Milford and Natick stage an instant high school football classic

MILFORD – With his team trying to protect a seven-point lead and time ticking away late in the fourth quarter Thursday night, Milford High football coach Dale Olson repeatedly shouted “ball security” from the sidelines.

But on the very next play, he watched as his senior running back Tyler Lane fumbled on a run up the middle. Senior captain Jake Adelmann fell on the ball for Natick, giving the Redhawks possession on the Scarlet Hawk 45 with 1:10 remaining. It almost cost Milford the game.

Almost.

Natick went on to score a touchdown on a Damon Taylor 1-yard run as time expired, although Taylor appeared to be stopped short.

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Redhawks coach Mark Mortarelli then decided to go for two and the road win. Taylor rolled right, but his pass was broken up by senior Jaden Agnew, as Milford hung on for a wild 28-27 victory Thursday night in front of a substantial crowd at Milford High.

“I couldn’t be prouder of our guys and our guys showed they had heart tonight,” Olson said after his team improved to 3-0. “We just played in a playoff game in Week 3. We didn’t play great, but to win a game like that against Natick is huge for the program. That fumble by Tyler came after he had a first down locked up. That game is probably over. At that point, I knew we were going to have to win a tight game.

“We gave them every opportunity to beat us, but still ended up pulling it out.”

Mortarelli was disappointed to come away with the loss, but had zero regrets about his final decision to try and grab a W.

“I don’t regret that call at all, I’d do it every night,” he said. “We battled and I’m really proud of our kids, but we lost, that’s the bottom line, so it wasn’t good enough. We’ll get back to work tomorrow.”

Natick (2-1) kept finding ways to hang around and trailed by just seven, 21-14, heading to the fourth thanks to an Adelmann 35-yard score in the third.

Milford never led by more than 14 and in the final frame, somebody on the Scarlet Hawks defense needed to make a play.

Enter junior Isaiah Pantalone, who played JV during the Fall II season.

Pantalone picked off a Taylor pass, giving his team the ball on its own 19 with 6:09 left to play. Lane’s legs and 6-foot-2, 230-pound junior quarterback Evan Cornelius’ arm helped get Milford into the red zone.

Lane capped off the seven-play drive by rumbling up the middle for a 15-yard touchdown, his second score of the game. Nick Araujo’s point after made it 28-14 with 3:51 on the clock.

“Isaiah’s kind of like that quiet kid who shines in big moments and flies under the radar,” Lane said when Pantalone was asked about the interception. “But he made a big play right there that got us all hype and then we drove right back down the field and scored.”

But just as it had done seemingly all game, Natick had a response.

With the help of a 48-yard bomb from Taylor to junior Mathew Pole, the Redhawks drove down the field. On third-and-10, Taylor tossed a 50/50 ball to senior captain Jayson Little, who made the catch for a 29-yard score, which made it 28-21 with 2:39 on the clock.

Lane then fumbled on the next possession, leading to the crazy finish.

“Jaden made a great play on that pass,” Lane said of the game’s final play. “Once I saw it and everybody else saw it hit the ground, we all celebrated. It feels really good to be 3-0, but we’ve got a long week and we’re right back at it next weekend.”

Lane, who transferred to Milford after his sophomore season after previously playing for BMR/Hopedale, finished with 132 yards on 29 carries. Cornelius was 10-of-17 for 170 yards and two touchdowns, one to Pantalone (24 yards) in the first and the other to senior Nick Schuler (17 yards) in the second.

Pantalone, who had 296 yards receiving in Milford’s first game against Foxborough, finished with four catches for 75 yards and the score.

“Evan’s only going to get better,” Olson said. “He’s just got to keep working at it. Isaiah played sub-varsity last year. We saw him play and he was dynamic. He’s a special player.”