THE 6TH RANKED Warriors celebrate their 31-24 win over No. 2 North Attleboro on Friday night in Milford. Wakefield will meet No. 1 Milton in the Super Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 3, 5:30 p.m. at Gillette Stadium. (Brian Cusack Photo)
Warriors stun North Attleboro 31-24 in state semifinals
By DAN PAWLOWSKI
MILFORD — If teams made the Super Bowl based on local media predications, well, let’s just say the Warriors would have wasted an hour-and-a-half driving to “neutral” Milford High on Friday night to take on 2nd-seeded North Attleboro.
Red Rocketeer fans, fresh off of seeing their team dismantle a previously undefeated team from the North (Billerica) 34-6, cruised 20 minutes over to Milford and packed their league opponent stadium relaxed and ready to celebrate some more after a week of reading predications picking their team to win in any publication you can think of.
Warrior fans read those too.
But following the lead of their fearless No. 6 Warriors, those fans made the trip anyways – and boy, are they glad they did.
Behind 3 touchdown passes from senior captain Javin Willis (18-for-23, 215 passing yard) to senior captain Ian Dixon (5 catches, 55 yards, 3 TD), Wakefield’s dream season continued, holding onto a 17-10 halftime lead and winning it 31-24, guaranteeing one more road trip for those dedicated fans, this time to Gillette Stadium for the Div. 3 Super Bowl against No. 1 Milton on Saturday, Dec. 3 at 5:30 p.m.
“Proud?” responded head coach John Rafferty when asked if that was the right feeling he had about his team after Wakefield moved to 11-0. “I’m like everyone else here, I’m a little stunned. But yes, I’m proud of all of them. Took the bus ride down here with everyone giving us up for dead, nobody giving us a shot. Not these kids. All the power to them. They did a great job.”
With a new game plan, credited by Rafferty and players alike to offensive coordinator Mike Motso, the Warriors put the rock in the hands of Willis and said, “Go get it.”
The result, a strong passing attack that opened up the middle of the field for senior captain tailback Nathan Delgado (21 carries, 102 yards, 1 TD), was points on five of their seven drives, including all three in the first half.
On their first possession, Willis found junior Steven Woish (5 catches, 76 yards) for a 37-yard gain, bringing it down to the North Attleboro 11-yard line. That caused the first roar from the Warrior side of the field, crammed into the visitor’s bleachers and outnumbered but not nearly silenced. The confidence in their team grew after Willis found Dixon on 3rd-and-5 with a 6-yard TD pass, lofted up where only the 6’3” tight end could get it.
It was a style of pass-and-catch the two would replicate twice more regardless of any double or triple team thrown their way, the most impressive coming on 3rd-and-goal from the 4 with 5:31 left when Dixon somehow held on with one hand and one foot in the end zone to extend the lead to 31-17.
“Six seed?” asked Dixon to his quarterback after the game.
“C’mon now!” responded Willis.
“We’re here, 20 minutes from North Attleboro and it was great to see so many of our fans make the trip. Everybody wanted this,” said Dixon.
“Nobody thought we were gonna be here,” agreed Willis. “This was the best atmosphere we’ve felt all season.”
For all the talk of the success of the offense and for good reason, the biggest reaction from Landrigan South came on a special teams play.
After North Attleboro swiftly responded to Dixon’s hat trick with a two-minute drive resulting in a passing TD of their own, Wakefield was forced to punt with 52 seconds left and a one-touchdown lead.
Senior punter Zack Sartori took the field and launched a line drive deep into Red Rocketeer territory. After a wicked hop, the ball deflected off the returner and was covered up by senior captain Christian Delgado (4 catches, 55 yards), a player who leads Wakefield in interceptions and seemingly in every momentum-shifting play. This big play officially sent the Warriors to Patriot Place.
“Best feeling in the world. We worked every day for this, it’s exactly what we wanted,” said Christian who also shouted out the Warrior faithful for creating a home field advantage 50 miles from home. “We needed the support. They came and showed out. It was awesome.”
Of course, Wakefield’s defense deserves a tip of the cap as well, especially with the statement they made in the first half, holding North Attleboro to 10 points. In addition to scoring 36 the week before, the Red Rocketeers averaged 25 points per game this year.
The front seven, featuring Dixon, seniors David Amyouny, Max Cusack and Kaiden Johnson along with juniors Joe LaMonica and Mark Letchford, stuffed a powerful run game multiple times to keep the visitors in command.
Letchford hit a 33-yard field goal to make it 10-3 with 4:54 left in the first half, but North Attleboro responded with a 40-yard TD run by Nathan Shultz to tie it.
Refusing to get rattled, Willis and the Warriors drove 70 yards in 7 plays to reclaim the lead and leave their opponents with just 46 seconds left in the half.
Willis connected with Woish twice on the drive for 33 yards and Nathan Delgado picked up 24 yards on three carries as Wakefield went into a hurry-up offense, forcing North Attleboro to call timeout with the ball on their 13.
Once again facing a 3rd down, Willis ignored triple coverage on Dixon and gave him a chance anyways, the towering tight end high-pointing the ball and ripping it down as three defenders bounced off.
“Just a new scheme we had this week,” said a smiling Dixon afterwards. “Always open.”
With the intensity ramped up in the second half, Wakefield capitalized on their opening drive, going 60 yards led by 36 yards on 7 carries from Nathan Delgado who was now finding room up the middle with North Attleboro adjusted to key on Wakefield’s passing game. Delgado closed the drive with a physical, 11-yard TD run.
After North Attleboro drove 73-yards to make it 24-17 going into the 4th, the Warriors finally had to punt.
Once again, the defense stepped up, forcing the game’s only three-and-out. Wakefield’s next drive ended in Dixon’s third TD and despite North Attleboro’s valiant comeback attempt, the Warriors refused to give up their ticket to the Super Bowl, a game the team is experiencing for the first time since 2011. That game took place at Manning Bowl in Lynn, which means these ’22 Warriors will be representing their school and their community at Gillette for the first time.
Intangible media predictions aside, the Warriors also overcame the MIAA’s every tangible effort to keep them at home on Dec. 3.
“It’s insane right now,” said Dixon, picturing his Warriors on the biggest of stages.
“In our wildest dreams,” said Rafferty trying to find the right words. The leader of his own undefeated Wakefield team in 1970 but not getting a chance his players will get as Super Bowls started in 1972 while he was playing for Syracuse, “Raff” can’t wait for them to experience it. “I really don’t know. Hey, it’s unbelievable.”
“We’ve been working all season long for this and well, we’ve been playing football together since we were kids so our whole lives really,” said Nathan Delgado. “It’s amazing.”