FRANKLIN, Mass. – When Milford was putting together its game plan for Friday night’s visit to Pisini Stadium, the Hawks thought there were opportunities to attack Franklin’s defense with the passing game, trying to utilize their weapons on the edges. After 24 minutes, the game plan was boiled down to line up behind the big offensive line and let the running game do the work.
The Hawks rushed for more than 300 yards as a team, all but nine of those yards from running backs Nick Araujo and Romeo Holland and quarterback Evan Cornelius, and five touchdowns. Milford only threw one pass in the second half, even as Franklin’s offense started to click, and rolled to a 43-24 victory that sets up a three-way tie atop the Kelley-Rex division.
“Up front, we were incredible tonight,” said Milford coach Dale Olson about his offensive line of Oliver McKee, Anthony Dew, Ryan O’Connor, Keith Lee, and Tyler Potter. “I looked at the kids at halftime and said we might not throw a forward pass because every time it’s 4, 5, 6 [yards]. That’s a testament to our guys up front. They just dug in and they pushed a good Franklin team around tonight.”
In addition to its big offensive line, Milford boasts three big guys to carry the ball as well and Franklin had problems trying to bring all three of the down all night long.
Olson explained, “It’s a three-headed monster, and they all weigh 230 pounds. That run Romeo had early, every kid on the Franklin team had a shot at him. He’s just a tough kid, Nick’s a tough kid, and eventually we had some options on the outside and I was just like don’t do it.”
The Milford defense forced three-and-outs on each of Franklin’s first two possessions. Milford’s second possession got down to the Franklin 25, but a nice tackle by Bobby Padula stopped Isaiah Pantalone short of the marker on fourth and five and forced a turnover on downs.
On its next drive, starting in Franklin territory for the second time, the Hawks got on the board. Cornelius found Pantalone for seven yards and a personal foul tacked on 15 more. Araujo hit Franklin for 11 yards on a counter to get the ball to the three and he finished the drive on the next snap to make it 7-0.
Franklin’s offense finally found some success on its next possession. Jase Lyons hit Luke Davis for a 30-yard gain, as Davis proved to be as hard to tackle as Milford’s running game. A 14-yard and a 10-yard completion to Grayson Hunter (eight catches, 70 yards) got down to the Milford 32 and Mike Davide (10 carries, 43 yards) went for 17 to get inside the 10. Holland stuffed a run and Damien Carter broke up a pass, forcing the Panthers to settle for a 28-yard Garrett Portesi kick.
Milford answered right back on its next drive. Araujo (12 carries, 81 yards) got it started with an 18-yard burst over a couple of would-be tacklers and the Hawks kept grinding to the red zone. On fourth and one, the Panthers jumped, giving Milford a first down at the 15. Holland for the call and he went through the left side of the line all the way to the end zone.
Things were starting to look bleak for the Panthers, who needed a spark. Davis would provide one. On third and six, Lyons (24-of-34, 299 yards) hit the senior receiver in stride on the right sideline, Davis (nine catches, 176 yards) shrugged off an attempted tackle and raced away for a 69-yard score.
Franklin’s momentum was short-lived. Milford got the ball with a little more than two minutes to play in the half and immediately went to work. A 15-yard pass from Cornelius (9-of-12, 75 yards) to Andrew Rivera (five catches, 42 yards) got the ball to midfield. A personal foul would help get into Franklin territory and a 12-yard pass to Rivera moved it to the 21. After converting on third and two, Cornelius lofted a pass over the middle to Rivera who hauled it in for a 10-yard touchdown and a 21-10 lead at the break.
“I think the play of the game was the drive before half,” Olson said. “That just shows you what kind of kids we have. We had one timeout, went down the field, and we score right before half. That’s a huge, huge thing. The kids just dug in. They knew what type of team Franklin was, that’s a good team.”
The home team looked determined to make it a game coming out of the locker room. Davide broke a 20-yard run to get things going, his longest rush of the night, and Lyons would scramble for 24 yards down the near sideline, lowering his shoulder for some extra yards. He would then throw one to the end zone for Hunter, who managed to lay out and pull in the pass while staying just inbounds.
“I think we were really trying to find the run game and there were a couple things there that we liked, maybe we just didn’t execute as well as we could have,” Franklin coach Eain Bain said. “We wanted to compete and the best way for us to compete tonight was to throw the ball and we figured that out pretty quick.”
It was an impressive start to the second half, but again the visitors made sure to immediately quell all the momentum from the touchdown. Holland (20 carries, 141 yards) just barreled his way through the line of scrimmage, into the secondary, and then through the secondary, carrying tacklers along the way. His 53-yard run got the Hawks quickly down to the Franklin three. Two plays later, Cornelius (11 carries, 72 yards) went up the middle for the four-yard TD.
Suddenly, it was a back-and-forth game. Franklin was finding all sorts of room in the passing game. Lyons hit Davis on a deep crossing route and Davis proceeded to weave his way past a couple of Hawks and then lower the shoulder to get 30 yards. After an 11-yard catch for Hunter over the middle, Lyons tossed a strike to Davis, who pulled in an over-the-shoulder grab for the 12-yard score.
The Hawks went right back to work. Holland gained 11 to the 41. On third and four, Araujo took a sweep around the left side and rumbled for 25 yards all the way down to the Franklin 28. Cornelius followed with a 17-yard keeper on the final play of the third quarter. Holland got eight yards on two carries and Cornelius capped it off with a three-yard plunge. Araujo got the handoff to convert the two-point try and give Milford a 36-24 lead.
For the first time in a while, Franklin wasn’t able to respond. On fourth and eight, Lyons was chased out of the pocket by Mason Baldic and lost the ball, which was recovered by Rivera at the Franklin 41. Nine rushing plays later, Holland found the end zone for the second time, this one from a yard out, to seal the win.
“They threw a couple of fine passes but they didn’t have to throw to beat us and we could run the ball either,” said Bain. “That’s your game. We played very poor fundamental football tonight. We played bad football tonight and that shows up in the penalty sheet as well as the yards per carry on both sides of the ball.”
Milford (7-1) entered the night at the top seed in Div. 2 and will await its opponent in the first round of the playoffs. The Hawks will also face Taunton on Thanksgiving Day, knowing that a win will clinch the team’s first Hockomock title.
Franklin (5-2) was the top seed in Div. 1 entering Friday and will now wait to see who they will play in the first round of the tournament. The Panthers will face King Philip on Thanksgiving, looking to repeat as league champ for the first time since they won three straight titles between 1969-71.
