By Tim Crowley
NEFJ Correspondent
WELLESLEY – The Milford Scarlet Hawks executed a dream start Friday night. The Wellesley Raiders nearly turned that into a nightmare finish.
The Hawks stayed undefeated and held off the home Raiders with a 28-21 victory.
Neither team submitted a clean performance. Milford had three fumbles. Wellesley threw three interceptions. That appears to be part of the story of this series, with the Hawks doing just enough in the latest tilt.
“We’ve been playing Wellesley for years,” Milford head coach Dale Olson said. “It feels like every time we play over here it’s that type of game. We never play well over here. We can’t continue to turn the ball over and expect to win games.”
Milford roared to start the game with a balanced offensive attack and put up the first points of the game when quarterback Vincent Loscerbo let wideout Jason Stokes go up and snatch a 20-yard touchdown on a 4th-and-5 play from the Wellesley 20-yard line.
Loscerbo also showed out on the ground game when he kept the ball, jolted right and rushed to the end zone for a 30-yard score and a two-touchdown lead. That play set the tone for prolonged drives on the ground for Milford in the second half led by running back Josh Buentello, who added a rushing touchdown of his own.
“The O-line did a great job, I had a huge hole,” Loscerbo said.
“Josh is a big, physical kid,” Milford head coach Dale Olson said. “He gets downhill. … Josh gives us that element. We got a good line back from last year.”
Stokes rose again as the star of the game when he intercepted a fourth-down heave from Wellesley quarterback Bobby Shanahan for a touchback. On the Scarlet Hawks’ ensuing play, Stokes took a jet sweep for an 80-yard house call to bring the score to 21-0. Milford had all the momentum with two picks and a three-touchdown lead at the half.
Midway through the third quarter, the Raiders started to take advantage of a few bounces their way. Wellesley recovered the first of three second-half fumbles from Milford, including a play when Stokes left with an upper-body injury.
“He’s a huge leader and huge player for our roster,” Loscerbo explained. “We have a bunch of other skill guys who hopefully will step up, but he’s one of our biggest leaders.”
From there, Wellesley fixed a passing attack that looked completely lost in the first half. Shanahan spun a pair of pretty touchdown passes with a 59-yard spark play to Matthew Leibman followed by a 33-yard strike to Will Zalosh in the fourth quarter. The Raiders stayed on schedule and made it a one-score game when Leibman zigged and zagged off a short completion for an 11-yard touchdown.
Milford started to reach for the panic button when Buentello fumbled for the second time and the Scarlet Hawks’ third of the half with under two minutes to go. Wellesley’s offense got the ball back in rhythm and a chance to tie the game and erase the massive deficit.
Instead, an unexpected Hawk made the game-sealing play when an aggressive pass from Shanahan found the hands of freshman Ryan Atherton, who stepped in after Stokes’ injury.
“It was huge,” Loscerbo said. “First interception, everyone was hyped, especially at that time. We needed that.”
“I’m ecstatic,” Olson said. “He’s 14 years old. He’s a freshman. … I’m happy for that kid. I’m happy to come away with a W. Our numbers dictate that, we have 30-something kids here at Milford. He’s a talented kid. He’s played a lot of football in the first few games for us. He’ll be fine.”
Milford takes its 3-0 record back home for next week’s home battle with the Natick Redhawks. Wellesley looks to stop the two-game losing skid against a Bay State opponent of its own in Walpole.
