They stayed true to their identity, just not the way they really wanted.

The Milford High School football team on Saturday was its usual tough, scrappy selves – on defense. They just couldn’t get that same resolve on offense until things got desparate in the fourth quarter of a tough 13-10 Division II title game loss to Timberlane at Pinkerton Academy in Derry.

The game was played on the nice, fairly new Astros field turf, but it really felt like it was a battle fought in mud. Or at least it should have been.

“It’s definitely the toughest team team we’ve played all season,” Timberlane star back Dom Pallaria said after he ran for 157 yards and a TD, that being a 51-yard breakaway run. “They just read (the Owls offense) perfectly, they’re a great defense, you know? The defense is just elite. Logan Barnhill and Caden Zalenski are beasts, they sniffed it out.”

But Pallaria was patient, willing to pound away for 3 yards here, 2 there, and maybe an occasional 5 or 6. “Just get yards out of it,” he said.

That was usually the Milford way. But the Spartans just couldn’t do it, as Timberlane’s defense led by tackle Evan Roeger, No. 70 in your program, just never let the Spartans get in a rhythm save for their last drive.

“We just had to believe going through the game that it was going to work eventually,” Zalenski said. “Just keep doing our jobs and things would turn the right way.”

But, even though Pallaria never had another breakaway, the Owls dominated time of possession.

“They had the ball for long periods of time,” Milford coach Keith Jones said. “We never got in synch on offense, they never really allowed us to get into (a rhythm).”

“We’re not a third-and-9 team. We don’t have third-and-9 plays. We don’t have fourth-and-15 plays, that’s for sure. We’re a grind it out team, we need to be close on third down.”

But here’s the thing: This game should have never been this close. But, save for Pallaria’s breakaway, the Spartans bent like crazy but didn’t break.

It was amazing how defensively they were able to hold the Owls to just 13 points.

“Kids at different times came up with big plays,” Jones said. “There were two plays where Vernon Leclair, at a buck-60, is getting driven off the ball but slips away and makes the tackle. Things like that. Kaleb Francoeur was unbelievable, taking on some big bodies and finding ways to get in on (tackles).”

That’s the kind of effort Jones has gotten all year from his players.

“These kids have been resilient all year; defensively we’ve been as tough as anybody all year long. And they showed it again today. Stop after stop after stop, just a tribute to what they bring to the table.”

These two teams have huge respect for each other. When the clock was ticking down, the Spartans showed their class, approaching any nearby Owl with a congratulatory handshake.

“Of course,” Zalenski said. “When you have two teams that play hard, and you have a hard long game, it’s respect, you can’t look down on either team.”

No one will look down on these Spartans, that’s for sure, who finished 8-3 and probably, if you look at each loss, been 11-0 with a title plaque in their hands.

“I just loved how all of us worked together,” Zalenski said. “We just played together as a team. I couldn’t have asked for more.”

Except maybe four more points.

Remember this Milford team. Look up the word football in the dictionary, and the 2021 Spartans team photo should be next to it.

The Spartans stayed true to their identity to the end on Saturday, as bitter as it was.

(Tom King may be reached at tking@nashuatelegraph.com, or you can follow him on twitter @Telegraph _TomK.)