SENIOR CAPTAIN Javin Willis completed 9-of-14 passes with 2 touchdowns and rushed for 81 yards on 3 carries to lead the Warriors to a 28-0 win over Northeast Metro Tech on Friday night. (Brian Cusack Photo)
By DAN PAWLOWSKI
WAKEFIELD — The Wakefield High football team continued to take care of business in the early part of their season schedule, improving to 3-0 after a 28-0 victory of Northeast Metro Tech on Friday night at Landrigan Field.
It was the final non-league regular season game for the Warriors who have also claimed victories over Greater Lawrence and Belmont, outscoring their first three opponents by a combined count of 92-18.
“Overall, they played well,” said head coach John Rafferty of his Warriors. “The offense sputtered a bit in the first half but executed much better in the second half. The defense played well all game and the special teams had a complete game, starting with that blocked punt which was big.”
That block, with David Amyouny and Nathan Delgado both getting a hand in the kicking lane, set up Wakefield’s first and only scoring drive of the first half from the Northeast 21. Four plays later, Delgado (14 carries for 72 yards) was in for a 1-yard touchdown and the Warriors were off to a fast, 7-0 lead.
The offensive line – Amyouny, Max Cusack, Kaiden Johnson, Joe LaMonica, Mark Letchford, Cade Esposito and tight ends Ian Dixon and Matthew Beaver, set the tone on that drive which would carry over throughout a game in which the Warriors rushed for 226 yards on just 26 carries, a team average of 8.7 yards per carry.
Of course, that YPC was helped by two long scrambles of 38 and 34 yards from QB Javin Willis who paced the squad with 81 rushing yards. Bobby DeFeo added 73 yards and a touchdown on 9 carries.
Willis had the passing game humming as well, going 9-for-14 with 76 yards and 2 TD’s, one to Ian Dixon for 8-yards which made it 14-0 after Wakefield’s first drive of the second half, and one to Steven Woish for 35-yards late in the 3rd which officially put the home team in the driver’s seat for good.
“He’s very talented; he did a good job,” said Raffery of his QB and senior captain. “He escaped when he had to and made plenty of plays.”
The Warrior defense forced the Golden Knights to turn it over on downs three times an punt three times in their six possessions.
On their second drive, Northeast converted on a 4th-and-4 from the 21 and got it down to the Warrior 9-yard line. After a strong tackle from Amyouny to force another 4th-and-4, Wakefield was ready this time, led by senior captain Nathan Delgado who flew into the backfield, identified the QB option and stopped the ball carrier immediately before getting help from the rest of the defense to finish the play.
The Warriors did drive down the field afterwards but as Rafferty said, sputtered at the Northeast 18.
After the defense forced their second turnover on downs, Wakefield reached the Northeast 14 before coming short again at the close of the first half.
Senior captain Christian Delgado was ready for an unexpected onside kick attempt from the visitors to start the second half, setting up the Warriors from the Northeast 49. Wakefield put together a 9-play, 49-yard drive in 5:33, culminating in the Willis to Dixon connection in which the tight end got open in the flat caught it at the 5 and powered in through three defenders.
After the defense allowed just seven yards on four plays against an offense that didn’t attempt a single pass, Willis wasted no time in firing his second TD pass of the night, hitting Woish down the left sideline for a 35-yard score.
Wakefield’s final scoring drive – the DeFeo drive – included four carries and 44 yards from the senior RB, all on nearly identical options up the middle culminating in a 24-yard TD run up the gut in which Dixon and Amyouny cleared a path while LaMonica, Cusack, Letchford and Johnson sealed their lanes in a perfectly executed play.
The Warrior defense, which allowed just one first down in the second half, finished the game strong and Wakefield once again let their fans leave happy.
The Warriors will now shift their focus to the Middlesex League’s Freedom Division, starting with the reigning champs, Stoneham, who is off to a 3-0 start of their own after wins over Winthrop, St. Bernard’s and Dennis-Yarmouth.
“We shifted gears as soon as the Northeast game was over,” said Rafferty who was an assistant in Stoneham for a few seasons before taking over at his alma mater in 2018. “We’re about to play a perennial powerhouse and we have our work cut out for us.
“I think the kids will respond with a great week of practice and be ready to go.”
The Warriors, who haven’t defeated the Spartans since 2016, will host Stoneham this Friday, 6 p.m. at Landrigan Field.
