Warriors overcome 13-0 deficit to shock Tanners, 21-13

THE WARRIORS celebrate their win over Woburn with head coach John Rafferty. Wakefield, now 6-0, travels to 5-1 Watertown on Friday night at 7 p.m. (Brian Cusack Photo)

 

By DAN PAWLOWSKI

WOBURN — Five miles can sometimes feel like a world away.

Trailing 13-0 in the first quarter after two Tanner touchdown passes and a Warrior turnover, the Wakefield High football team must have felt a lot farther away than they were at Woburn High on Friday night, just 5.8 miles from their home Landrigan Field.

The Tanners, meanwhile, with about the same number of players on their freshman team than Wakefield’s entire program, felt more like Goliath hosting a backyard party with half the town in attendance.

Finally, and in the blink of a slingshot, the David’s crashed it, quick to remind themselves and their opponents that 5-0 teams are no underdogs.

Wakefield scored three unanswered touchdowns in the 2^nd quarter, highlighted by a 96-yard pass from Javin Willis (11-for-16, 180 yards, 1 TD) to fellow senior captain Nathan Delgado (213 rushing/receiving yards, 1TD) which claimed the lead for good. Senior Bobby DeFeo (13 carries, 83 yards, 1 TD) had a 6-yard touchdown run to get the Warriors on the board and Willis (26 rushing yards) added a 12-yard TD scramble to make it 21-13 at the half.

The defense went on to keep Woburn off the scoreboard in the home team’s final five drives.

The end result, same old 21-13, led to a loud, five-mile bus ride back to Farm Street and a same old W in the column, Wakefield’s sixth straight to start the season.

Woburn, ranked 7^th in Div. 2, certainly seemed on their way to a bounce back win at 13-0 against the 7^th ranked Div. 3 Warriors after the Tanners came up a two-point conversion short (38-37) of beating now 6-0 Reading, the 4^th ranked team in D2 on Oct. 7.

Senior QB Brett Tuzzolo hit Jalen Merlain for a 30-yard score to cap an 8-play, 63-yard opening drive. After Willis and the offense moved the ball 20 yards, a tipped pass was picked off, giving Woburn the ball at their own 43. Seven plays later, Tuzzolo connected with Evan Kolodko from 27 yards out to make it 13-0. The Tanners, feeling plenty confident, went for two seemingly without much to lose, a decision that may or may not have inspired the Warriors after junior Declan O’Callahan sniffed out a QB keeper on a spread formation.

With just 1:48 left in the first quarter and down two scores, Wakefield didn’t panic. Nathan Delgado ripped off a 27-yard run on first down to settle the nerves, the first of an 8-play 61-yard scoring drive. Willis converted on a 4^th-and-inches with a 2-yard keeper and DeFeo added 16 rushing yards on the possession including a 6-yard TD plunge with the sun setting on Woburn’s stadium but not yet their confidence. That only happened when the Wakefield defense forced a three-and-out on the next drive. Seniors David Amyouny and Max Cusack stopped a first down run for no gain and the Warrior secondary stood tall on two incomplete passes.

Woburn’s punt, not fielded by Wakefield at the 20, rolled all the way to the 1-yard line. Without much choice, Wakefield expectedly gave it to Nathan Delgado for 3 yards and some breathing room.

On 2^nd down, they gave it to him again, this time unexpectedly.

Lined up in an obvious run formation from their own 4, Willis turned and held the ball out to nobody in the backfield. That’s because they all took off at the snap, creating three options for Willis – DeFeo, senior captain Ian Dixon (4 catches, 30 yards) and Nathan Delgado who exploded through the seam without a defender in sight. Willis just got the ball off in front of two surprised run defenders turned pass rushers and put a dime on Delgado, hitting him stride at about the 30. The speedy back did the rest, and thanks in part to Goliath’s confidence, the David’s sent out Mark Letchford for the point after, creating a stunning 14-13 lead with 6:22 left in the half.

After the Wakefield D forced another 4^th down, this time with 3 yards to go from the Woburn 42, the home team went for it. Tuzzolo’s pass sailed over Merlain with DeFeo and junior Steven Woish defending well on the play, setting up the Wakefield offense well with 4:06 left.

A 10-yard play action pass to Dixon, a 7-yard run from DeFeo, a 9-yard keeper from Willis and a 4-yard Delgado run set the Warriors up with 2^nd and 6 at the 12. Willis took a QB keeper to the right, then switched fields, darting up the middle before cutting to the left sideline, making the Woburn defense look like a slow-motion replay on his way to pay dirt and a 21-13 advantage.

Taken out of context, the first half score wasn’t shocking to Warrior fans who had seen their team score 21 in the opening half twice before in 2022. They had averaged 15.4 first-half points in their first five games after all.

The shock, of course, was that they were able to turn the tables so quickly.

Wakefield’s first drive of the 3^rd was effective despite coming up short of points. They went 50 yards and more importantly took six minutes and 12 seconds off the clock before turning it over on downs.

With all the pressure on Woburn’s offense, the Warrior defense went to work. Junior Joe LaMonica had a great read on a QB option to force a 3^rd-and-long that Nathan Delgado defended well for another Tanner punt.

Wakefield’s offense again was able to move the chains enough to bleed the clock into the 4^th and give Woburn nothing by way of field advantage.

The Tanners took over on their own 31 with 9:29 to go. They picked up two first downs but felt the need to air it out with time on Wakefield’s side, a decision welcomed by the Delgado twins.

Senior captain Christian, who also reeled in a team-high 5 catches for 48 yards, read a sidleline fade in which his brother was defending step for step. Nathan would have broken the pass up on his own, but together, Christian knew he could go for the ball, which he did, making an acrobatic catch and getting a foot down at the Warrior 20, providing perhaps the second must stunning play of the day.

With 7:32 left, Wakefield’s offense did the rest, picking up five first downs to run out the clock, including two, clutch 3^rd-down conversions, one an 8-yard pass from Willis to Dixon and one a 12-yard run by Nathan Delgado who rushed 16 times for 111 yards.

As will be the case, likely in the D3 tournament, Wakefield will continue to be underdogs despite their perfect record. That’s what happens when you combine lower numbers with an eye test that says the Warriors don’t have the size on the offensive and defensive lines to actually make a run.

As will be the case, likely in the D3 tournament, Wakefield won’t care.

That’s what happens when you have the type of playmakers and leaders they do.

Anyone expecting Wakefield to rest on their laurels for their final two regular season games before the ‘yoffs as the kids call it these days, might want to look at last year’s schedule.

Wakefield was the first team out of those ‘yoffs in ’21 ranked 17^th due to two, heartbreaking, overtime losses to Watertown and Wilmington at the end of the season.

With revenge and a perfect record to chase, the Warriors will travel to 5-1 Watertown, the 8^th-ranked team in Div. 5, this Friday night at 7 p.m. before hosting 0-6 Wilmington on Oct. 28 at 6 p.m.