Warriors hope to rebound against Bedford tomorrow night at BHS
THE WARRIOR defense pursues the football last Friday night against Danvers. In the photo (from left to right) are Pat Leary (#9), Carmen Sorrentino (#2), PJ Iannuzzi (#52), Joe Marinaccio (#8) and Joe Connell (#79). Wakefield is hoping for a much better performance tomorrow night against Bedford. (Donna Larsson Photo)
Published in the November 3, 2016 edition.
By JIM SOUTHMAYD
BEDFORD — Since any hope of winning a state title is gone, the Wakefield Memorial High football team is going to concentrate on capturing the Middlesex League Freedom division championship outright.
Even though their showdown against Melrose is three weeks away, the Warriors are going to use the next two weeks to get ready for the Red Raiders.
That means Wakefield will seek to end a two-game losing streak when it takes on Bedford in a non-playoff game tomorrow night at 6:30 p.m. at Sabourin Field located at Bedford High School.
The Warriors were blanked by Danvers in the opening round of the Div. 2A North playoffs last Friday while the Buccaneers lost to North Reading by a 35-0 score in another quarterfinal contest which resulted in the matchup between two squads that were eliminated from playoff contention.
Wakefield currently stands at 4-4 overall but has lost two in a row since ringing off four straight league wins.
Bedford, meanwhile, posted a 5-1 regular season record with its lone loss coming against Oliver Ames (35-20) in non-league game on Sept. 9. The Buccaneers defeated Randolph (42-20) in another non-league game before they had a bye in week three. Bedford also beat Medford, 48-26, in a non-league contest on Oct. 7. In the Dual County League Small, Bedford defeated Boston Latin (8-6), Weston (40-6) and Wayland (21-20) to clinch at least a share of the league title.
The Buccaneers also can win their league title outright against Concord-Carlisle on Thanksgiving as they still have plenty to play for as well.
“We need to focus on getting healthy before our big game on Thanksgiving,” said Cummings. “We would like to get a couple of quality wins to ready for that game. But the key is we want to be healthy on that fourth Thursday of November, Nov. 24.”
While Bedford and Wakefield don’t usually face each other, many of the Buccaneer players took part in the same Under Armour 7-on-7 summer camp that the Warriors did at Bishop Fenwick. The Buccaneers are coached by Jack Belcher.
“They run a wing-T and they have an athletic quarterback who is a threat with his legs,” said Cummings. “It’s like having another running back. They also like use some double tight end sets. They won (a share of) the Dual County League and had a 5-1 regular season record. They’ve had a lot of success.”
However against North Reading, Bedford only managed 97 net yards, just 23 of them in the first half.
Running back Jake Eliason, closing in on a 1,000-yard season, was held to 44 yards on 15 carries. Quarterback Cam Shelmire completed two passes and was intercepted three times.
The Warriors have lost back-to-back one sided games against Winchester (35-7) and Danvers (28-0). This came after four straight league wins against Watertown, Wilmington, Stoneham and Burlington.
“In the past two games we have made a lot of mistakes and we need to get back on track,” said Cummings. “It’s rained the past two weeks but we worked on playing in that kind of weather all week. The other teams had to play in it, too. We don’t run a spread offense so the wind and the weather shouldn’t affect us that much.
“In our four league games, we were doing the little things that we needed to do to be successful,” added Cummings. “We weren’t turning the ball over and were getting turnovers. We won the turnover battle in those games. We have lost the turnover battle and that comes down to mental preparation. We’ve made a lot of mental mistakes with blown coverages and missed assignments.”
Wakefield will be seeking to be play better in both the physical and mental aspects of the game.
“We want to win these last two games and figure it out before the Melrose game,” said Cummings. “We have been a different team the past two weeks. We have not looked like that team that we were when we won four games in a row. We need to find that team and get back on the winning track.”
Like the playoff game, the Buccaneers are a new opponent and Cummings believes there will be a feeling out process in the early going.
“We have seen Bedford on tape against Wayland and North Reading. They like to grind it out with the wing-T and double tight end sets. They will also overload one side. It’s tough to gauge their size and speed from the tape. I think there may be a feeling out process. It’s hard to get a read from tape. It’s tricky because sometimes in person they’re not as big as you thought or bigger than you expected from the tape. Also in these games, some coaches play younger guys to give them good experience for next year.”
Whatever obstacle the Warriors have ahead of them, they want to prevail and win two more games heading into their big game against Melrose on Thanksgiving. Bedford is in a similar situation and would like to get back on the winning track as well.
