Wakefield hangs tough, comes up short against undefeated Red Raiders

By DAN PAWLOWSKI

MELROSE — A crisp morning, mixed with plenty of sunshine and just a dash of a late November chill was the perfect recipe for fans at Fred Green Field to start their day as Wakefield and Melrose faced off in the 58th annual Thanksgiving Day game.

The road Warriors traveled to Melrose for their eighth away game of the 2017 campaign on a mission to spoil a perfect season as the Red Raiders started the game at 11-0. Although Wakefield got an inspired performance from their seniors and hung with Melrose for most of the day, the Red Raiders went on to win their sixth straight Thanksgiving Day victory by a score of 35-12.

“I’m proud of my guys today,” said Wakefield head coach Steve Cummings. “Our kids played with everything they had. We went up against a very good football team and we just didn’t make enough plays to pull it out.”

The Super Bowl-bound Red Raiders got the energy up immediately in their home stadium with a touchdown on their opening drive. Melrose is averaging over 31 points per game this year, thanks in large part to the running of junior Isaac Seide who followed up a two-touchdown performance in the State semifinals last week with another two touchdowns and 133 yards rushing against Wakefield.

Seide got the Red Raiders rolling wth a 30-yard run that got Melrose into the red zone. He would have taken it all the way if not for Warrior senior defensive back Andrew Miller who dragged him down. The Red Raiders got the ball to the three yard line and faced a fourth and inches when quarterback Charlie Stanton sneaked it for a first down and then kept it again on the next play for a two-yard TD run.

Wakefield responded to the score and the noise, with a six-play 70-yard touchdown drive.

The senior line of co-captain Devin O’Brien, Pat Bertini, Dan Cataldo, Charlie Senior and Pat Redmond were excellent from the first snap as senior Bobby Young had two rushes for 14 yards and senior co-captain Ryan Fitzpatrick ran wild for 40 yards on two carries, including a 19-yard touchdown run where he juked his way to the goal line and dove for the pylon, just stretching the ball across for a Warrior touchdown. The play happened right in front of the Red Sea student section and Wakefield Warrior band who responded by matching the previous Melrose cheers and raising them a few Warrior chops.

Melrose would block the following point after attempt to put the score at 7-6 with 2:10 left in the first quarter.

The Warriors forced a three-and-out on the next Red Raider drive, highlighted by a great play from Fitzpatrick on 2nd and 9 from the Melrose 27. Stanton threw a screen pass out to Mike Fennell in the flat and Fitzpatrick read it perfectly, breaking in on Fennell before he could make a move. On fourth down, Derek DiRaffaele mashed a punt from the 30 all the way to the Wakefield nine yard line for a 61 yard kick. It was the start of a special teams and field position battle that Melrose would win to close out the first half.

The Warriors couldn’t get anything going on their next drive, going three-and-out and Fennell returned the punt from Wakefield’s Cam Souza 22 yards to start the ensuing Melrose drive on the Wakefield 27. With senior defensive tackle Evan McMaster out for Wakefield, sophomore Taaj Andrews was asked to step up in this one. He made two great stops on Melrose’s first two runs, but Seide followed up with a couple of short gains and Stanton converted on another 4th and 1 with a three-yard keeper that got Melrose to the 15. Melrose QB Jack Sullivan came in and completed his only pass attempt of the game for six yards to co-captain Colin Kiernan. On the next play, the Red Raiders went back to captain Kiernan who punched it in form nine yards out to give Melrose a 14-6 lead with 5:28 left to go in the half.

The Red Raiders got another great kick, this time on the kickoff as the ball took a wacky bounce and was downed at the Warriors’ one-yard line.

Wakefield went to work on digging themselves out the hole with a hard-earned yard from Young, and a three-yard sneak from QB Mike Lucey to give themselves some breathing room. On 3rd and 6 from the four, Fitzpatrick broke loose for a 12-yard gain and a first down.

The Warriors continued to methodically move the ball down the field, as junior running back Danny Marinaccio got to the edge for 14 yards and another first down on 2nd and 12. Later, on 3rd and five from their own 33, Fitzpatrick and the Warriors converted for a 10 yard gain. After Lucey completed a two-yard pass to Fitzpatrick on the next play, Wakefield was forced to call a timeout with 55 seconds left. The quarters were shortened in this game from 12 minutes to 10, so during a situation that Wakefield would usually be able to keep running their preferred offense, they were forced to go to the air. Lucey (8/23 for 92 yards) responded with a 15-yard completion to Fitzpatrick followed by a 14-yard screen to Marinaccio, but time kept ticking, as the Warriors called another timeout with 26 seconds left. From the 21 yard-line, the Warriors were just out of field goal range and three straight incompletions ended the first half with a score of 14-6.

