By TYM BROWN
WAKEFIELD — The Warriors were dominant on all fronts in their 35-0 win against Lexington on Thursday night at Landrigan Field as they improved their record to 2-0 on the season.
Wakefield’s defense held Lexington’s offense to just 25 passing yards and negative-1 yard in the rushing game while securing the shutout. On the other side of the ball, the connection between freshman quarterback Westin McNeilly and senior captain Steven Woish has continued to flourish. The Warrior duo connected eight times for 159 yards and a touchdown.
WESTIN MCNEILLY was 12-for-18 with 183 passing yards and 1 TD in his second career start and victory last week in a 35-0 win over Lexington. (Brian Cusack Photo)
Immediately following a three-and-out on Lexington’s first drive of the game, McNeilly and Woish got the offense started with a 12-yard pickup. The Warriors marched down the field with the help of sophomore running back Myles Sanchez who amassed 32 rushing yards on his seven attempts in Wakefield’s first drive. Another 12-yard completion from McNeilly to Woish set up the Warriors inside the Lexington 10-yard line where Sanchez punched in the first touchdown of the game. On the second play of the next Lexington drive, quarterback Adam O’Shaugnessy attempted a screen pass out to his left that was tipped up and picked off by Luke Dixon. The junior defensive lineman returned the interception 29 yards to the end zone, which electrified the Wakefield sideline as the rest of the Warrior defensive unit mobbed Dixon in the endzone. After another three play drive for the Minutemen punctuated by a Joe LaMonica sack, Lexington was forced to punt as the Warrior offense took the field again with a 14-0 lead at the start of the 2nd quarter.
Sanchez pushed past midfield to the Lexington 38-yard line with three straight runs before McNeilly looked to pass. The freshman aired one out deep to Woish as he reeled in the contested catch, froze two defenders with a spin move and sprinted to score Wakefield’s third touchdown of the first half.
The Minutemen were once again shut down on three plays with two more tackles for loss from LaMonica.
The Warriors marched down the field on their next drive, completing two third down conversions with 14-yard and 18-yard connections between McNeilly and Woish. The 18-yard find by McNeilly set the Warriors up on the Lexington 8-yard line where Sanchez was able to deliver his second rushing touchdown of the game. Both teams punted on consecutive drives to end the first half with a 28-0 Wakefield lead.
STEVEN WOISH broke plenty of tackles in another impressive game on Thursday night. The senior captain reeled in 8 catches for 159 yards and a touchdown, upping his two-game totals to 13 catches, 250 yards and 3 TD’s. (Brian Cusack Photo)
The Warriors started out on offense in the second half and seemed to keep the offense flowing as it had all game. Two 6-yard completions to Woish and junior tight end Matt Beaver picked up a first down. The next snap got through McNeilly, setting the offense back 13 yards. After a run from Sanchez only gained three yards, the Warriors were faced with a 3rd-and-20 situation on their own 36-yard line. McNeilly stayed poised though as he found Woish streaking over the middle of the field for a 54-yard hookup as the senior captain raced his way to the Lexington 10-yard line. Sanchez took care of the final 10 yards himself on two consecutive run plays, completing a hat trick with his third rushing touchdown of the game.
A fifth PAT from senior captain Mark Letchford put Wakefield up 35-0 midway through the third quarter. Wakefield’s defense promptly forced another punt as they had the previous six drives.
The Warriors turned to sophomore Aiden Jones to give Sanchez (18 att, 77 yds, 3 TDs) a rest from his stellar performance. Jones ran strong, but two holding penalties put a first down way out of reach, forcing Wakefield to punt to begin the 4th quarter.
Lexington got their first and only first-down on their eighth drive on a 6-yard scramble from O’Shaugnessy. Just two plays later, the junior Minutemen quarterback looked deep and underthrew his target as the pass was intercepted by junior defensive back Ian Christie.
A 25-yard run from Jones later set up McNeilly to kneel out the clock and secure his team their second win of the season.
The Warriors had control of this game from start to finish, not allowing the Minutemen to gain a first down until the final eight minutes of the game and scoring 35 points with an immaculate performance from their freshman quarterback Westin McNeilly (12-for-18 passing, 183 yds, 1 TD).
“I’ve got a lot of confidence in him,” said Woish in regards to McNeilly “He’s just getting started too, he’ll definitely get better as the season progresses.”
Coming off of this incredible all around game, Wakefield will face Northeast Metro Tech (1-1) at Landrigan Field as the away team this Friday, Sept. 22 at 6 p.m.
