After Millis erased a 17-point deficit, Dover-Sherborn's drive sends Mohawks to first loss

DOVER – The drive not only put away the game, it, in the words of Luca Mariano, “took their zero away.”

Dover-Sherborn's quick-answering 61-yard march midway through the fourth quarter handed the Raiders a 25-14 victory Thursday night and sent visiting Millis to its first loss of the season.

The Mohawks had pulled to within a field goal thanks to two long passes, but the running game of Ronan Richards, Malachi Price and Mariano put quickly put D-S into the red zone. A Richards 2-yard touchdown with six minutes remaining and a conversion pass from quarterback Ronan Sullivan to Mariano iced the Mohawks on a chilly night.

“We faced adversity, but we stuck together and played hard and it was about the next play,” Mariano said. “We just stayed together and it went our way.”

“If we get a stop there, hey, who knows what happens, because we’re on fire – we got them on their heels a little bit,” Millis coach Bob Martellio said of the decisive drive. “But they were able to take the ball and drive down on us a little bit.”

In the Tri-Valley League Small opener for both teams, Millis (4-1) trailed 17-0 at halftime and showed little life on offense. On the first possession of the second half, the Mohawks faced a third-and-13 and the game appeared to be heading in a lopsided direction.

But sophomore quarterback Jack Carter connected with Liam Kraby for 62 yards to set up his fourth-down, 3-yard scoring pass to Hayden Leach to make it 17-7. After a Kraby interception at the end of the third period, Carter hit Dylan McGuire for a 74-yard score to bring Millis to within 17-14.

The Raiders (2-3) quickly erased any chances to a completed comeback, however.

“It feels great,” Mariano said of becoming the first team to defeat the Mohawks. “We took their zero, a 4-0 team, a great team. It felt awesome to bring them to our home turf and take the home win.”

D-S built its lead thanks to an early Richard touchdown, a safety and Sullivan’s scrambling TD toss to Richards with 30 seconds remaining in the half. Another Ronan-to-Ronan pass on the conversion put the Raiders up 17-0.

But Millis made it a game thanks to Carter’s long passes.

“We told the kids this was a second-half game; we told them that at halftime, and they came out and played much, much better in the second half,” Martellio said. “Dover’s a damn good ball club.”

Millis has not defeated D-S since 2017, when the Mohawks won 31-6 on the way to their second consecutive Super Bowl title. The Raiders, who ended a three-game losing streak, now look ahead to next Friday’s game at Norton for a chance to even up their record.

“We’ve got good team chemistry,” Mariano said. “We just have to keep practicing hard and show up next week 100%.”

Tim Dumas is a multimedia journalist for the Daily News. He can be reached at tdumas@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @TimDumas.

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: After Millis erased a 17-point deficit, Dover-Sherborn's drive sends Mohawks to first loss