It’s not often that a high school football team leaves the field of play in good spirits and highly motivated after a lopsided defeat. But after falling 42-14 to visiting Milton Friday night, Dedham remained upbeat and undeterred in its dogged pursuit of a second win this season.
Part of that positive attitude stems from head coach David Flynn, a master of motivation who has held the decimated program together through trying times, countless injuries and mounting defeats.
“A lot of teams that are 1-9 would just fold up and go away,” said Flynn. “But these guys won’t. They fight hard, they won’t quit, and their attitude is tremendous. We learn lessons from games like this. Part of success is learning from failure.”
Milton, winners of four straight, evened its mark at 5-5 and will wrap up the 2012 campaign with a Thanksgiving visit to Braintree. Wildcats coach Jim Bowes was impressed with his opponent’s intensity, particularly that of the defense.
“These Dedham guys have smacked around everybody they’ve played this season,” he said. “We watched them in Walpole and they were knocking people backwards. Needless to say, it was important to get an early lead tonight.”
Early for the Wildcats was 1:49 into the game when quarterback Liam Collins flared a touchdown pass to receiver Chavinskee Milcent from the 33-yard line, immediately after his teammates blocked a punt.
Dedham’s next mistake also resulted in points for the opposition as Marauders quarterback Mike Kadlick was intercepted by Conor Regan, who took it back 60 yards for the score.
Before time ran out on the first quarter, Milton added a Jonathan Pierre 80-yard run for a 21-0 lead.
The Marauders, meanwhile, were moving the ball relatively effectively, reaching the red zone twice in the half. One of those series began on their 31 and progressed to the Milton 5 in six plays including a 35-yard completion from Kyle Wynn to Raheem Powell.
But the drive stalled when the Wildcats sacked Wynn on third-and-goal, pushing him back a dozen yards and Mike Sabatino’s 33-yard field goal attempt fell short.
Later, Dedham pieced together another scoring threat, reaching the Milton 7, but failed to polish it off after a pair of incompletions.
“We did have a number of sustained drives, but we just need to figure out how to finish those drives and get some points,” said Flynn.
Milton went ahead 28-0 with 2:04 left in the first half on a 1-yard plunge by Leroy Goodman, but not before a monumental stand by the defense. The Dedham front seven, led by Michael Wright, Eric Deangelis, and Sabatino, stood tall and stopped three tries from inches away before Goodman finally breached the line.
It’s not often that a high school football team leaves the field of play in good spirits and highly motivated after a lopsided defeat. But after falling 42-14 to visiting Milton Friday night, Dedham remained upbeat and undeterred in its dogged pursuit of a second win this season.
Part of that positive attitude stems from head coach David Flynn, a master of motivation who has held the decimated program together through trying times, countless injuries and mounting defeats.
“A lot of teams that are 1-9 would just fold up and go away,” said Flynn. “But these guys won’t. They fight hard, they won’t quit, and their attitude is tremendous. We learn lessons from games like this. Part of success is learning from failure.”
Milton, winners of four straight, evened its mark at 5-5 and will wrap up the 2012 campaign with a Thanksgiving visit to Braintree. Wildcats coach Jim Bowes was impressed with his opponent’s intensity, particularly that of the defense.
“These Dedham guys have smacked around everybody they’ve played this season,” he said. “We watched them in Walpole and they were knocking people backwards. Needless to say, it was important to get an early lead tonight.”
Early for the Wildcats was 1:49 into the game when quarterback Liam Collins flared a touchdown pass to receiver Chavinskee Milcent from the 33-yard line, immediately after his teammates blocked a punt.
Dedham’s next mistake also resulted in points for the opposition as Marauders quarterback Mike Kadlick was intercepted by Conor Regan, who took it back 60 yards for the score.
Before time ran out on the first quarter, Milton added a Jonathan Pierre 80-yard run for a 21-0 lead.
The Marauders, meanwhile, were moving the ball relatively effectively, reaching the red zone twice in the half. One of those series began on their 31 and progressed to the Milton 5 in six plays including a 35-yard completion from Kyle Wynn to Raheem Powell.
But the drive stalled when the Wildcats sacked Wynn on third-and-goal, pushing him back a dozen yards and Mike Sabatino’s 33-yard field goal attempt fell short.
Later, Dedham pieced together another scoring threat, reaching the Milton 7, but failed to polish it off after a pair of incompletions.
“We did have a number of sustained drives, but we just need to figure out how to finish those drives and get some points,” said Flynn.
Milton went ahead 28-0 with 2:04 left in the first half on a 1-yard plunge by Leroy Goodman, but not before a monumental stand by the defense. The Dedham front seven, led by Michael Wright, Eric Deangelis, and Sabatino, stood tall and stopped three tries from inches away before Goodman finally breached the line.
“We’re under-aged, under-sized, under-experienced and had seven sophomores starting on defense,” said Flynn. “But man did they battle tonight. We’re building every single week. It may not look like it on the scoreboard, but I see it in every individual play.”
Dedham tailback Jay Maxwell, who assumed a key role after Trey Williams was sidelined earlier this year by injury, finally had a breakout game. Maxwell opened the second half with a kickoff return to the Marauder 49. From there, he carried eight straight times, capping the solo series with a 1-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 28-7.
“Coach put a lot of faith in me and gave me the ball,” said the junior tailback, who credited gym workouts and support from his mom helped him rapidly recover from a preseason stress fracture. “We have this new spread offense and it was opening up the holes and my reads were a lot better as a result.”
Milton added a pair of touchdowns in the second half to put the game out of reach, but Maxwell capped the night off with a 37-yard run for a touchdown with 1:30 left in the game.
“What he did tonight was impressive,” said Flynn of his burgeoning running back who garnered 208 yards on 32 carries. “We knew he had it in him and we’re looking forward to seeing more of it.”
Dedham will take its quest for an elusive second win to Norwood on Thanksgiving morning.
