CANTON — The Wakefield High football team earned the No. 14 seed in the Div. 4 state tournament and will travel to No. 3 Canton for a first round matchup tonight. Kick-off is set for 7 p.m.
The Warriors will bring a 3-5 record onto Memorial Field. Wakefield has dropped three straight, all on the road, to Wilmington (35-30), Stoneham (8-6) and Burlington (32-0). The Warriors have lost five of their last six after starting the season with two wins over Greater Lawrence and Lynnfield.
Canton is 6-2 out of the Hockomock League. They are coming off an impressive 28-16 win over Mansfield.
The Bulldogs started the season 4-0 before falling to North Attleboro and Foxborough in back-to-back games. They finished with wins over Oliver Ames and Mansfield.
Canton QB JT Norton has passed for 1,180 yards and 9 TD’s over six games but the top player for the Bulldogs is Jake Marcell who has racked up 800 yards and 7 TD’s from scrimmage while also the best defensive player as a linebacker.
Canton’s offense is rolling coming into the postseason which will provide quite the challenge for Wakefield’s defense led linebackers Christian DiFlorio, Jaden Fullerton and Myles Sanchez.
Canton’s defense has been plenty impressive as well. Opponents have averaged just 11.6 points per game, a number that would be even smaller if not for North Attleboro’s 30-point performance on Oct. 10.
Wakefield’s offense is led by juniors Westin McNeilly and Jaden Fullerton.
Fullerton has rushed for 844 yards and 15 TD’s while McNeilly has thrown for 1,155 yards and 8 TD’s while also adding 103 yards and 1 TD on the ground.
McNeilly has spread the ball around to multiple receivers including Will Forbes (338 receiving yards, 2 TD’s), DiFlorio (268 yards, 2 TD’s), Tommy DeFeo (193, 1 TD) and Cam Sartori (167, 2 TD’s).
Despite back-to-back tough outings against Stoneham and Burlington to end the regular season, Wakefield’s offense has still averaged 20.8 points per game.
On paper, the Warriors will certainly be the underdogs on the road.
Of course, Wakefield’s coaching staff has some strong recent history in the tournament. The Warriors haven’t made it to the postseason since 2022. That year, Wakefield took D3 by storm as the No. 6 seed, beating the top three seeds — all south shore teams, Plymouth South, North Attleboro and Milton — on their way to the second Super Bowl title in program history.
Wakefield was undefeated that season with an incomparable group, but the 2025 Warriors have plenty of talent and leaders ready to make a statement of their own.
The winner of Wakefield vs. Canton will advance to the quarterfinals where they will meet the winner of No. 6 Marblehead vs. No. 11 Shepherd Hill.