For most of the season, the Middletown football team had been one or two plays away from swapping the numbers from one side of the wins-loss column to the other.

Friday night, with the Middies clinging to a 20-19 lead with 25 seconds left in the game, senior defensive lineman chased down Hamilton quarterback Zach Keene for an 8-yard loss on third down. An incomplete pass later and the Middies were in victory formation.

No last second heartbreak this time.

Moments after wrapping up Keene, Foster wrapped his arms around something just as valuable — the Butler Bowl trophy as the Middies improved to 3-6 on the season.

“(The only way I wasn’t going to get him was) me slipping,” Foster said. “I knew I had him. We just kept pushing and great things happen.”

It took a great comeback for the Middies to claim their fourth straight win over the Big Blue (2-7) and improve to 34-28-3 in the series.

Hamilton’s Marcus Oliver scored the final of his three touchdowns with 2:47 left in the contest to give the visitors a 19-7 lead.

The Middies, however, responded with a 57-yard drive that took less than a minute off the clock. Jalin Marshall connected with Antonio Oatis for a 33-yard gain before scrambling for 22-yard line to move the ball to the Hamilton 2. Marshall scored on the next play to cut the deficit to 19-14.

Freshman Tyrell Preston fell on the onside kick to give the ball right back to Marshall with 2:01 left and 47 ticks later, Marshall connected with A’Keeno King on a 27-yard scoring strike for the 20-19 lead.

“Preston got that onside kick, it was just another example of our freshmen and sophomores being the guys making plays,” Middletown coach Troy Everhart said. “We had a lot of young guys giving us a lot of energy and effort. The young guys get it and I am excited about that because the future is bright.”

Middletown was its own worst enemy early in the game, driving inside the Hamilton 15 on their first two possessions only to fumble once and have a penalty push the Middies out of field goal range.

Hamilton, meanwhile, turned the second Middie turnover into the first score of the game. After Oliver recovered a fumbled pitch, he went 11-yards for the first score. Oliver scored on a 41-yard run on the second Hamilton play of the second half for a 13-7 lead.

“You got to play 48 minutes of football,” Hamilton coach Bob Jacoby said. “That’s what they did and what we didn’t do. We have to finish what we start and we haven’t done that all year, but the kids are still fighting and working.”