At halftime, WMHS senior Joe Smith, a name that will be in the Item sports section plenty of times this winter for his role on the basketball team, had his number picked and lined up for a 35-yard attempt for the $10,000 field goal contest sponsored by Tarpey Insurance Group. Smith, whose father Sean is an assistant coach on the football team, blasted a line drive that missed the goal post by inches. 

Wakefield got the ball in the second half and got a tough break when Fitzpatrick went down with an injury on the second play from scrimmage. He wouldn’t be able to return, as Coach Cummings and the training staff clearly had the UMass lacrosse commit’s future in mind.

“That changed what we had to do offensively,” said Cummings.

The Warriors leaned more on Marinaccio in the second half who responded with six carries for 49 yards in the frame, including a 10-yard jet sweep on the first drive. The Warriors were pushed back with a holding call and got caught up behind the chains, and were forced to punt.

Starting from their own 20, the Melrose offense took this opportunity to take control of the game with a 12-play, 80-yard touchdown drive that took up most of the 3rd quarter. Seide was once again the engine that drove the offense, as he converted on a 3rd and 3 with a powerful five-yard finish through Wakefield’s tough defensive line. He later picked up a 13-yard run which got back nearly all of a 15-yard chop block penalty.

Stanton connected with Fennell on a 3rd and 8 from the Wakefield 36 for 15 yards, and Seide would later finish the drive with a 14-yard touchdown run for a 21-6 lead with just 10 seconds left in the 3rd quarter.

Wakefield would need to respond on the next drive if they had any chance of coming back. The Warriors got a little help from a roughing the passer penalty that gave them a first down on their own 43. Marinaccio answered the call with a 16-yard run before a string of penalties on both sides helped the chain gang work up an appetite.

On first down from the Melrose 49, Lucey found senior co-captain Alex Joly for a 13-yard pass and catch. Marinaccio picked up 10 yards on the next play, and another 10 on a 2nd and nine from the 21. Senior Henry Stikeman gained six yards on a sweep to the right, bringing the ball to the five yard line. On a third and inches from the two, it was time for the seniors on the line (and not just Charlie) to take over, and they exploded through the Red Raider front seven, creating enough space for Lucey to sneak in for a touchdown.

With the score at 21-12, Wakefield would have to go for two eventually, and decided they would take the chance here. Lucey dropped back and his pass went incomplete but a flag was thrown for pass interference. After the refs met up, they decided to pick the flag up after saying the ball was tipped at the line, thus making the interference legal. It was a tough break for the Warriors and a massive swing in the game as the Red Raiders maintained a two possession lead.

“That’s a huge difference being down 21-12 instead of 21-14,” said Cummings. “It’s a one-score game and then we wouldn’t have had to force the ball down the field as much.”

That play ended up being really important when the Wakefield defense forced the ball out of the hands of Jack Whitley and senior Cole Gregson recovered on the Wakefield 32-yard line with 4:48 remaining.

As coach Cummings said, the Warriors were forced to go back to the air to try to score quickly and to leave enough time to get the ball back once again. Lucey did find Marinaccio for a 24-yard pass, but was later intercepted and returned to the Wakefield 3, setting up Seide’s second touchdown run of the game for a 28-12 lead with 3:18 remaining.

Melrose would punch one more in from Mike Koytikh to account for the 35-12 final, but the game was clearly much closer.

“You can look at the score but this was not a three-score football game,” said Cummings.

The Warriors were especially thankful for their pack of 24 seniors, who played their last of many great games in a Wakefield uniform.

“These 24 guys led by example all year and left it all out there,” said Cummings. “These kids the last two years have been a very big part of what we do. Last year’s league title we don’t have without this group. They did a lot for us.”

Cummings is also hoping the underclassmen paid attention to how these seniors prepared every day, not just during the season but during the offseason too.

“This is going to be a tough group to replace because it’s a special group of kids. They work hard and they carry themselves the right way,” said Cummings. “What they did for a lot of these younger guys is just show them how to come in everyday and prepare, how to treat the offseason the way you should so you can come into the season ready to go.”

Cummings admitted that Wakefield has some big shoes to fill next season, but they will worry about that later. For now, they will give thanks for another fun season.