So you're trying to slow down Milton's Owen McHugh and Duxbury's Matt Festa? Good luck.

The New England Patriots may be struggling to put points on the board, but two South Shore football teams that are heading to Gillette Stadium in December don’t have that problem at all.

Quarterbacks Matt Festa (Duxbury High) and Owen McHugh (Milton) both will be playing for a state championship. They're in different divisions, but similar situations, and that’s no coincidence.

“It’s hard to compare the two because they’re so similar,” said Hanover coach Chris Landolfi. “Those two are definitely the best players we’ve faced.”

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Both top-seeded teams are undefeated at 10-0. Duxbury will face off against No. 2 Grafton on Friday at 8 p.m. for the Division 4 title. Milton will go against No. 6 Wakefield Memorial on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. for the Division 3 championship.

The two senior quarterbacks have been scorching defenses all season. Milton averaged 35 points a game during the regular season. Duxbury was at 39 points per game.

“Both quarterbacks are just outstanding,” said Scituate coach Herb Devine, who has faced both QBs. “Both dual threats, both with excellent arms and can make all the throws. But even as runners, Matt is more of a powerful downhill runner that’s going to punish you.”

“The McHugh kid gets in the open field, he’s just so fast. That speed on top of that great arm” causes problems for a defense, Devine continued.

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For McHugh, it’s his first year as a starting QB for the Wildcats. Although he was a key member of the Milton secondary before this season, he had to sit behind Chase Vaughan on offense. But he picked up right were Vaughan left off. Despite McHugh's lack of playoff experience, Milton has put up a total of 102 points through three playoff games.

Eight years after coach Steve Dembowski took over the Milton program, the Wildcats finally have made it to the mountaintop. And it’s with a first-year starter at QB.

“After we played him (I thought) he’s definitely the smartest kid on the playing field,” Landolfi said of McHugh, who was 11-of-21 passing for 143 yards with three touchdowns and an interception in Milton's 32-30 win over Hanover in the Division 3 state semifinals. “That kind of takes the experience (factor) away. When you're built like that, experience doesn’t play a big factor, to be honest.”

As for Festa, he’s been the starting quarterback at Duxbury for three years. Last year he put up 49 touchdowns (33 passing, 16 rushing) and led his team to the Division 4 state final, where the Dragons suffered a last-minute loss to Scituate.

This year, Festa has put up 30 touchdowns and 2,294 yards, while only throwing three INTs, according to Duxbury’s Twitter account.

“We had our hands full with them the last couple of years, especially Festa,” said Devine. “We've been playing against him for a long time. (Festa and McHugh) are both very good, talented, deep-ball threats (with high football) IQs and vision. They both have the qualities of a great quarterback.”

Devine may have gotten a win last year over Duxbury, but this year was a different story. Having started the season with-to-back losses to Milton (33-26) and Duxbury (44-24), he’s no stranger to the talent they can display.

“They just put so many pressures on defenses to stop them,” said Devine. “They do a good job at finding open receivers, making throws on time, throwing guys open, they both do it all.”

Devine said defending each team presents its own unique challenges.

“They’re kind of different teams,” he said of Milton's and Duxbury’s approach. “Milton has skilled guys on different sides of the ball. I think Duxbury has the (Chris) Walsh kid that’s a super dynamic player. Duxbury has a little bit more to the running game. Milton’s more of a spread-you-out (team that likes to) run their short stuff, intermediate stuff, then take their shots down the field."

Festa is 6-foot-3, 205 pounds. McHugh checks in at 6-foot, 180. Festa's added size means opponents have to defend even more of the field.

“Milton does a good job with their play action game off the RPO stuff,” said Landolfi. “So does Duxbury, (but) Festa can throw the ball 70 yards. I think Duxbury can stretch you more vertically. They can score pretty quick.”

“I think both of them are excellent," Devine added. "There’s nothing I can see as a flaw in either of their game."

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Matt Festa vs. Owen McHugh: How the two QBs compare to one another