Scarlet Hawks make it 5 in a row over Taunton

By Chris Villani,

Sports Writer

As head Milford football coach Dale Olson watched his team blow out Taunton on Thanksgiving Eve, he couldn’t help but wonder whether he would have seen more results like that had his team stayed healthier.

“It was the first time since week three that we had our full team” Olson said. “It was nice to see the guys go out and play football. It was a little taste of what could have been.”

Milford finished the season with a 5-5 record overall, but capped the year with a 53-29 drubbing of the Tigers for the Scarlet Hawks’ fifth straight victory in the fledgling holiday rivalry.

Senior captains Ryan Burns and Dylan Burns stood out for Milford on Thanksgiving and helped lead the way all season long. Vince Loscerbo tossed multiple touchdown passes, and MHS benefited from both an interception and fumble returned for touchdowns. Sophomore Josh Morataya and junior Eli Rosenberg also turned in strong efforts.

“Offensively and defensively, we played well,” Olson said, adding that the rivalry is continuing to gain momentum.

“It’s pretty good,” he said. “We have played them five times and we haven’t lost to them yet, but almost all the games have been well contested games.”

Even shorthanded, MHS earned a spot in the state tournament and gave North Attleboro — a team that was ultimately bound for the Super Bowl — a battle, losing by just a single touchdown.

Milford graduates a strong group of seniors this year and will have only four seniors returning to next year’s squad. But Olson said the sophomore group is solid and the four to-be seniors that Milford does have figure to be good leaders. He said the example set by this year’s class has been a good one for the younger players to follow.

“Every year I have been at Milford, we have graduated a really good senior class,” he said. “All of them have had success in this program. They went to the playoffs every year. It’s a testament to the time and effort they put in, not just during the season, but in the offseason.”

Olson highlighted Milford’s Thanksgiving Eve win as well as a week two victory over Leominster and the narrow loss against North Attleboro as season highlights.

“This class has a lot of good memories of the last four years,” he said. “They have played a lot of good football, that’s for sure.”