By Max Clifford
Hometown Weekly Reporter
Offensive production was at a premium in Milton on Friday night. Needham High School Varsity Football battled the Wildcats for 40 minutes but could not secure the deciding score, dropping the defensive struggle by a final score of 10-9.
A Joe Kajunski blocked punt in the opening minutes of the game gave Needham a first down inside the Milton 10-yard line. The opportunity was snuffed out, however, by a fumbled snap recovered by the Wildcats.
After forcing a punt on the ensuing drive, the Rockets moved the ball from their own 31-yard line into another goal-to-go situation. Needham once again came away from an opportunity without points, fumbling the ball, this time through the end zone for a Milton touchback.
On the opening drive of the second quarter, Milton used a successful fake punt and a deep pass completion to break the scoreless tie. The extra point put the Wildcats ahead 7-0 with nine minutes to play in the half.
Another Needham fumble at midfield allowed the Wildcats to move into field goal range, nailing a 30-yard attempt to take a 10-0 lead heading into the half.
Though they could not find any points in the third quarter, the Rockets kept the game within reach, keeping Milton off the board.
With Tate Hoffmeister moving the ball on the ground, Needham had their best scoring opportunity of the night to open the fourth quarter. An 11-yard strike from Griffin Carr to Spencer Chapman cut the Milton lead to 10-7 with just over eight minutes to play.
Needham took over once again with under five minutes to play in the game. Facing a third and long, Chapman used all of his frame to grab a Carr pass while keeping his toes just inside the boundary. A goal-line interception, however, appeared to put the game back in the control of the Wildcats.
Needing a stop to keep them in the game, the Rockets’ defense went above and beyond. Ben Schreiber stopped the Milton running back in his tracks and drove him backward for a safety, cutting the Milton lead to 10-9 with just over two minutes to play.
Twice facing fourth down on the final drive of the night, Carr improvised to keep his team’s hopes alive. The Rockets, however, ran out of time on the game’s closing play, finalizing the 10-9 loss.
