Hollis Brookline's Jake Ingraham tries the stiff-arm but as was the case all night long, Milford High had the answer. In this case it's Kaleb Francoeur with the tackle.

HOLLIS – If handling adversity is supposed to say something about a high school football team, the rest of Division II might want to take a peek at the Milford Spartans.

Milford might not display the flash of the remaining three D-II unbeatens, but when coach Keith Jones speaks of his Spartans, now 3-1 after Saturday night’s dominant 38-14 victory at Hollis Brookline, he uses another “F” word.

“They’re feisty,” said Jones. “We know we have good backs. We have some good young backs, and they can play. It’s the line stuff we’ve been struggling with, but we’ve got 4 or 5 kids who are willing to at least get off the ball. They’re not big, but they’re feisty.”

Milford came into this one bruised by last week’s tough, 27-14, loss to Lebanon. The team also learned mid-week that it would be without leading rusher and top linebacker Caden Zalenski, who was spotted on the sideline Saturday night in a walking boot.

No problem at all for this group.

“It’s definitely important. If we came out with a loss, after losing last week, that would not have been a good look,” said tri-captain Logan Barnhill. “It would have brought us down a lot. Usually in the past, we have not been good, bouncing back from losses. This one was definitely big.”

Behind the battering-ram Barnhill and a defense that showed a true penchant for tackling with force, the Spartans simply ran HB, now 1-3, off its own turf.

“We are not a very good football team. Period,” said Cavaliers coach Chris Lones.

The first half was as one-sided as the 24-0 margin would indicate, perhaps a little more.

Milford outgained HB, 191-16, over the first 24 minutes, and had it not been for a few sloppy penalties, the numbers might have looked worse.

Barnhill carried 16 times before the break, a hefty load for the 6-foot-2, 185-pound senior, and he turned it into a history-making half – breaking the 100-yard rushing mark (123) for the first time.

“Not since middle school,” joked Barnhill of his accomplishment, which included TD runs of 3 and 4 yards.

“The extra opportunities were great. It was great to be able to lead the team. I have not been in the spotlight since middle school. I don’t really care about that, though.”

He also assured himself and the remainder of Milford’s starters of an early exit in this one when he grabbed the opening kick of the second half and raced 80 yards for a score.

“The kid’s a stud. He always runs like that, it’s just a little bit more noticeable without (Zalenski) out there,” said Jones.

“He knows, he’s going to carry the load. Usually, I can split it between the two of them, he’s going to take it on.”

Junior Chris Costifas carried four times for 41 yards with a TD, and Cade Cloutier had five rushes for 37 yards with the final Spartan TD of the night.

Place-kicker Colin Gregg took to the plastic turf in Hollis quite nicely. After pushing his first PAT kick of the night, the senior drilled the next three and also closed out the first-half scoring with a pretty 32-yard field goal.

After that, it was all about the Milford defense, which could certainly have been termed physical and relentless. In just about three quarters of work, the starters held HB to 29 yards total on 25 plays.

Junior Trice Cote delivered the game’s lone turnover with acrobatic interception, while seniors Christian Waller and Ben Kilgore posted first-half sacks.

“Defensively, we knew what we were doing,” said Jones. “The kids got the game plan. They knew where they were supposed to be. They rallied to tackles on the little stuff, and they shut down the middle of the field.”

Down 38-0, Hollis Brookline senior Riley McQuilkin torched the Spartan reserves with a pair of TD bombs (63 and 45 yards) to freshman J.C. Cora, making the score a bit more respectable despite the total domination.

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