By CURTIS PULLIAM

cpulliam@vindy.com

New Middleton

Luke Frye is not a big kid.

But he made his presence felt Friday night.

Frye had an 11-yard fumble return for a touchdown to spark Springfield to a 41-6 victory over Jackson-Milton.

“Got down there fast and none of the return men touched me,” said Frye, who is 5-foot-7 and 170 pounds. “All I saw was the ball bounce once. It felt like slow motion.”

Jackson-Milton’s Joey Burnside picked up the ball and got to about the 5 when Grant Nezbeth made a jarring hit.

Frye was there to pick up the ball.

“It was the best feeling,” Frye said. “To have all your brothers and buddies around you scream for you — there’s nothing like it.”

Tigers head coach Sean Guerriero said the play was an early difference maker.

“I think momentum-wise, it just seemed like it ended up taking the game,” Guerriero said. “Those are the little things you preach in practice.”

Jackson-Milton head coach Mark Assion agreed the kickoff was a big play.

“You felt the wind go out of the sails,” Assion said. “It was like the kids were holding on to a belief, but then Springfield rode that tidal wave right on.”

Up 14-0, the Tigers keep the points coming.

Running back Ryan Kohler scored on a 24-yard run with 5:48 left in the first to make it 21-0.

Three plays later, Randy Groves intercepted Mike Assion and returned it 30 yards for a touchdown, putting the Tigers up 28-0.

“Our seniors came up with a saying, ‘This is our time right now,’” Guerriero said. “Right now, being the first [Inter Tri-County League] game, I told them, ‘This is our time.’”

The Bluejays never recovered.

“Before you know it’s 14-0, and we didn’t have a chance to inhale,” Assion said. “It was a brutal experience.”

The Tigers’ first half also included touchdown runs of 90 and 40 yards by Kohler.

“Honestly, when I run I don’t know what’s going on,” said Kohler, who had 200 yards on nine carries. “I don’t try to do too much, but I try to break my limits and kept on running.”

Kohler made the Bluejays miss tackles every time he carried the ball.

“It felt great,” he said. “Feeling like a team afterwards and all the excitement around here — you can’t beat that feeling.”

Guerriero liked Springfield’s focus.

“They were ready to go today,” he said. “They put the work in this week and it definitely paid off.”

The Tigers improved to 3-1.

“Yeah, we won tonight but you have to put that behind you,” Frye said. “They were higher in the playoff rankings. This was a big win for us.”

For the Bluejays, it’s back to the drawing board.

“We stunk,” Assion said. “We didn’t come to play and we didn’t have a great week of practice. It was just terrible.”