Golden Mules’ senior QB chats about big performance against Ephrata, the state of his team, and about a teammate who is a whiz in the kitchen - you don’t want to miss that.
You can listen to my full ‘5 Questions’ interview with Miller by clicking on the ‘play’ button above.
You can also download the Podcast and listen to it on your favorite mp3 device by clicking here.
And you can continue reading here for my story from Tuesday’s New Era …
He pilots one of the most innovative offenses in the Lancaster-Lebanon League.
He piloted his team to a share of the Section 2 title and into the District 3 playoffs for the first time since 1991 last year.
He hopes to pilot his team back to the playoffs again in three weeks.
And last Friday night, he piloted his team to a 48-28 victory over Ephrata.
He is Solanco senior quarterback Ben Miller, and against the Mountaineers he completed a cool 10-of-16 passes for 235 yards, and five of those completions went for touchdowns as the Golden Mules shook off an early 14-13 deficit and zoomed past Ephrata to improve to 2-3 in Section 2 and 4-4 overall – and remain in the thick of the district-playoff chase.
For his efforts, Miller, who quarterbacks Solanco’s Shotgun Wing-T attack, is the New Era Player of the Week
Against Ephrata, Miller tossed a 7- and a 12-yard TD pass to B.J. Enck, a 58- and 46-yard TD pass to Brock Snider and a 26-yard TD pass to Trevor Marsh.
In Week 7 against Lebanon, Miller passed for 186 yards and three touchdowns, so he’s had a hot hand.
“Ben has really developed as a runner and as a play-action guy for us, and he had a lot of success with that (against Ephrata),” Solanco coach Joe Pearson said. “His decision-making has become so much better. He takes what you give him and he does the best he can with it. He’s really comfortable in our offense now. He’s really good at selling what he needs to sell up front, controlling the guys on the ball and taking advantage of running the football a little bit.”
Against Ephrata, Miller rushed for 48 of Solanco’s 320 yards. But he also did some major damage with his arm.
And before practice Monday, Solanco’s pilot sat down for the New Era’s 5 Questions …
WHAT’S IT LIKE RUNNING THE SHOTGUN WING-T?
“It’s pretty much like a spread attack … we do what we’re good at, and that’s using our speed. We can also pound it out up the middle if we have to. The coaches make it pretty easy for us. I started running it in junior high … getting to know the formations. It’s pretty much the same as the Wing-T, we’re just in the shotgun. With most anything, the more you do it, the better you understand what the defense is showing you and what you can do to exploit it.”
YOU MADE DISTRICTS LAST YEAR. ARE YOU ITCHING TO GET BACK?
“Making Districts was really awesome. The coaches told us that we could be the first Solanco team since 1991 to make Districts, so we could make history. That was an awesome year. So we want to find a way to get back there again this year. We want to feel what that felt like again.”
YOU ONLY HAVE THREE HOME GAMES AND SEVEN AWAY GAMES THIS YEAR. WHAT ARE THOSE BUS TRIPS LIKE?
“The bus trips can get long – really long. Everywhere we go is pretty much at least 45 minutes. And earlier this season we had to go to Kennard-Dale, which is out in the middle of nowhere. It doesn’t really matter. It’s not like it’s us against the world. Our thing is being ready to play. We just bring our lunch pales and go to work.”
TELL US ABOUT YOUR OFFENSIVE LINE:
“The left tackle is Tim Latham, the left guard is Bryan Boulden, the center is Zac Chubb, the right guard is Jordan Giffing and the right tackle is Nolan Crawford. They are our team. I give those guys all the credit in the world. If we have a good game, it’s all because of them. It all runs through them.”
DO YOU HAVE A WORLD SERIES PREDICTION?
“Phillies in six. The Rays are a good team, but I think the Phillies bullpen will push them over the top.”
