Miller (4 TDs) rallies Milton to first D3 title
FOXBOROUGH — One final detour proved no issue on the road to redemption for the Milton football team.
Trailing by two touchdowns in the first quarter, the Wildcats rang up 42 straight points to leave Walpole in the rearview mirror of their 42-14 victory in the MIAA Division 3 Super Bowl at Gillette Stadium to secure the program’s first state title, a year after coming up a score short against Wakefield in their debut.
“It’s a story about how to persevere and how to grind,” said Milton coach Steve Dembowski. “To come out here and to do that to Walpole . . . I’m really proud of these kids and the coaching staff.”
The third-seeded Wildcats (9-4) finally got on the board with 36 seconds remaining in the first quarter on an 11-yard touchdown pass from Patrick Miller to Ronan Sammon, the first of two connections between the senior quarterback and sophomore receiver, who wound up making 6 catches for 75 yards to top 1,000 yards receiving for the season.
Milton senior running back Nathan Ehui rushed 29 times for 135 yards to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark, finishing with 1,004.
Before the first half was out, Miller had established a program record for single-season touchdown passes on a 24-yard pass to Sammon with 1:47 left in the second quarter to put the Wildcats in front, 21-14. Miller, Milton’s third different starting quarterback in as many seasons, finished with 33 TD passes to establish a school record, surpassing the mark (31) set last fall by Owen McHugh, the quarterback for whom Miller served as an apprentice.
“So many of our first-year players stepped up,” said Dembowski, who had eight returners from last year’s squad that lost, 34-28, to Wakefield.
Just 16 seconds after Sammon’s second touchdown catch, Harrison Hinckle came down with a pass deflection — Miller was in coverage at safety to force the deflection — leading to Hinckle’s 42-yard return for a pick-6 that doubled Milton’s lead at the break, 28-14.
“It was a great feeling,” said Miller, who started in the defensive backfield last season but hadn’t seen any time on defense in 2023 until the championship. “I saw the ball coming my way and one of my closest friends, Harrison Hinckle, made the play. That’s what he does.”
Will Renz caught a 4-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter to tie it, 14-14.
Miller threw his fourth touchdown pass of the night with 9:49 remaining in the fourth quarter, connecting with Hinkle on a fourth-down, 27yard TD strike to stretch Milton’s lead to 35-14. Luke Hartford added a 10-yard touchdown run with 2:45 left to cap the Wildcats’ 42-point spree.
“They executed better and we didn’t execute as well as we did in the first matchup,” said Walpole coach Chris Sullivan, noting the difference between his team’s regular-season victory (42-23) and its Super Bowl loss vs. Milton.