Football team works hard for first win of season

Warriors need overtime to defeat Watertown, 23-20

Published in the September 26, 2016 edition.

By JIM SOUTHMAYD

WATERTOWN — Winning that first football game of the season isn’t always easy. Just ask the Wakefield Memorial High football team how difficult it is.

The Warriors traded scores with Watertown in a back-and-forth fourth quarter and needed an overtime session before they emerged with a 23-20 triumph in the Middlesex League Freedom division opener on Friday night at Victory Field.

Wakefield upped its record to 1-2 overall and is 1-0 in the league. Watertown, meanwhile, fell to 2-1 and is 0-1 in the league.

The score was tied at 17-17 at the end of regulation as the game went to the overtime session.

The Red Raiders got the ball first. On first down and goal from the Wakefield 10 yard line, senior fullback Zach Rimsa gained eight yards. Rimsa was then stopped for no gain on second down. A bad snap on third down resulted in a eight yard loss. On fourth down junior placekicker Conor Kennelly hit a 27 yard goal to give Watertown a 20-17 lead.

On Wakefield’s overtime possession, sophomore QB Kevin Lucey threw an incompletion. On second down and goal from the Watertown 10, senior RB Will Shea ran the ball into the end zone from the left side as the Warriors prevailed by the 23-20 score.

“We knew coming in that this was going to be an even game,” said Coach Steve Cummings. “Watertown has a hell of a football team and John (Cacace) has done a great job turning that program around.”

Wakefield scored the first touchdown of the contest and Watertown answered on its second possession to tie the game at 7-7. The score remained that way until the fourth quarter as both teams scored a touchdown and field goal in the final 5:20 of the final frame.

The Red Raiders were threatening to break the 7-7 tie with a 12 play drive which began with 1:43 left in the third quarter and ate up nearly four minutes of the fourth quarter. On a third down and goal play from the Warrior 2, Rimsa gained a yard but fumbled the football before crossing the goal line. Senior LB Carmen Sorrentino picked up the loose ball and returned it 85 yards before being tackled at the Watertown 14 by Vasken Kebabjian.

Senior RB Joe Marinaccio gained a yard on first and second downs and Lucey was sacked by John Korte for a three yard loss on third down. On fourth down, senior kicker PJ Iannuzzi successfully made a 32 yard field goal to give Wakefield a 10-7 lead with 5:20 left.

Watertown went nowhere on it next series and punted the ball away. Wakefield had no return man on the punt which went 59 yards off the right foot of Kennelly. That backed the Warriors up to their own 11.

Wakefield failed to pick up a first down and was forced to punt the ball away from its own end. Korte returned the kick 20 yards for a Red Raider first down at the Warrior 19.

Kebabjian gained 14 yards and then Rimsa took the ball in from five yards out. Kennelly kicked the extra point to give Watertown a 14-10 lead with 2:23 left.

“The rain was starting to come down and we didn’t want to put the ball on the ground,” said Cummings. “We knew their kicker, Kennelly, is a good kicker and he got off a great punt. But we weighed the risk and reward. We needed to pick up a first down or two.”

Even though that didn’t happen and the Red Raiders scored, the Warriors weren’t done yet. Wakefield went to the air and moved the ball 77 yards in four plays to regain the lead.

Lucey, who completed five of 12 passes for 84 yards and touchdown, found senior WR Alex McKenna (two receptions for 51 yards) with a six yard pass. On second down, Lucey found junior RB Ryan Fitzpatrick with a three yard pass. A facemask penalty on Watertown moved the ball to the Wakefield 47. Lucey found Marinaccio with a eight yard pass to set up a first down and two from the Red Raider 45.

That’s when Lucey found McKenna over the middle with a 45 yard TD pass. McKenna caught the mid-range pass and outraced the Watertown defense to the end zone. Iannuzzi added the extra point after a false start penalty to give the Warriors a 17-14 lead with 1:20 left.

“McKenna ran the hitch which we saw they were playing off against him,” said Cummings. “Lucey came up big in a big spot.”

However there was still plenty of time for Watertown to tie the game at 17-17 which it did with 10.1 seconds left.

Starting at the Watertown 39, Rimsa gained nine yards. Another bad snap resulted in senior QB Deon Smith covering the loose ball for an eight yard loss. But on third down and nine, Kebabjian gained 22 yards for a first down. Smith then ran for two yards and completed a five yard pass to Korte. After an incompletion on third down, Kennelly came in for a 48 yard field goal attempt. The Watertown kicker made the pressure kick to knot the game up at 17-all.

