Milton Academy football is a collection of talent from across the continent
MILTON − When Milton Academy running back Matthew Childs stepped away from a team lift session to answer questions, he did it with a Colorado Buffaloes hat on.
Much like the Buffs’ football team, the Mustangs have a lot of new faces from all over the state, the country and even from Canada. With Friday being their first game of the season, the Brown University commit stressed the importance of chemistry.
“We have a football group chat, Snapchat (and) iMessage,” said Childs, a senior and a Medway resident. “One of our tight ends is good friends with the kid from California. We got people traveling out to California, traveling out to Canada to meet the new kids.”
All of the 20 seniors on the team, including the coaching staff, take football seriously. Year after year, Milton Academy has produced Div. 1 prospects to go along with a focus on academics.
Head coach Mike Mason will enter his first year as head coach for the Mustangs. He spent the last 15 years as defensive coordinator under Kevin MacDonald and 27 years total at the school. He also played for MacDonald in the 1980s at Archbishop Williams. He’s aware of the standard, and he’s willing to go wherever to keep it at that level.
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Lineman Andrew Parkes is from San Francisco and receiver Ryan Parker is from Ladera Ranch, California. Defensive back and receiver Chase Judge is from Ontario. Those guys alone show the lengths Milton Academy is willing to go to bring guys in.
According to Childs, living in the dorms allows teammates to “get to meet kids you’d never get to meet.” And after finishing the season 5-3 last year, but just missing their bowl game, they have a chip on their shoulder.
“Especially after the year we were all like ‘we got snubbed from the bowl game,’” said Childs. “I think our mindset this year is that we got to prove we’re the best team in the ISL.”
Quarterback Qur’an McNeill, a Boston resident, will get the start Friday as a freshman. He’s another new face that had a good QB in front of him last year. So McNeill won’t necessarily be thrown into the NEPSAC gauntlet with no experience.
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“He was here all last year and played under Jake Holtschlag, who is now at Georgetown,” said Mason. “So he's seen the speed, the size, the intensity, he played a little bit here and there.”
No huddle
Mason said speed will be the Mustangs' biggest strength. With McNeill at quarterback, he’ll have Childs and Franklin resident Keith Nelly as his running backs. For receivers, Judge, West Bridgewater resident Dylan Murphy, Parker and Milton resident Gus Reynolds will be the core.
Whitman resident and senior captain Aidan Cole will play linebacker next to Bridgewater resident Owen Howlett. In the secondary, the Mustangs have Norwell resident Matt Higgins and Cohasset resident William Chisholm.
Three players to watch out for
Qur’an McNeill, QB: “He was playing JV, already has a Boston College offer,” said Childs. “I think we put him in the right situation as a team and senior leadership. I think he can do great things.”
Matthew Childs, RB: “He’s a great running back that sees the field great,” said senior captain Cole. “He had a great season last year and there’s just more to come from him.”
Bryce Anderson, TE: “He’s my boy and I think he’s going to be great this year for us,” said senior captain Howlett.
They said it
Mason on what makes Milton Academy appealing for top talent: “We got a kid, Andrew Parkes from California, who’s going to Harvard, we got a couple kids from Canada, couple kids from Connecticut. They heard about the program, they've seen the program, they want to go prep and it’s been very successful.”
Childs on the team expectation this year: “Our goal is to be 9-0 every year. If you don’t see yourself going 9-0, I don’t think you're playing the sport the right way.”
Milton Academy’s 2023 schedule
Friday, Sept. 22 — at Buckingham Browne Nichols, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 30 — at Lawrence Academy at Groton, 1
Saturday, Oct. 7 — vs. Thayer Academy, 3
Saturday, Oct. 14 — vs. Governor’s Academy, 1
Saturday, Oct. 21 — at Roxbury Latin, 3
Saturday, Oct. 28 — vs. St. Sebastian’s, 2:30
Friday, Nov. 3 — at Belmont Hill, 2
Saturday, Nov. 11 — vs. Noble and Greenough, 1
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Milton Academy 2023 season preview
