In maybe the best game of the young season, Leominster rallied past Milford, 36-35, to improve to 2-0.

The Blue Devils and standout quarterback Osiris Lopez are off to a great start, and are looking like maybe the best team in Central Mass.

We spoke to Leominster coach Devin Gates about his team and what they’ve been able to accomplish.

Adam Kurkjian: How big of a win is this for you guys? I think it’s one of your biggest in the last few years at least. How does this one rank, if you could put it up there?

DG: Besides our Thanksgiving wins, we had a good comeback win over Wachusett last year. But in terms of caliber of opponent, this is probably the biggest since I’ve been here in ’19.

AK: A game like that, I watched some of the highlights. Some of the throws that (quarterback) Osiris (Lopez) made were incredible. Do you feel like with him that he’s the type of quarterback, with him you’re in every game?

DG: Oh, absolutely. I think he gives us a chance every game, even when we’re down. We never feel like we’re out, because we’re just a couple big plays away from getting back in the game. He’s proven it the last couple years. If we’re down a couple scores, we can get back in the fight pretty quickly. He just always gives us a chance. The guys around him too were able to make big plays down the field. Ryan Ricker has done a great job making some huge plays. He made one baseball turn where he caught it over the top of his head. Juan Miranda has been a senior for us, made some great plays over the past couple of weeks. Jaidis Delgado, another senior who has done well. And Xavier Cora in the run game. There’s weapons there. (Lopez) has done a good job of leading them and putting them where they need to be.

AK: Osiris is a great player, but it seems like the other guys seem to get overshadowed sometimes. How important has it been for you guys to have everyone making plays and catching his passes?

DG: It balances us out. Against Milford, we were trying to take advantage of some things and some matchups we had going into the game. But they had a great plan. Depending on formation, they were either going to double Ryan Ricker in the slot, or they doubled Jaidis Delgado. Just to kind of move things around, and being able to establish the run game with Cora. Cora is probably the most underrated player in the state. He had 16 carries for 122 (yards)and two touchdowns, and he had about 100 yards against St. John’s and a touchdown. He just balances everything out. Teams just can’t drop seven, eight into coverage. They’ve got to put somebody up there, because we can run the football, too.

AK: Leominster is a great football town. So is Milford. That used to be an old rivalry, right?

DG: It was a fantastic rivalry. We had a scrimmage a couple years ago. We’ve just been trying to get this matchup on the schedule the last couple years. And it was great to make that happen.

AK: The way it looked watching the highlights, and watching the kids’ reactions, it kind of felt like a playoff game.

DG: It definitely had that atmosphere. The place was rocking. They had a great crowd. We built it up as an old rivalry getting back together again. So it definitely had that playoff feel to it. To be in a tight game like that, in a road trip for us, too, it was a huge test for us. We knew it was going to be tough sledding. We took a playoff approach to it in terms of how we sold it to the kids, what was at stake. We kind of had that in mind when we put it on the schedule, too.

AK: When you play a tough schedule and lose it still helps sometimes. You’re going against good teams. You play a tough schedule and win over a good Milford team that’s going to be in the mix for a D3 state title, how much did it mean to your kids after the game?

DG: I think it means a lot. They’ve been searching for credibility. They’ve worked really, really hard. Nothing against Eastern Mass., or anything like that at all, but I think Central Mass. sometimes feel like they get the short end of the stick. For them to get a win against Milford, a Hockomock team. I consider the Hockomock to be the best conference, top to bottom, in the state. So, to get a win against a Hockomock opponent, I think it’s huge for our program. I think it’s huge for our kids to know they can play with the best in the state. I think it was a huge confidence boost for us, but we have a tough schedule ahead of us. We need to be grounded and rooted. Doherty is an excellent team that we have coming up next. We’ve got to make sure we come back down to earth real quick for a hard Doherty team for our home opener.