Rockets Roll to Road Win Over Milton

With a solid defense, reliable quarterback and workmanlike running back, a football team can overcome a lot.

That formula is what worked for Needham Saturday night, as Milton made it interesting in the second half, but the Rockets met the challenge, earning a 35-20 win on the road.

The first half was all Needham. The defense forced a deep punt that junior Ian Riley ran back to the 20-yard line and on third down, senior quarterback Kevin Brennan rolled right and threw an eight-yard touchdown pass to junior tight end Connor. Nick Wong's extra point gave the visitors a 7-0 lead they'd never give up.

"The defense played well as a team," said Needham coach Dave Duffy. "For their first game with only one starter back, they did very well."

In the second quarter, the offense took advantage of good field position courtesy of the defense when Brennan kept the ball for an eight-yard touchdown run. Holder Brian Tedoldi then ran in the extra point snap for a two-point conversion to make it 15-0.

On their next possession, Needham used a facemask penalty and first down runs from Riley, Brennan and Ryan DiNatale to march down the field and score on senior running back Mike Vespa's 10-yard touchdown run. The extra point made it 22-0 going into halftime.

"I thought Kevin Brennan and Mike Vespa had an excellent game," said Duffy.

Milton came to play the second half, scoring on their first drive with a 40-yard touchdown pass to senior receiver Matt Hunt, and then getting a score from its defense when Kamani Jones forced Brennan to fumble deep in the backfield and took it in for the touchdown. Quarterback Matt Regan converted a two-point attempt to make up for a missed extra point.

The Needham offense went right back to work, driving 75 yards to score on a 13-yard pass to Tedoldi. Before the Rockets could finish celebrating though, Milton's Matt Lezama ran the kickoff back to bring the lead down to nine after a failed two-point conversion made it 29-20.

"We gave up a couple of quick scores," said Duffy, "but they came back and moved the ball, and did what they had to do to win."

Without missing a beat Brennan and Vespa charged back on offense and Vespa found a huge hole up the middle and exploited it for a 42-yard touchdown run.

"The running game was excellent," said Duffy. "Vespa had some great runs. Kevin Brennan had some great runs and passes."

The Rockets closed the door with a late goal-line stand, and then literally ran out the clock to get the win.

Needham will travel to Newton North next week for a 1 p.m. game on Sunday.

"We have a tough Newton North game coming up next week, so we'll get healed up and get after it," said Duffy. "We'll continue to work; we're not a finished product yet."