Milton Football Looks For Improvement in 2010

The 2009 record for the Milton High School football team didn't match the intensity the team showed week in and week out, according to its head coach.

Milton was victorious in its first game of the season against Brookline, but stumbled to a  2-8 overall record for the season. However, Jim Bowes saw enough out of his team during the weeks of practice where he knew he was getting full effort no matter what the standings said.

"The kids, they were still hitting hard and working hard the whole season," said Bowes, who has been at the helm for 16 seasons. "The kids bought in the whole time, which is a thing you worry about the most. They were excited to be there and having fun."

Bowes is hoping some of that excitement during a losing season can work its way towards more wins in 2010. His goals — as it is every year— is to walk away with a winning season. But improvement will do, and to do that his team will need to go back to the fundamentals.

Too many unforced errors — mental and physical — plagued Milton last year, and that stuff will drive any coach a little bit mad.

"We made big plays and then we had penalties and turnovers that really haunted us all season," he said.

This season, the team will be filled with question marks at the linebacker position and on both lines, but the all important signal caller will be back for one more go. Matt Regan, who played in every game last season, returns for his senior season.

Kemani Jones will be joining Regan in the backfield as the starting running back, so two of the most important offensive positions have strong leadership at them.

"Offensively most of the kids have a good concept of what we are doing," the coach said.

Bowes admitted that he will have to do some shuffling at the linebacker position to find the best fit, but the line will have a small sense of stability with Olajuwon Dickerson and Nick Newman playing on both sides of the ball.

Their success will come down to sticking to the fundamentals and out witting the other teams, especially in the Bay State League.

"I've been saying since the first day that we have to out hit people," the coach said. "It's a physical game and our kids like contact. That's something that we can control. We will try to win that physical battle and out hustle people.

"We have some good team speed and we got people that play until the whistle," he added. "We can make something happen."

Bowes isn't staring down the schedule and thinking about taking the league title just yet, but an improvement over the two wins and an improvement in the overall execution of the team should give him something to work with as the team goes forward.

"Probably the biggest thing I learned from last year is I want to make sure the kids play," said Bowes. "Make sure they know what they are doing and when you are confident you can go full speed and you can anticipate what the other guy is doing instead of worrying what you are doing or not."

Photos were supplied by Roy Chambers. More photos can be found at www.miltonsports.com.