Football team has a strong incentive to have a successful 2016 season

Warriors seek to rebound from disappointing 3-8 campaign a year ago

Published in the September 9, 2016 edition.

By JIM SOUTHMAYD

WAKEFIELD — Last season was a disappointing one for the Warrior football team as Wakefield posted a 3-8 overall record in Head Coach Steve Cummings’ first year. The one thing that having a down year did, however, was give the Warriors a strong incentive to work hard to improve.

Whether that translates to a better 2016 record remains to be seen but Wakefield has played well in its three preseason scrimmages so far.

In their final scrimmage of the preseason, senior QB Kobey Nadeau, who was projected to be the starter went down with a leg injury and is lost for the season. That has left Cummings and his coaching staff trying to find the answer to the dilemma.

“We’re trying to find the solution,” said Cummings, in his second year. “Our quarterback (sophomore Mike Lucey) doesn’t have the varsity experience. He has shown great leadership and confidence. He has a presence in the huddle and has a good arm. We’re trying to slow the game down for him and help him out as much as possible.”

Joe Marinaccio, a senior captain and running back, has also taken snaps at center in addition to Lucey. But most likely he will be running the football. Whoever lines up at center will have to replace starter Ned Buckley who graduated.

“Marinaccio came on and ran the ball well for us late last season,” said Cummings. “He has run the ball well for us in the preseason picking up right where he left off.”

PJ Iannuzzi, a senior captain, will line up at fullback this season after playing more of a part time role last year.

Also running the football will be Ryan Fitzpatrick, a junior, and Will Shea, a senior. Fitzpatrick brings speed to the backfield and Shea is more of a downhill runner.

Alex Joly, a junior, will also play at the fullback position. Joly is used out of the backfield as a receiver and is a good pass blocker.

Those runners will take over for Paul McGunigle and Zach Kane as those two were the primary ball carriers last year.

The receiving corps will include seniors Alex McKenna, Pat Leary and Carmen Sorrentino. All three are returning players and McKenna, a captain, made some big catches. They will have to replace standout Tighe Beck who is now at Assumption College. Also, WR Andrew Miller, a junior, has been steady in the passing game.

The tight ends will be Jack Shannon and Brendan Coughlin, both juniors. Cummings is looking for the tight end position to become involved more involved in the offense, particularly in the passing game.

Wakefield returns just one starter on the offensive line. Joe Connell, a senior captain, returns to play center. He can also move over and play guard if needed when Cummings rotates in linemen to help keep the players from getting fatigued.

The rest of the starters up front are new. They are junior Devin O’Brien at left tackle, junior Dan Cataldo at left guard, junior Charlie Senior at right guard and sophomore Brian McGunigle.

“There is some inexperience, but they have worked well during camp,” said Cummings. “This is their first big varsity game which moves a lot faster than on Saturday mornings (when the JV team usually plays).”

Tom Hayes, a senior lineman, is out for the Beverly game but is expected back for the Marblehead contest.

Meanwhile, Pat Bertini, a junior center, is returning from an injury and Cummings isn’t sure how many snaps he can go. Cummings believes he will unable to go 60-70 snaps in a game, but he may give see some limited action.

Bill O’Keefe, a sophomore, is a big lineman but Cummings wants to see him be more consistent which will come with experience. Also a junior, Pat Beaver, is a backup at guard.

Wakefield will employ the same 3-4 defense it ran a year ago. The Warriors will, however, show some four man fronts to keep their foes off balance.

The defensive line will include O’Brien, Connell, Cataldo, Shannon and Senior just to name a few two-way linemen. Cummings and his staff will seek to rotate lineman on both sides of the ball to help pass rushers from getting tired by the fourth quarter.

The middle linebackers are Iannuzzi and Marinaccio and they have been solid in the preseason. Shea and Sorrentino are the outside linebackers.

Dan Marinaccio, a sophomore, Coughlin, and McKenna can also line up at the outside linebacker position.

In the secondary, Fitzpatrick and Miller are the two cornerbacks and Cummings is very happy with the way they have played in run support. McKenna and Leary return to play the safety positions and both have looked solid in the middle down the field.

Leary returns as the team’s punter and Iannuzzi is going to handle the PAT and field goal attempts.

“People weren’t happy with the record and the players worked hard during the offseason to get better,” said Cummings. “As coach I want us to do a better job of eliminating our mistakes. We had mental breakdowns in big spots and turnovers in big spots. That has been a point of emphasis this year, focusing on avoiding the mistakes. We were in some close games last year and often we had to play a perfect quarter and a half because we were behind. If we can eliminate the mistakes and are up in games, we  want to run the ball with more efficiency. If there are six minutes left in the game we don’t want to be giving the ball back to the other team.”

The Warriors take on Beverly in their first game tomorrow afternoon and will seek a better result than the 34-6 score a year ago at Landrigan Field.

“Beverly will be a big test on Saturday. Coach (Dan) Bauer took a principal’s job in Marblehead and Beverly has a new coach. Coach (Andrew) Morency is in his first year but they will be the same tough, physical team. They have a different offense but they run the ball well and they’re well coached. They’re reopening their field so a big crowd is going to show up. They’re a good program.

“We have some players that are going to grow up on the field on Saturday,” continued Cummings. “Hopefully all our hard work will be rewarded on the field. We want to go out and execute and have big day.”

The Warriors and Panthers face each other in the non-league contest tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m. at Hurd Stadium.