October 27, 2026 Story & Photos By Will Wassersug
Wildcats score twice in the fourth quarter to beat Hingham, 28-12
With every rain cloud that pops up, you can find a silver lining.
Hingham High football’s time in the Division 3 state tournament ended Friday night in the middle of a monsoon at Milton High, with a 28-12 loss to the No. 8-seeded Wildcats.
The silver lining? The Harbormen will get one final home game this season when they host a non-playoff game against North Quincy Friday night at 6 p.m.
“We only had three home games this season, so it’ll be great for the seniors to get one more time to play on the turf and ring the bell one more time,” said Head Coach T.J. Byrne. “The message after the Milton game was that we are not done yet. I don’t think they will need any motivation” to get ready for North Quincy and then the annual Thanksgiving morning game at Scituate High.
In a nutshell, Friday’s game boiled down to Milton (7-2) being able to score touchdowns when opportunities arose in the first half, while Hingham (5-4) had to settle for field goals.
Pelting rain from start to finish made things difficult on both sides of the ball, but No. 8 Milton finally got things rolling in the fourth quarter with a 28-yard breakout run by Jayden Dubois, followed by a 45-yard interception return for a touchdown by Taj Chung. The two scores put things out of reach for the No. 9 Harbormen.
The interception by Chung, the son of former New England Patriot Patrick Chung, was the ninth of his high school career, setting a new school record.
Milton advances in the Division 3 tournament to the Round of 8, where it will face top-seeded Mansfield High on Friday, Nov. 13, at 6 p.m. The Hornets defeated No. 16 Malden Catholic, 28-14, in their opening game.
The Wildcats have a talented two-headed senior threat at running back in Dubois and Peter Skutnik, two of the top seven point-scorers in Division 3 this season. Hingham’s defense did a good job of limiting both players to short gains on the ground, especially in the first half.
“Considering the weather conditions, we knew this was going to be a game won on the ground. I was very happy with the way we defended the run and how we ran the ball on offense,” Byrne said.
Hingham senior captain Riley Bello “ran with an attitude and explosion” for 86 yards in the loss, Byrne said.
Hingham took a 3-0 lead on its first possession of the game after recovering a muffed punt to take over at Milton’s 20-yard line. The Harbormen managed just a couple of yards before junior James Slankas converted a 37-yard field goal.
Dubois scored his first touchdown of the game on a one-yard plunge up the middle. Skutnik’s first of four successful extra-point kicks put Milton ahead, 7-3.
Big pass connections to senior captain Cole Palek and junior Jay Kargbo on Hingham’s next possession moved the Harbormen to the Milton 16 before Nicholas Lamonto’s interception stopped the drive.
The Harbormen again moved the ball effectively on their next possession. A seven-minute drive resulted in a 22-yard field goal by Slankas with 2:06 remaining in the first half.
That left just enough time for the Wildcats to move downfield and score on a 13-yard touchdown pass to Chaz Putnam, making it 14-6 at halftime.
Milton extended its lead in the fourth quarter with another Dubois touchdown, followed by Chung’s pick-six.
Hingham added a late touchdown when Will Jones caught a fade pass from Liam Merrigan in the corner of the end zone with 1:04 remaining, making the final score 28-12.