THE WARRIORS, coming off a comeback, 15-12 win over Melrose on Thanksgiving, are ready to meet top-seeded Milton in the Div. 3 Super Bowl on Saturday night, 5:30 p.m. at Gillette Stadium. (Dan Pawlowski Photo)
Ready for Super Bowl against No. 1 Milton, Saturday, 5:30 p.m. at Gillette
By DAN PAWLOWSKI
FOXBOROUGH — New week, same old predictions.
There will be a bit of comfort for the 12-0 Wakefield High football team as they get ready to meet top-seeded, 11-0 Milton this Saturday, 5:30 p.m. at Gillette Stadium. For the third consecutive playoff game, the predictions from local media members are unanimous: the lower-seeded “road” Warriors will come up short.
Wakefield wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I don’t think anyone thought this could happen so just to be a part of a team that really wanted it this bad and went out and made it happen has been a great experience,” said senior captain Christian Delgado. “Especially for the seniors, playing football together since we were kids, it’s just a great way to cap it off.”
The first Wakefield team to compete at Gillette Stadium certainly won’t take it for granted and the fans making the trip to Patriot Place are already plenty proud, a feeling that, once the ball kicks off, will intensify into a mix of excitement and shock, like Jon Favreau’s character seeing Rudy on the field at Notre Dame Stadium.
Their Warriors really made it.
Wakefield knows the drill by now. Starting with their hard-earned 21-13 win in the first round after drawing a tough, Masconomet team, the Warriors anticipated the step up in competition.
The 6th-seed in Div. 3 wasn’t given a chance in their road matchup against No. 3 Plymouth South in the quarterfinals. They won 24-14.
It was a great run but they certainly couldn’t beat No. 2 North Attleboro, especially in Milford. They won 31-24.
As should be the case, Wakefield’s dream season will meet its toughest test against the Wildcats.
Milton averages 35.6 points per game this season. They hung 46 in a win over Minnechaug, 24 in a close win over No. 8 Marblehead (24-20) and 32 in another tight victory over No. 4 Hanover (32-30) in the semifinals.
Led by Owen McHugh, who has passed for 2,253 yards and 31 TD’s while rushing for 512 yards and 4 TD’s, Milton is dynamic as it gets. Their running back, Jack Finnegan has rushed for 15 TD’s and wide receivers Luke Sammon (779 yards, 8 TD’s) and Michael Fulton (718 yards, 11 TD’s) will keep Wakefield’s strong secondary busy.
As always, the Warriors are excited for the challenge, on the biggest stage there is.
“It’s amazing. Perfect way to cap off a senior year,” said senior captain Ian Dixon, Wakefield’s tone-setter from his defensive end spot and one of their best offensive weapons as evidence by his 3 TD game against North Attleboro. “Since we were little kids we wanted to play at Gillette. Putting on those games, seeing the teams ahead of us. Now it’s us. Crazy to think about.”
Dixon, seniors Max Cusack, Kaiden Johnson and David Amyouny along with juniors Joe LaMonica and Mark Letchford will try to pressure McHugh enough to let the rest of their stout defense, including leading tackler and senior captain Nathan Delgado, Christian Delgado, senior Bobby DeFeo and juniors Steven Woish and Declan O’Callahan, go make plays.
Most predictions anticipate a shootout in this one, but Wakefield’s semifinal win over the Red Rocketeers was as close to one as they’ve gotten. The defense, combined with a strong set up of field position from the offense and special teams, has dictated the game flow.
Wakefield’s offense has capitalized.
Senior captain Javin Willis has passed for 1,922 yards and 22 touchdowns with a completion percentage better than 70 percent.
Nathan Delgado has rushed for 1,109 yards and 13 touchdowns.
Woish has a program record 10 receiving TD’s.
Together, the Warriors are as dynamic as any team in the state but here’s the kicker: Nobody really knows how this offense will line up against the Wildcats.
The Warriors continue to add wrinkles in each matchup, especially baffling North Attleboro with empty sets that led to open chances for Willis to attack through the air to Dixon, Woish and Christian Delgado. Red Rocketeer coaches didn’t see that on Wakefield’s film. The resulting halftime adjustment left the middle of the field open for Nathan Delgado in an option running attack that consistently leaves defenses frozen due to the athleticism of Willis.
“You stop the run game, we go to the pass,” said Willis. “If you spread the defense out you leave the middle wide open for Nate and Bob (DeFeo, who rushed for 9 TD’s in the regular season). “Credit (offensive coordinator Mike) Mosto. He finds the weaknesses in a defense and exploits it. We put in a whole new offense for North Attleboro and we learned it in four days.”
“We’re always adding new stuff,” agreed Dixon. “We’ve never run that offense, we put it in the week before a Final Four game and it worked perfectly.”
Of course, you need savvy and experienced playmakers in addition to great coaching to pull that off. The Warriors are resilient enough to keep adjusting in-game too, as evidenced by their comeback on Thanksgiving, coming back from a 12-0 deficit to beat Melrose 15-12.
“Against North Attleboro, it was obvious we had to spread the field and take our shots,” said head coach John Rafferty of the shifting game plans. “We have to work it every week to try and put the kids in the best situations possible.”
The Warriors, who will once again be undersized and outnumbered by Milton on Saturday night, seem to dare their opponents to make pregame judgments. The Wildcats have toppled plenty of bigger, and seemingly more powerful squads than the one from Farm Street. It’s how the Warriors compete that has so far made up the difference.
“We’re like brothers. We grew up together, played football together,” said Nathan Delgado. “We also have that underdog mentality. Nobody expected us to be here – we want it more.”
“We beat two great teams and we’ll still be the underdogs in the Super Bowl,” said Willis. “That’s what we like. It makes us play harder, want it more and prove people wrong.”
A win would put the ’22 Warriors directly at the top in the debate of best Wakefield team of all time. They’re already in the conversation as the school’s first 12-0 group. But as they try to become just the second Warrior team to win a Super Bowl (1999 squad), Wakefield will focus as always on the task at hand. One more game. One more shot to shock the world.
“All our lives revolve around football, we love it. We’d play it, if we could, for the rest of our lives,” says Nathan Delgado. “Being at Gillette is a great opportunity and to make a difference in the community and see people rely on us and support us, it’s great.”
“I knew we were going to have a strong team, but I didn’t think we’d go this far,” said Willis. “Every week, we just got more confident and more confident. It means a lot. It hasn’t set in yet.”
And it won’t. Not until they line up shoulder to shoulder for the National Anthem and gaze up at that Gillette sign.
Together, on that field, the Warriors will have already made history.
Why not continue to prove them wrong while you’re there?
