AMHERST – How does the saying go again, “the best offense is a good defense?”

For the 2022 Souhegan Sabers football squad, it looks like the offense is so good that the defense might not even matter.

In their contest against Milford on Friday night, the Sabers scored on every possession except for one, walking away with a 41-14 victory.

The Spartans struck first on a long opening drive, with senior Chris Costifas scoring with just over two minutes left in the first quarter, but it was a lead that wouldn’t last for long.

Souhegan sophomore Romy Jain found junior J.J. Bright on a quick red zone screen to even up the score shortly after the start of the second quarter and senior Madux McGrath was on the receiving end of a 33-yard touchdown pass just three minutes later.

It looked like Milford would respond with another long drive, but Bright forced a fumble near Souhegan’s own goal line with just over a minute left in the half and Souhegan would quickly answer again with Jain finding McGrath another time just before the end of the half.

To their credit, the Spartans did not roll over for the hosts in the second half. While Bright would add another rushing touchdown to open the third quarter, giving Souhegan a 27-6 lead, senior Charles Urda opened a scoring run from near midfield with 9:49 left in the quarter to bring Milford back within two scores.

The Spartans then immediately recovered an on-side kick and despite losing the ball on downs, would get the ball back again thanks to an interception from senior Jack Szopa.

However, that would be as close as the visitors would get to a comeback. Souhegan senior Charlie Maroun responded with an interception recovery of his own that would eventually transform into another rushing touchdown for Bright.

Souhegan junior Carson Behn added a nine-yard rushing touchdown with 1:31 left in the contest to complete the evening’s scoreline.

“Great game plan by them, they certainly earned it,” said Milford head coach Keith Jones.

On top of the extra adrenaline stemming from the 101A rivalry, Souhegan head coach Robin Bowkett said his squad also fed off the festival atmosphere from the Claws for a Cause charity initiatives going on during the game.

“We almost had too much energy early on, the entire school was talking about it for a week. We were ready to go on Tuesday,” said Bowkett.

“You could feel the pressure with the kids, but they knew this was going to be a big game and by the end of the week we knew that pressure is a privilege. You just have to enjoy every minute of this, you only get so many moments like these.”

Up next, Milford (1-1) will host Hanover (2-0) while Souhegan (2-0) will host Manchester West, with both games coming next Friday at 7 p.m.