The contest went to overtime where the team that had the ball last, Wakefield, prevailed.

“We knew if we could get a block on the weak side, we could score. Will Shea is more of a downhill runner. If we get a block and open up crease, he hits the hole quickly,” said Cummings.

Wakefield was outgained in total yards, 274-153. But the Warrior defense tightened up when it had to. The Red Raiders turned the ball over twice in the red zone while Wakefield didn’t turn the ball over at all.

“We were able to execute and our defense tightened up when we had to,” said Cummings. “They are such a hard team to defend. They have all the pieces.”

Smith gained 122 yards on 26 carries and scored a touchdown. Wakefield was unable to key on Smith with Rimsa, the fullback, grinding out 86 yards on 18 carries with one touchdown.

Watertown ran for a total of 251 yards. Through the air, Smith went three for eight for 23 yards and an interception.

Meanwhile, the Warriors passed for 84 yards and gained 69 yards on the ground. Marinaccio gained 38 yards on 13 carries and scored Wakefield’s first TD. Shea had 21 yards on four carries with a TD.

On defense, Iannuzzi made 13 tackles while McKenna and sophomore LB Dan Marinaccio each had seven tackles. Joe Marinaccio had six stops. Sorrentino had the big fumble recovery and Fitzpatrick had the interception at the end of the second quarter.

“They have everything, the kicker, the quarterback and some skill players,” said Cummings. “They did hell of a job. Sorrentino had the ball practically fall into his lap on the fumble and that changed the momentum. I told PJ Iannuzzi that at some point this season we’re going to need one (a field goal) and he came through.

“It was a nice win with all the work that we put in,” added Cummings. “We had a good practice on Thursday.”

Wakefield won the coin toss and deferred. That resulted in Watertown going three and out. It was even better when the Warriors scored a touchdown on their first possession of the game. Wakefield sustained a 12 play drive which ate up over six minutes off the clock.

Starting at their own 40, Shea gained six yards on first down. Marinaccio then had runs of six yards and one yard to bring the ball into Watertown territory. Shea gained two yards and then Sorrentino ran for five setting up a fourth down and two play from the Red Raider 40. Iannuzzi gained two yards to move the chains.

Marinaccio had a 13 yard run, McKenna was stopped for no gain and a holding penalty pushed Wakefield back setting up a second down and 20 from the Watertown 35. Marinaccio was stopped for no gain. On third down, Lucey fired a pass down the right side where Sorrentino made the reception while the Red Raider defender had his back turned for a 22 yard gain and a first down.

Marinaccio gained 11 yards setting up a first down and goal from the 2. Marinaccio then barreled in from two yards out to give the Warriors the lead. Iannuzzi made the extra point for a 7-0 Wakefield lead with 2:33 left in the first quarter.

The Red Raiders answered with the tying TD with 10:10 left in the second quarter.

Smith did most of the work himself with his legs. Starting from the Watertown 43, the senior QB had runs of five, six, one, three and 10 yards as the first quarter ended. Ed Ferreira gained 11 yards for another first down to set up a first down and goal from the 10. Smith took the ball in from there.

After Kennelly’s PAT the game was tied at 7-7.

Wakefield picked up one first down on an offside call before punting the ball away.

Watertown then had the ball for 10 plays starting at its own 37. The Red Raiders picked up a pair of first downs before Wakefield stopped Kebabjian for a yard loss on fourth down on the Wakefield 34 with 1:30 left in the half.

Wakefield attempted a couple of passes but eventually gave the Red Raiders the ball back at their own 49 after a 14 yard punt. Watertown went immediately into the hurry up offense to try and score point before halftime.

Smith found Rimsa with a 14 yard pass and then ran for seven yards. After spiking the ball on second down to stop the clock, Smith gained another seven yards on third down to bring the ball down to the Wakefield 20. After an incompletion, Smith was intercepted by Fitzpatrick at the one which resulted in the first half ending in the 7-7 tie.

Wakefield didn’t pick up a first down on its two possessions of the third quarter even after a return of 50 yards by Sorrentino on the opening kickoff. The Red Raiders, meanwhile, picked up three first downs before punting the ball away from the Wakefield 48 on their initial second half possession.

On its second set of downs of the second half, Watertown drove down to the Warrior 2 before Sorrentino’s fumble recovery and return changed the momentum and set up a wild finish as Wakefield ended its three game losing streak against the Red Raiders.