Milford football overcomes mistakes to beat Hollis Brookline

HOLLIS – There were penalties and turnovers and miscues and mistakes.

But this time around, the Milford High School football team found ways to overcome all its warts Friday night and roll to a 43-12 win over Hollis Brookline in Division II action.

Bryce Walker rushed 10 times for 88 yards and three touchdowns while Mark Madigan had a touchdown rushing and receiving and Max Urda threw for two touchdowns as the Spartans (2-0) got a bit of revenge for last year’s loss to the Cavaliers.

“I’m excited we won the game,”Jones said. “If you watched it, we still tried to find ways to make it interesting. Too many fumbles, too many stupid penalties, but overall, as far as defensively and execution, we had one let down and they scored a long touchdown. Other than that, I thought we played a strong game.

“Last year, we played them, we did not overcome those things and they beat us. It was nice to be on the other end of it this year. That left a bad taste in our mouth last year. These guys live down the street from us and we did not put on a good showing. We wanted to play a much better football game.”

While the Milford offense went off for 334 yards – 262 of which came in the first half – the defense was just as strong, especially against the run. HB (0-2) had just 1 yard rushing on 18 carries in the first half, and without a 60-yard touchdown pass from Joey Delaney to Brian Delaney, the Cavs gained 134 yards on the night.

“We didn’t do our jobs,” HB coach Chris Lones said. “We just faced some adversity early in the game and we didn’t do our jobs. We’ve got to do a better job coaching, we’ve got to do a better job playing, we’ve just got to go back to work.”

Milford took the opening kickoff and went 68 yards in eight plays, using up 4:11, to take a 7-0 lead on a 3-yard run by Madigan. After HB was forced to punt, the teams traded turnovers, with an interception by Madigan giving the Spartans a first down at the Cavs’ 40.

Urda wasted no time, finding Ryan Flaherty for a 40-yard touchdown pass, and Padrick Harvey hit Teagan Vitali for the two-point conversion, making 15-0 with 5:54 left in the first.

The Spartans forced another punt, but then lost another fumble, and on the next play, Joey Delaney found older brother Brian on a short swing pass that he turned into a 60-yard touchdown reception.

After forcing a Milford punt, HB drove across midfield, converting a fourth-and-5 to get to the Spartans’ 40-yard line, but two incompletions and an offensive pass interference call moved the Cavs back to their 45. Milford then blocked the punt and took over at HB’s 45.

The Spartans got down inside the 10, thanks in part to a personal foul on the Cavs, and Walker scored from 9 yards out to make it 22-6.

The Milford defense then held again, and this time, Kody Palladino blocked a punt and the Spartans got the ball at the Cavs’ 18. Two plays later, Walker scored on a 13-yard run.

HB blocked a punt of its own late in the first half, giving the Cavs a first down at Milford’s 26-yard line with 3:30 left in the half. But after a 9-yard run by Joey Delaney on first down, the Cavs went backward and turned it over on downs. Five plays later, the Spartans ran a hook-and-ladder play, with Urda throwing to Padrick Harvey, who the lateraled to Madigan, who ran the rest of the way to the end zone for a 48-yard touchdown.

Walker scored from 37 yards out on Milford’s first possession of the second half, and HB’s Ronnie Hilliard capped the scored with a 10-yard touchdown run with 4:21 left in the game.