Shaking off illness, Josh Scott played on

Milton Academy's Josh Scott, a senior from Newton, shows his recovery from pneumonia during practice Monday. (Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff)

Earlier this fall, Josh Scott felt sick, and he felt weak. He missed time in the classroom and was bothered by an upset stomach.

On game days, the Milton Academy senior from Newton was only able to line up one way, at running back, for the Mustangs football team. His cuts were less dramatic; his flagging stamina had him winded.

Then again, not everyone plays through pneumonia.

"I came into the season at 207, and I dropped to 194" pounds, said the senior cocaptain. "I was weak, and it was tough. I wasn't myself."

Scott fell ill following Milton Academy's season-opening, 14-6 win over St. Sebastian's on Sept. 20, but decided to play through the illness. The next week, that meant missing four days of school. Two days before a matchup against the Middlesex School, his temperature hit 104. Yet he still scored three touchdowns in a 48-28 win.

He never missed a game.

"Football is my favorite sport; it's why you play it, you know?" Scott said. "I was feeling good enough to play. It takes a lot to take me out of the game."

Three weeks later, Scott was healthy. Since then, he's been unstoppable.

In the last four games, he's accumulated over 1,100 rushing yards, capped with a 234-yard, two-touchdown performance in last Saturday's 37-14 win over rival Noble & Greenough School.

His 1,806 yards and 21 touchdowns on the season lead the Independent School League by a wide margin, and have caught the eye of a score of Ivy League and Patriot League schools, most notably Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Princeton, Holy Cross, Colgate, and William & Mary.

Not to mention, he's back to 207 pounds, courtesy of taking in 4,000 calories per day, with a menu that featured "protein shakes, stacks of pancakes for breakfast, bacon, and two dinners a night."

And now, thanks in no small part to Scott's perseverance, Milton is headed to the postseason. The Mustangs will face King Low Heywood Thomas on Saturday in a New England prep school bowl game at Kingswood-Oxford School in West Hartford, Conn.

Senior tight end Alex Harris of Needham, who supplied three catches for 112 yards and a score against Noble & Greenough, said Josh Scott "really makes you want to work hard. He leads by example. You see it out there - they load up the box against him, and they still can't stop him."

The 6-foot-4 Harris, who committed to attend Brown University two weeks ago, said of Scott, earlier in the season "you see him out there, he can't outrun guys, and he finds a way to make things happen. Now he's fresh, and he gives us so much energy out there."

Running the 40-yard dash in 4.58 seconds, and escorted by an offensive line that averages 240 pounds, Scott has learned to become a patient runner. With his quick hips he likes to give a little shimmy-and-shake cutting through defenders, but once he gets out in the open, it's a footrace.

Milton Academy coach Kevin MacDonald calls this line the most cohesive unit he's ever had - which includes 14 seasons at Archbishop Williams, producing three NFL linemen - but he also credits Scott's maturity as a runner. Among other things, he's learned to makes his cuts with his body lower to the ground.

Not to mention, Scott's given his team a clinic in perseverance.

"The kids can't feel sorry for themselves if they're dinged up or not feeling well," MacDonald said. "It's inspirational."

Natick, Walpole fight for Herget tomorrow

Natick (9-0) and Walpole (9-0) will battle for the Bay State Conference's Herget crown tomorrow night. And the implications are pretty straightforward: win, or stay home after Thanksgiving.

There isn't a whole lot of inspirational hyperbole that Natick head coach Tom Lamb needs to say.

"That's from a coach's point of view. It's a fun week, because it takes care of itself," Lamb said. "Walpole's got plenty of things for us to work on, there's not a dull moment trying to stop its offense. But motivationally, it's a little different than some weeks."

The game will feature two of the state's most electric playmakers. Natick junior quarterback Scott McCummings is a dual-threat playmaker who has more yards rushing than he does passing. He's already garnering interest from Division 1 schools, including Boston College. Fresh off an ankle injury suffered three weeks ago, he threw for 204 yards in a 21-7 win over Weymouth High last Friday.

Walpole junior running back Ryan Izzo is having another dazzling season. The reigning Bay State MVP's 29 rushing touchdowns are tops in the state.

Assabet vs. Lunenburg and much more on tap

Assabet Valley Regional Tech punched its ticket to the postseason for the second straight year, winning a 22-21 thriller over Bay Path Regional that clinched Division 3 East. Tomorrow night Assabet visits undefeated Lunenburg, which clinched Division 3 West.

Framingham can lock up the Bay State Conference's Carey Division with a win over Needham tomorrow night.

Undefeated Medway, off to the best start in program history, can clinch the Tri-Valley League title with a win over Norton tomorrow night.

Shrewsbury, undefeated in Division 1 East play, can lock up Division 1 East with a win tomorrow over Doherty Memorial in Worcester. The Colonials downed Burncoat High last Friday, while Marlborough vaulted into a tie for second with a win over the Doherty Highlanders.

In Shrewsbury, though, things just got more interesting. St. John's lost to Leominster, which means all four teams in Division 1 North are tied for the lead. The division's two postseason berths could come down to the winners of tomorrow night's St. John's-Wachusett Regional matchup and Thanksgiving Day's Leominster-Fitchburg contest. Should there be another three-way tie for first, like last season, it will come down to the power rankings, and the St. John's Pioneers figure to have the edge.

Brendan Hall can be reached at bhall59@hotmail.com.