DARTMOUTH – There will be a new Division 3 Super Bowl champion this season as No. 6 Dartmouth (7-2) dispatched No. 11 Milton, 32-20, behind strong efforts from Markus Andrews on both sides of the ball and three rushing touchdowns from Raymond Gramlich.

Andrews rushed for 147 yards on only 10 carries and set up two of Gramlich’s touchdown runs. The senior two-way player also contributed on defense with two of the four interceptions for the Indians to knock off the Wildcats (3-6), who appeared in the last two Super Bowl championships at Gillette Stadium and winning the big one in 2023.

“Great week of practice and we were all in, all our guys were one hundred percent in, and we would not have been there without all eleven guys. So, we can’t credit one person – the whole team – everyone stepped up big,” said Andrews. “It feels great, and we had some adversity going into the game but all the boys, we have each other, and that’s all that matters.”

The big win sends Dartmouth into the Round of Eight to face No. 3 Mansfield, 42-14 winners over Doherty.

The Indians scored on their first drive on a 13-play, 77-yard series that ended with Gramlich scoring from one-yard out for the 7-0 lead after the extra point. Andrews picked up 36 of those yards on three carries to set the stage for the early score.

Special teams were a sore spot the rest of the way for Dartmouth as Ronnan Salmon had a 71-yard return for Milton down to the Dartmouth 27 on the first series for the Wildcats. The massive kick return set up Peter Skutnik for a one-yard run and Milton tied things 7-7 with 1:40 left in the first quarter.

After Dartmouth was able to score on their next series on a perfect fly route pattern from Asante Aurora for a 32-yard touchdown pass from Jackson Hart for the 13-6 lead, Harrison Hinckle took the ensuing kickoff 96 yards to the end zone and the 14-13 lead for Milton.

“It is stuff that we work on every day, and we put an emphasis on it. Those guys are play makers, the other guys made their blocks, and they were untouched for big yardage,” said Milton head coach Steve Dembowski. “We just weren’t good enough on either side of the ball, so give credit to Dartmouth. Markus Andrews, we knew he was, we played him last year and he was a major part of our plan, and he kicked our butts.”

After Dartmouth was forced to punt for the first time still trailing by a point, Tom Quinn stepped up on defense and picked off the first of the four interceptions for the Indians and set up Dartmouth inside the red zone at the 7.

Andrews took home his lone score on the first play from scrimmage to give Dartmouth the lead for good 20-14 at 9:34 of the second quarter.

On the first possession of the second half, Andrews scampered 59 yards down to the Wildcat 2 and Gramlich sniped his second TD for the 26-14 lead as Dartmouth missed a second extra point on a blustery evening for both kickers.

Next, Milton marched the field on a 10-play drive down to the Indians’ 4 for a first-and-goal opportunity, but Andrews picked up his first interception in the end zone.

Backed up on their end zone, Dartmouth was forced to punt, but Andrews quickly made up for his miscue with another interception on the next series to keep things in check for the Dartmouth defense.

Jayden Claudio led the defense with three of the five front line sacks on Milton junior quarterback Patrick Collins, who scored on a three-yard rushing touchdown late after Ben Parmele blocked a punt inside the 10 to continue the special teams’ woes for Dartmouth and cut the deficit to 26-20 with 4:52 to play.

But Gramlich saved his best for last and ripped off a 66-yard touchdown run to cap off his hard fought 92 yards of rushing.