Owen McHugh made the most of his time as Milton High football team's starting quarterback
FOXBORO — To say Milton High’s Owen McHugh was a backup quarterback for the previous three seasons would be unfair.
It sets an unreachable standard that almost no QB in the state can match and doesn’t exemplify how good of a player McHugh is and has been.
"Owen’s not your typical high school backup quarterback,” said Milton coach Steve Dembowski. “He’s a special athlete.”
More:Follow all 8 of the MIAA high school football state championships at Gillette
McHugh spent 2021 behind Chase Vaughan, a three-year starter who led the program to a 22-4 overall record and set career records for passing yards (4,410) and passing touchdowns (45).
In his one season as Milton’s unquestioned QB1, McHugh led the Wildcats to their first Super Bowl appearance and threw for 2,410 yards and 31 touchdowns. He also added 569 yards rushing and five TDs on the ground.
“Ever since (former QB) Mike Fallon and the 2015 Wildcats (went to the state semifinals) in Coach Dembo’s first year, I’ve always wanted to lead the team and the town to a state championship,” said McHugh. “These coaches worked so hard and it was our goal all along. I’m proud of how far we came, it was a good season.”
McHugh and the Wildcats came tantalizingly close to fulfilling that goal, but lost to Wakefield, 34-28, in Saturday’s Division 3 state final.
"I’m really proud of them,” said McHugh of his team. “We worked hard all through our high school careers, specifically this year. Junior year, we got beat bad in playoffs (62-28 by North Attleboro). We were in the weight room almost every day and we wanted this so bad. I’m so proud of them; we came so close.”
More:Seniors go out on top as undefeated Hull High football wins Division 8 Super Bowl title
Since Dembowski took over at Milton in 2015 the Wildcats have been a QB factory. Mike Fallon and Luke McMenamin went on to play collegiately at UMass. Owen Keaney played at Nichols, and Vaughan just finished a post-graduate year at East Coast Prep. McHugh belongs right near the top of that list.
“That means a lot,” said McHugh. “I look up to all of them. I learned from them, I watched them play growing up and I always wanted to be in their position.”
“We had tremendous confidence in Owen from the time he was a sophomore,” said Dembowski. “We almost played him in a playoff game his freshmen year when Chase (Vaughan) had a bruised thumb.”
McHugh isn’t just a standout on the football field. He played a starring role in the spring when the Milton baseball team won its first state title, and Dembowski said he’ll play football and baseball at Williams College next year. While playing safety last season, he was a Bay State Conference All-Star. He was also third in points last season for the Milton hockey team with five goals and 17 assists.
“He’s phenomenal at everything he does from being an A-student, to being a three-sport (athlete),” said Dembowski. “He’s the best athlete in the Bay State Conference and I’m lucky and blessed that I’ve been able to work with some of these kids like Owen and Jack (Finnegan) and a lot of the other kids that have given everything they’ve had to really lift Milton football and to get us to this spot.”
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Owen McHugh starred at quarterback for Milton High football
