MILTON – All tricks and no treats when Natick came to visit Milton in the final week of the regular season.
Milton head coach Steve Dembowski promised to be better in the second half with play calling and the longtime Wildcats’ leader proved it with a master class as Milton came back for a thrilling 21-14 victory over Bay State Conference nemesis Natick (6-2).
Patrick Collins tossed his second touchdown for the game-winner with 1:34 left and found Patrick Mason wide open in the end zone on a perfectly timed play-action pass for the 32-yard touchdown strike to improve to 7-1.
“I told the team I would call better plays in the second half and you guys just keep playing in all three phases and I thought we certainly did that,” said Dembowksi. “Our kickoff coverage, our PATs, all that made the difference.”
The Wildcats were 0-for-3 on fourth down conversion attempts in the first half as the Red Hawks led 7-0 after James Mortarelli scampered 80 yards to break the scoreless tie at 4:49 of the second quarter.
But a fumble on the opening series of the second half by the Red Hawks was scooped up by Finn Hegarty to give Milton the momentum right out of the halftime adjustments.
On Dembowksi’s fourth try on a fourth down conversion attempt, Collins found Noah Tran on a fourth-and-eight play out of the shotgun for an acrobatic 39-yard touchdown to tie things up 7-7 at 8:48 of the third.
“It knew I had to go get it as it was out in front of me, I got there somehow and it just landed in my hands,” said Tran. “Great team effort and we did it on defense and special teams. This is a really big win so we might get two home playoff games, but every win counts.”
Natick was forced to punt on its next possession and Mason did it all on his own on special teams. Mason returned the punt 82 yards on a bouncing punt that out-kicked the Natick coverage. Mason’s electric return gave Milton the 14-7 lead with 5:49 left in the third.
The special teams continued to shine as Milton pinned Natick on its own one-yard line at the end of the third, but the Red Hawks marched 99 yards on a 15-play drive that ate up 8:35 of the clock. Jesse Gagliardi scored on a two-yard off tackle plunge to tie things up 14-14 with only 3:31 to play.
“I had a better feel (in the second half) on who I had to get the ball to. We talked about field position and talked about it at half time that we had to rake at the ball because their backs fight so hard,” said Dembowski. We have a warrior at quarterback that has seen it all now in his 19th start. So to lead us on that final drive of the game after (Natick) tied it and make some plays with his legs and his arm is so critical to our success.”
