Shorthanded Warriors beat Watertown on Senior Night, 26-7

Published in the October 21, 2019 edition.

By DAN PAWLOWSKI

WAKEFIELD — Seniors or freshmen, it doesn’t really matter to the Wakefield High football team.

They just wanted a win.

Hosting 2-3 Freedom Division foe Watertown for Senior Night on Friday, the 2-3 Warriors needed a victory, not just for their chances of making the Div. 4 North Playoff bracket, but for something far less tangible.

“It was a big game for the pulse of the program and where we’re at,” said head coach John Rafferty. “(Winning) helps reinforce what we’re doing.”

While earning a well-deserved sendoff in their last regular season game at Landrigan, the 13 seniors quickly shifted their focus on getting that win for the program.

Ironically enough, their goal would hinge on the play of a freshman quarterback.

Senior Joe Alden, filling in at QB for injured senior Wesley Pierre, was hurt on the opening kickoff, forcing the Warriors to send out third stringer Javin Willis in his first varsity action.

The freshman did exactly what his team needed, confidently running the offense and taking care of the ball.

“To his credit, and especially with no varsity experience, he did a really nice job for us,” said Rafferty of Willis. “That’s not a situation you want to find yourself in; I have to give him credit.”

The seniors did what they always do. Warrior fans know what to expect from the class of 2020. Starting with captains Liam Cosgrove (OL/DL), Anthony DeVito (OL/LB) and Chris Miller (TE/DL), and including linemen Taaj Andrews and Jake Sowyrda, the seniors have a reputation for leading by example. They don’t expect anyone else to do the dirty work. To them, the trenches are where games are won and lost.

With those five battling away, the Warriors got some tough running from junior Tucker Stikeman (31 carries, 170 yards), sophomore Aidan Sweeney (7 carries, 130 yards, 2 TD’s) and junior Dan Hurley (10 carries, 25 yards, 2 TD’s).

Sweeney deflected a pass on Watertown’s first possession and fellow sophomore Sharieff Andrews blew up an option run in the backfield to help force a punt.

The Warriors followed with a swift, six-play, 59-yard drive. Sweeney ran the ball on five of those six plays, a 42-yard scamper down the left sideline to the Raider 4 yard line highlighting Wakefield’s opening possession. He took the next handoff from Willis four yards in for the opening score.

The Raiders bounced back on their next possession, a couple of big passing plays from QB Brennan Cook getting the ball down to the 2 that the QB ran in himself to even things up at 7-7.

Sweeney wasted no time in getting a rowdy Red Sea, decked out in white, going again. On the second play of Wakefield’s next drive, the sophomore exploded up the middle and in one blink was gone for a 75-yard touchdown run and a 14-7 lead.

Unfortunately, Warrior fans would only get to see one quarter of work from Sweeney who was knocked out of the game while playing defense on Watertown’s next possession. So yes, the above listed 130 yards and two touchdowns for Sweeney came in one quarter.

Yet for all the highlight-reel runs, Wakefield was more worried about losing yet another cornerback with Alden also a starter at the position.

Plenty of inexperienced players stepped up in the secondary.

Cook was 5-of-11 passing for 66 yards in the first half. The combination of sophomores Leo Yardumian, Bryan Lynch and Jack Berinato, along with junior MyKease Driggers, all stepped up in the second half, holding the visitors to just 23 yards through the air.

“They got it done,” said Rafferty of the many reserve players stepping up. “Unfortunately, injuries have been a recurring theme every week. Losing Alden right off the bat, then Sweeney. That’s four positions we have to replace.”

While the coach went on to say it’s nice to have players like Stikeman and Hurley able to fill in at running back, both strong enough to be the main ball carriers on many teams, the injures no doubt continue to take a toll.

The second quarter was dominated by defense as no teams scored.

Once again it was Wakefield’s defense that set the tone in the second half.

After the Warriors punted on the first possession, the Raiders decided to test Wakefield’s inexperienced secondary with three straight passes. All three fell incomplete as they went three-and-out.

The Warriors took off the rest of the seven minutes in the third quarter with a methodic 55-yard drive.

Willis stepped up on two separate third down conversions.

On third-and-3 at the Watertown 27, Willis followed center DeVito for a 4-yard QB sneak. The freshman is clearly athletic, but has plenty of room to grow. As is the case in real life, being smaller is a disadvantage sometimes and an advantage others. On this play, the Raiders couldn’t find Willis who earned the tough yardage the Warriors needed. The young QB later rolled out on a 3rd-and-7 from the 10 just as Watertown was sure yet another run was coming. The gutsy bootleg call from the Warrior sideline was the perfect play as Willis found Hurley at the 1. The junior made a great catch and Wakefield rewarded him by giving him the rock on the next play as he punched it in for a 20-7 lead.

The defensive line dominated Watertown’s next drive. Cosgrove and Sharieff Andrews created negative yardage on the first play. Chris Miller then came up with a sack forcing 3rd-and-18 from the Watertown 34. A scrambling Cook was forced out of bounds for another sack, this time with a Miller/Taaj Andrews combination.

With 10:51 left, the Warriors again let “Stike” and “Hurls” win this one. It wasn’t easy. They went 54 yards in 12 plays. Stikeman got them to the 3 thanks large part to a 25-yard gain on 4th-and-10 from the Raider 38.

The junior was the Warrior sideline’s favorite player in this one – his tough, no-nonsense running that often emulated a Madden truck stick, especially entertained seniors Dan Lamonica and Wes Pierre.

Hurley eventually punched in his second 1-yard TD of the night to account for the final touchdown.

“We executed better early on with those long gains,” said Rafferty. “But Stikeman and Hurley ran hard, all of their yards were tough.”

Stikeman gave the “White Sea” one more chance to celebrate by stripping a Watertown running back and recovering the fumble that would allow Willis to line up in a victory formation in his first varsity start.

The coach admitted Wakefield wasn’t very multidimensional in this one. That’s what happens when your top two quarterbacks and your starting running back are all out.

But following the lead of Wakefield’s blue-collar seniors, even those who embrace the roles often left out of the spotlight like Joe Bernabeo, Sean Lynch, Eli Gosselin-Smoske, Jamie Poole and Jovanni Teixeira, and Wakefield’s younger players knew they had to leave it all on the field to get their older brothers a win on Senior Night.

The victory improves Wakefield’s record to 3-3. Their last game of the regular season is this Friday in Wilmington. The Wildcats are 2-4 with a loss last week to Stoneham breaking up a two-game winning streak over Watertown and Burlington.

A win would put the Warriors into the playoffs.