Milledgeville’s Kacen Johnson makes triumphant return, scores 3 return TDs in win over Orangeville

ORANGEVILLE – Saturday afternoon’s 46-8, season-opening win at Orangeville is a game Milledgeville senior Kacen Johnson will likely always remember, not only because it was his first game back from a broken fibula suffered in Week 4 of the 2021 season, but also because of the dominance he displayed on special teams.

In the first half of the Week 1 eight-man football game, Johnson scored three special teams touchdowns.

His first came on the opening kickoff, as he scooped up a squib kick and took it back for a 70-yard score. That play gave Milledgeville a 6-0 lead 11 seconds into the game.

His second touchdown, which put the Missiles up 30-0, was a 56-yard punt return with 3:37 to go in the first quarter.

The third touchdown – a punt return of 80 yards – put Milledgeville ahead 46-0 and came when 7:34 remained in the first half.

“After the first [return touchdown], I was pretty excited,” Johnson said. “It felt pretty good, because I got injured last season, so getting to be back on the field was just a good feeling.”

Milledgeville coach Jason Wroble said he hadn’t seen a special teams performance like Johnson’s in quite a while.

“One of the things we hang our hats on in Milledgeville is good special teams, and we seem to always have a kid that can return the ball like that. It’s been a while to have three special teams touchdowns like that, but Kacen, he’s an electric player,” he said.

“He missed a lot of the last season with a broken leg, so I think he’s not on a lot of schools’ radars, but he picks that ball up and he’s got speed. It’s deceiving, because it doesn’t look like he’s working very hard, but he’s really fast.

“It was great day for him, and special teams had a huge impact on the game.”

After a quick Orangeville three-and-out following the kickoff return touchdown, Milledgeville’s offense took the field for its first possession about three minutes into the game. Starting the drive at their own 48, the Missiles wasted no time marching down the field.

Running back Kolton Wilk broke free for a 15-yard run on one of the initial plays. Quarterback Connor Nye followed with an 18-yard scamper to move into scoring position. A couple of plays later, Nye punched in a 1-yard touchdown run to cap the scoring drive and connected with Johnson for the two-point conversion and a 14-0 lead.

“I think we did pretty good. I think we proved a lot of people wrong,” Johnson said. “At the beginning of this, we had the same predicted record as the Broncos, and we came out here and showed them what’s up. I think we really deserved to win, and we worked really hard for it all summer. I’m proud of us.”

After another empty Broncos’ possession, the Missiles scored again for a 22-0 lead. The culminating play of the scoring drive was a 47-yard Nye pass to tight end Micah Toms-Smith with 5:57 to play in the first. Flaring out to the left on a swing pass, Toms-Smith worked around a receiver block and raced down the sideline untouched.

“I’m very happy with how we performed. We had a lot of new faces. We didn’t have a ton of returners on either side of the ball, so we didn’t know how they were gonna come out on their first varsity game, and what kind of energy they’d have, or how much nerves there would be, and the execution,” Wroble said.

“And overall, I’m really happy with all the new faces and how they played. You want to open up the season that way, and I thought we were in good shape: we tackled well and blocked well and protected the football, so it was a good effort for us Week 1.”

Six seconds into the second quarter, Wilk won the edge on a toss play to the right and stretched over the pylon for a 17-yard score. With almost three full quarters left to play, Milledgeville had a 38-0 lead.

Orangeville running back Blake Folgate scored the final touchdown of the game, punching in a 1-yard run with 3:43 left in regulation to prevent the shutout at 46-8.

“I think they’ve got some guys that are tough to defend. We got out of our gaps. They’ve got some explosive players, and they’re a good football team,” Orangeville coach Jay Doyle said. “We have to learn from this and get better, and I think we will. I think we’ll get better as the year goes on, and we’ll see what happens.

“I’m proud of how we played the second half. We got through it. We got Polo next week, and hopefully, we’ll play a better game.”

Nye had an efficient day passing for the Missiles, completing 4 of 6 pass attempts for 107 yards, one touchdown and a whopping 17.8 yards per attempt, with a dropped deep shot skewing the numbers a bit. He also ran for a touchdown.

Johnson finished the day with 206 total return yards and three touchdowns. Toms-Smith was the leading Missile receiver, snaring one pass for a 47-yard touchdown.

Cody Wirth completed 3 of 4 passes for 63 yards to lead the Broncos through the air. Maisen Pfeiffer added 49 rushing yards on 15 carries for Orangeville.