The Brooks game started like our last three, with the defenses on both sides, controlling the play of the game. The MX defensive front closed off the Brooks run game early and forced them to go to the air.  Once they did, the MX pass defense of Cedrick Paradis '20, Joey Belsanti '21, Oliver Quon '19, Cole Nye '20, and Colin Cunningham '20 in the secondary and outside linebackers Max Bensley '21 and Liam Alley '21 combined for 5 interceptions with Bensley, Alley and Quon getting one each and Cunningham pulling in two.  Finally, midway through the second quarter, the MX offense started to mount a drive.  Tight end Sahnai Swain-Price '21 then caught a short pass from quarterback Cole Cleary '20 and muscled his way through several Brook's defenders, converting a short gain into a 40 yard touchdown. A missed PAT kick left Middlesex with a slim 6-0 halftime lead.

The tables turned quickly as we opened the second half, with MX receiving the kick off.  On first down, a short pass to the flat was tipped, intercepted and run back for a momentum changing score, as Brooks took the lead 7-6.   Middlesex would answer halfway through the third quarter, on an acrobatic 18 yard TD catch again from Cleary to Swain-Price, to regain the lead 13-7.  For the rest of the third and into the fourth quarter the MX offense would successfully move the ball, but turnovers would stop their drives before reaching the red zone.  Brooks' decisive score would come with 3:00 minutes to go in the fourth quarter on a 6 yard run, with the kick Brooks took the lead 14-13.  The MX offense would get the ball as close as the 37 yard line with under a minute to go but was not able to produce any points. This was a tough loss for an MX team that played their hearts out, on both sides of the ball, for the entire game. The team will travel to Dedham next Saturday to take on Nobles at 2:30.