ONTARIO — Gavin Miller’s favorite position is linebacker.
His best position is still a matter of debate.
Ontario’s senior Swiss Army knife threw for a touchdown, ran for another and nearly returned a punt for a third score as the Warriors opened the season with a 35-7 win over backyard rival Lexington at steamy Copeland Field on Friday.
Miller was also in on several tackles as the Warriors (1-0) avenged last year’s 36-16 loss to the Minutemen (0-1).
“He’s our do-it-all guy,” Ontario coach Aaron Eckert said.
Miller took over at quarterback late last season, completing 27-of-39 passes for 511 yards and five touchdowns during the regular season. He split time with Mansfield Senior transfer Sean Tanner on Friday and also took offensive snaps at running back.
“I kind of like (the two-quarterback system) because we both have strengths and weaknesses,” Miller said. “We’re very supportive of each other. It’s not like we’re fighting for the spot.
“We rotated in and I get some running back reps.”
Opening Statement
Ontario set the tone on the very first play of the new season. Cam Powers collected the opening kickoff at his own 20-yard line and sliced through the Lexington coverage unit for an 80-yard touchdown.
“When you start off with a special-teams touchdown … that’s a huge advantage,” Eckert said. “We’ve got some speed and it showed up on that play.”
Lexington tied the score at 7-7 when Camron Glennon took a short pass from quarterback Lane Custer and turned it into a 45-yard touchdown with 10:34 remaining in the second quarter.
Ontario reclaimed the lead for good when Miller hooked up with Trindon Flenoury on a 26-yard touchdown with 8:03 to play in the opening half, making it 14-7.
Taking Control
The Warriors turned to the ground game in the third quarter, scoring a pair of rushing touchdowns to take a commanding 28-7 lead. Max Ciroli scored on a 26-yard run with 4:58 remaining in the third period. Miller added a 2-yarder with less than a minute remaining in the stanza.
“We went in the locker room (at halftime) and were like, ‘We’ve got to establish the run,’ ” Miller said. “We had to get the run game going because if we don’t, the season is going to be long.”
Ontario’s final score came early in the fourth quarter when Tanner scored on a 3-yard keeper.
‘Our Program Has Been Through A Lot’
Lexington played its first game since the death of head coach Andrew Saris over the summer.
“Our kids have been through a lot. Our program has been through a lot,” coach Jacob Owens said. “Just being out here on Friday night … it was a little emotional at first because of everything going on, but I thought once the game got going and the kids settled in, we started playing some football.
“Our kids played hard. We kept fighting and battling.”