Late Heroics Lead Mansfield Football Past Milton

For a moment in the fourth quarter, it seemed like the Mansfield Hornets were on their way to their first 0-2 start in a very long time. Down late in the game, the Hornets found a way force a turnover and achieve success on their final drive of the game to earn a 21-20 win over the Milton Wildcats, their first of the year .

“It didn’t look good with four or five minutes to go but we just kept playing and fighting and found a way to win,” Mansfield head coach Mike Redding said.

Mansfield improves to 1-1 the season.

Despite a dominant first half that gave Mansfield a 14-0 lead, the Wildcats would come back and take the lead in the fourth quarter in part due to their ground game and ability to control the line of scrimmage.

Milton’s Marino Davis, Alex Toyias, and Mac Feeney dominated the third and most of the fourth quarters with a running game that kept the Wildcat offender on the field and wore out the Mansfield defense.

“They’re big up front and they got a load of backs. They do a lot of good stuff and they just wore us down. They controlled the ball and it was keep away. We played keep away in the first half and they played keep away in the second,” Redding said.

Feeney cut the deficit in half for Milton, following up a 17-yard run off the counter with a touchdown at the goal-line with 5:14 left in the third quarter.

The Wildcats nearly tricked everyone in attendance with a fake to Toyias that allowed quarterback Mike Fallon to score from 19 yards out on fourth and three. The touchdown tied the game at 14-14 with 9:59 left.

Facing third and three at their own 30-yard line, Davis escaped the Mansfield defense for a 70 yard touchdown rush with less than seven minutes left to play. While the touchdown gave Milton the lead, the extra point was no good.

In the next drive, Mansfield almost saw the game slip away after a turnover on downs with four minutes to play, but the Hornets only needed two plays on defense to force a Milton fumble and recovery by Jared Archer.

“That was it, they get a first down and it’s over. That’s the play of the game because without that we don’t get the drive and the points,” Redding said.

With less than three minutes to play, a pass to Brendan Hill on the right sideline put the Hornets just outside the red zone, with another pass to Matthew Hogan pushing Mansfield to the two-yard line.

Q’Ra Guichard would tie the game on a one-yard run with the extra point giving Mansfield the lead and the win.

Senior Brendan Hill caught six receptions for 181 yards including a 45-yard catch for the opening touchdown in the first quarter and a 67-yard pass that set up Mansfield’s second touchdown, a run by Guichard from the two-yard line during the second quarter.

The Hornets will enjoy a bye next weekend before taking on rival North Attleboro.