It only seemed fitting, after he led Milton to a 31-0 rout of Thanksgiving Day rival Braintree at Brooks Field, that junior quarterback Patrick Collins would be joined in the postgame on-field celebration by his immediate predecessors, Patrick Miller and Owen McHugh.
Collins represented the fourth Milton quarterback in as many seasons, and it’s likely he will halt the Wildcats’ revolving door when he returns next year for his senior campaign.
“I’ll be returning next year,” the junior said.
By any measure, the 5-foot-9-inch Collins improved by leaps and bounds during his first season at the helm, finishing with 10 rushing touchdowns and 18 passing TDs, ranking him third among all Division 3 passers.
“I think he grew a lot,” said Milton coach Steve Dembowski. “He’s an athlete and he works his butt off and he’s like the heart of the team. When he gets it going, it’s very important to us.”
But, Collins admitted, his first season as Milton’s starting QB was not without its growing pains.
“I learned a lot of things, made a lot of mistakes, and fixed them over the season,” he said. “Dembo taught me a lot and I learned a lot from Patrick Miller and Owen McHugh in the past, so this feels awesome. It’s a huge thing to take over [at quarterback], a huge honor, and I knew I had to do great things.”
After he watched McHugh take the Wildcats on an unprecedented record-setting run to the Super Bowl in 2022, then witnessed Miller surpass it with a single-season record 31 touchdowns in leading Milton to the Division 3 Super Bowl title, Collins faced no greater challenge than making his first career start in the season opener at Needham against a team that will play in the Division 1 Super Bowl next week at Gillette Stadium.
Collins was left to run for his life in a 24-0 road loss to the Rockets, unable to evade senior linebacker Aidan Williams or the behemoths on Needham’s defensive line.
“I know, they were huge, oh my God, it was awful — but it was fun,” said Collins, who rebounded by leading Milton to a three-game win streak before a five-game swoon was snapped at season’s end by victories at Norwood (on a winning 16-yard TD pass to Ronan Sammon) and a Thanksgiving Day shutout of Braintree.
“Each game, I learned new things,” Collins said. “I started reading defenses better every week and Dembo taught me a lot. He’s a great coach, I really appreciated it with all my teammates supporting me all along the way.”
The Hancock Street heave
North Quincy senior quarterback Mike Galligan saved his best for last.
With his Raiders trailing rival Quincy, 35-27, on Thanksgiving morning and time left for just one final play from the 38-yard line, Galligan scrambled for more than 14 seconds before unleashing a high-arcing throw from 45 yards out.
Amid a scrum in the end zone, Tyler Cromwell emerged with the game-saving catch.
Galligan then ran in the 2-point conversion to send the game to overtime and, after the Presidents scored a touchdown on their first possession, scored on a 10-yard rush, then provided another 2-point successful run for a dramatic 43-41 road victory.
But the biggest surprise came later when ESPN’s SportsCenter put the play atop its Top 10 Plays of the Day segment.
Despite the North Quincy win, its Presidential rivals still hold a 49-38-5 edge in the 92 meetings between the programs.
Galligan surpassed his own single-season program record of 21 touchdown passes by tossing 30 this year.
“I just gave Mike a hug and said, ‘We couldn’t have drawn it up any better.’ That kid has made some outstanding plays,” North Quincy coach Ryan Craig told the Patriot Ledger. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: He’s the best quarterback in Eastern Mass., hands down.”
300 in the books
Mansfield coach Mike Redding won his 300th career game, 21-7 over Foxborough, on Thursday. He was happy to get the milestone out of the way before the Hornets play the Division 3 Super Bowl on Friday night at 8 p.m.against North Attleborough.
“That takes it off the table. Going into next week we can just relax and focus on the state title,” he said. “Just so proud of all the hundreds of players and dozens of coaches. This is really a program accomplishment. We all do it together.”
Redding’s family rushed onto the field after the final whistle with three silver balloons that made up a “300.”
“He’s a good coach. I’m happy for him” said Foxborough coach Jack Martinelli, who has 314 career wins. “It shows you the league we have.”
Foxborough running back Ben Angelini has earned his Thanksgiving dinner the last two seasons. He had 46 carries for 202 yards in two games against Mansfield. The 6-foot-1-inch, 200-pound senior combines quick feet and a punishing style when he takes on would-be tacklers.
DePrimeo time
Gianni DePrimeo and the Winchester offense were running so well that coach Wally Dembowski said he almost got mad at them for scoring too quickly in a 35-28 win over Woburn.
In the 123rd installment of their rivalry, the Red & Black (7-4) only needed 35 plays to rack up 352 rushing yards, with DePrimeo accounting for 303 yards and three touchdowns. That left their defense on the field for several long drives as the Tanners (6-5) responded to DePrimeo’s big plays with methodical scoring attacks.
Led by junior captain and middle linebacker Bryan Harrison (20 total tackles), Winchester stopped Woburn four times in fourth-and-short situations, and DePrimeo added five tackles, a key pass breakup, and 76 kick return yards on top of his huge offensive day.
Winchester holds onto the series lead, 56-55-12, narrowly avoiding falling behind for the first time since 1937, per several alumni on the coach staff.
“In the past 25 years, Woburn has been closing in on that lead and we didn’t want to give it back,” said Dembowski. “We had really good line play and DePrimeo broke some tackles and was able to turn the corner for some big plays. Defensively, we did just enough to get off the field.”
Peter Abraham and Brendan Kurie of the Globe staff and correspondent Nate Weitzer contributed.
Complete Thanksgiving coverage:
- Photos: Thanksgiving high school football scenes from around Eastern Massachusetts
- Five takeaways from a wet and wild morning of Thanksgiving football
- Thanksgiving football roundup: Amesbury completes crazy rally to stun Newburyport, and other game recaps
- Mansfield beats Foxborough to give coach Mike Redding his 300th win
- No close shave needed, as Jayden Barber, Dennis-Yarmouth blow past shorthanded Nauset
- Catholic Memorial dominates BC High to win Catholic Conference title outright
- Will Bostrom’s final act lifts Norwell past Hanover in double overtime
- Senior Justin Marino goes out with a bang, scoring four TDs to power Medford over Malden
- Fairhaven plays its starters, but Dartmouth still able to snap its three-year Thanksgiving losing streak
- Deacon Robillard ensured St. John’s Prep ends its season on the right foot by taking down Xaverian
- ‘The unicorn doing unicorn things’: Aidan Williams dominates as Needham tops Wellesley in oldest public school rivalry
- English High’s ground game chews up Boston Latin in 137th Thanksgiving matchup
- Unbeaten King Philip finishes with a second-half flurry to seize Hockomock Kelley-Rex title over Franklin
- Behind Tor Maas’s brilliance, Marshfield snaps Duxbury’s 15-year run atop the Patriot League Keenan Division
Michael Vega can be reached at michael.vega@globe.com.