accounted for half of Cross Plains' six TDs.

"He's a little dynamo for us, but we really feel like we have four kids who can take it to the house at any time, and that's what makes each one of them so dangerous," Purvis said. "You can't concentrate on one."

Miles head coach Charles Boles said the Buffaloes' O-line made it a long night for his defense.

"Evidently it wore us down quite a bit," Boles said. "We weren't tackling very well, and we felt like at times when we were in position to make plays we were missing tackles. 

"They did a fantastic job game planning for us, and they had their kids playing at a higher level than we were at. We've got to learn from that and get ready for district."

Allen also tipped his hat to the big men up front for the Buffaloes.

"I give our offensive line a bunch of the credit," he said. "We came into the game knowing we had to improve from past weeks, so to see them really take that big step forward and accomplish what they did tonight, I give them all the credit."

The Buffaloes' other first-half scores came on a 13-yard TD run by Conlee and the 53-yard TD run by McWilliams.

Miles quarterback Davian Martinez punched his way into the end zone on a 1-yard keeper with 3:05 left in the second for the Bulldogs' lone score.

Cross Plains added a 3-yard TD run by Hernandez in the third quarter for the final margin.

Other highlights for Miles included an interception by Seth Michalewicz and a goal-line stand by the Bulldogs' defense on Cross Plains' opening possession in the third quarter.

Despite the lopsided loss, Boles still feels good about the kind of season the Bulldogs are having.

"This is a chance for our kids to show their resolve and show their toughness and rebound from a tough loss," the Miles coach said. "I think our kids are high-character kids and I think they'll bounce back for district."

What this game means: After getting off to their best start in 30 years, the Bulldogs dropped their first game in 2019.

Friday's highlights: Cross Plains finished with 451 yards total offense, including 353 on the ground, while holding Miles to a total of 121.

Friday's stars: Cross Plains' Cason Allen carried nine times for 79 yards and scored three TDs in the first half. He caught TD passes of 32 and 21 yards from Caleb Hernandez and ran for a 22-yard score.

Up next: Cross Plains will travel to Haskell on Friday, Oct. 11, for the District 7-2A Division II opener. Miles will face travel to Menard for the District 8-2A D-II opener.

Records: Both teams are 5-1.

Cross Plains 42, Miles 6

Cross Plains    14    21    7    0 — 42

Miles    0    6    0    0 — 6

First Quarter

CP — Cason Allen 32 pass from Caleb Hernandez (Keegan Tillery kick), 6:39 remaining

CP — Casen Conlee 13 run (Tillery kick), 2:06

Second Quarter

CP — Allen 21 pass from Hernandez (Tillery kick), 7:54

CP — Cody McWilliams 53 run (Tillery kick), 4:42

M — Davian Martinez 1 run (kick failed), 3:05

CP — Allen 22 run (Tillery kick), 0:36

Third Quarter

CP — Hernandez 3 run (Tillery kick), 1:33

                Cross Plains    Miles

First downs    20                7

Rushes-yds    44-353        21-37

Passing yds    98              84

Comp-att-int    7-9-1        10-17-0

Punts-avg.        0            5-26

Fumbles-lost    2-0            0-0

Penalties-yds    5-60        8-95

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Cross Plains: Cody McWilliams 13-90, Cason Allen 9-79, Caleb Hernandez 9-68, Casen Conlee 7-59, Noah Moses 3-36, Sam Horan 1-12, Corey Proctor 1-7, Hunter Johnson 1-2. Miles: Brayden Dunlap 8-44, Davian Martinez 13-(-7).

PASSING -- Cross Plains: Caleb Hernandez 7-9-1 for 98. Miles: Davian Martinez 10-17-0.

RECEIVING -- Cross Plains: Cason Allen 4-74, Hunter Johnson 2-17, Corey Proctor 1-7. Miles: Brandon Rodriguez 4-52, Jose Mata 4-14,Seth Michalewicz 1-12, Brayden Dunlap 1-6.

Records -- Both teams are 5-1.