MILFORD — It wasn’t for the faint of heart, Friday night’s 36-35 Leominster victory over host Milford, that’s for sure.

The Blue Devils had trailed, 28-13, with nine minutes left to go and gut-check time came into play: a third-quarter game of hot potato saw the teams exchange the lead, but after Milford’s Anthony Maietta returned a 72-yard fumble return for a TD, it looked somewhat bleak for the Leominster faithful. Add in Milford QB Jack Buckley’s 27-yard keeper for a TD early in the fourth, and it was seemingly out of reach.

But Leominster (2-0), paced by Osiris Lopez’s arm and the hard churning of Xavier Cora, flipped the script and turned what had been a raucous Milford student section into a chorus of perfect, utter silence.

“It was tough, morale-wise,” Leominster sixth-year head coach Devin Gates said. “It’s tough not to go into that stretch with a negative mindset, but with the guys on the roster and the depth we have, top to bottom, we can make it happen. I’m confident we can overcome any deficit.”

Like a expert surgeon with a highly trained scalpel, Lopez sandwiched two touchdowns in the final six minutes to senior Juan Miranda around a Scarlet Hawk score: first, a 37-yard strike to tie it at 28, before his seven-yard laser beam with 49 seconds left saw Miranda ease his way into the end zone to make it 35-34 Milford.

Lopez then rolled right on the conversion before reversing fields and going the other way. He got a key block on the edge and dove for the pylon to give the Blue Devils a hard fought, deserved lead.

Three snaps later, Buckley found Lopez with a game-clinching interception.

Lopez finished the game 8 of 25 for 271 yards with three TDs and a first-quarter pick.

“That’s what he does,” Gates said. “That’s the type of player he is, he’s an absolute gamer, and he’s never out of anything. He’s built different, and he brings out the best in everyone.”

Leominster High quarterback Osiris Lopez (3) hands the ball off to running back Xavier Cora during Friday night’s game at Milford High School. (Photo by Mark Stockwell/Boston Herald)

Cora, who scored two touchdowns including the score that made it 28-20 in favor of the Scarlet Hawks, rushed 16 times for 122 yards.

“Cora’s an absolute dog, an iron man, a throw back football player,” Gates said.

Following a tightly contested, defensive-minded first quarter, the hosts struck first thanks to a 10-play, 61-yard drive keyed by a couple of big conversion passes from Buckley to the gargantuan tight end Thomas Sousa.

Milford High quarterback Jack Buckley attempts to run the ball into the end zone but was stopped by the Leominster defense during Friday’s game. (Photo by Mark Stockwell/Boston Herald)

On third-and-9, Buckley connected with Sousa on the right hash, breaking Leominster tacklers until the Devils brought him down after a gain of 34 to the LHS 26. Then on fourth-and-4 at the 20, Daniel Carvahlo went up the middle for a gain of 8 to the Blue Devil 12.

Three snaps later, Milford struck paydirt as Carvahlo went off the left side from the 2 into the end zone. The kick, however, failed.

Leominster answered five snaps later.

Lopez, who had struggled in the first half (1-11, 48 yards) and found himself picked on LHS’ second drive, connected with Jaidis Delgado for a 48-yard pass to set up Cora’s 5-yard TD run to pull level. Key on the play? The tremendous block by Leominster man-child Nathaniel Hankins to give Cora the edge.

Milford took a 9-6 lead at the half when Joey McGee booted a 37-yard field goal after Aramis Reyes came up with a big sack of Buckley on third down.