By DAN PAWLOWSKI
CANTON — The Wakefield High football team, ranked No. 14 in Div. 4, traveled to No. 3 Canton for a first round matchup on Friday night.
The hometown Bulldogs pulled away with two unanswered touchdowns in the third quarter after the Warriors kept it to a close, 13-7 deficit at the half. Trailing 27-7 after three, Wakefield kept fighting but couldn’t close the gap in the final quarter, eventually falling by a final of 35-22.
Wakefield fell to 3-6 with the loss and will turn their attention to the consolation round while Canton improved to 7-2 and will host No. 4 Duxbury in the quarterfinals this week.
“I’m just so proud of them, they had no quit,” said Wakefield head coach John Rafferty of his Warriors. “It’s tough to go on the road as a 14 against a 3 but they fought hard all game.”
The Warriors largely kept Canton’s high-powered offense in check during the first half and the visitors had some hope when junior QB Westin McNeilly (13-for-25, 206 yards, 2 TD’s) hit senior captain Myles Sanchez for a 14-yard TD, tying the game after senior Carter Jefferson’s PAT to make it 7-7 with 2:24 left in the 2nd quarter.
In a sign of things to come in the second half, Canton closed the first on a five-play, 76-yard scoring drive in under two minutes, taking a one-score advantage into the break.
Wakefield held Canton to 170 total yards from scrimmage in the first two quarters but the Bulldogs got their ground game humming in the second half where they racked up 172 yards on the ground alone. Canton scored on the first possession after a long return and after forcing Wakefield to turn it over on downs, put another scoring drive together, going 68-yards on just four plays to take a commanding 20-point lead going into the 4th.
To Wakefield’s credit, they kept at it as McNeilly found senior Will Forbes (7 catches, 146 yards) down the seam for 70-yards on the next possession. After Forbes was dragged down at the 2, junior RB Jaden Fullerton (20 carries, 108 yards, 1 TD) punched it in and the Warriors made it 27-14 early in the 4th.
Any hope of a comeback was dashed by Canton who kept rolling, scoring on their third straight drive of the half to make it 35-14.
Wakefield’s defense later forced a punt and McNeilly capped a 69-yard scoring drive in the final seconds with a 10-yard TD pass to Juan Jose Flores.
“Wes had a great game throwing the ball,” said Rafferty. “He had some strong connections, especially with Forbes and Sanchez. Wes was really on target all game against a tough defense.”
In the end, Wakefield’s defense — playing without senior captain linebacker and leading tackler Christian DiFlorio who was injured — simply ran out of gas, especially with a rotation of two-way players who were also giving it everything they had on offense and special teams.
On Canton’s first drive of the game, the defense stood tall when seniors Luciano Rossetti and Cam Sartori got into the backfield for a 4-yard tackle for loss on 3rd-and-5 and Sartori punched out the following pass attempt on 4th down to give the Warriors the ball back.
The game was still scoreless during Canton’s second possession which bled into the 2nd quarter. Wakefield got a stand, forcing a punt but had too many men on the field for the return, resulting in a first down for the Bulldogs. Canton made Wakefield pay by eventually getting in for the first score.
While Wakefield’s offense continued to find their footing, the defense stepped up again to force another punt on Canton’s third drive.
On Wakefield’s second quarter TD drive, McNeilly hit Forbes down the sideline for 30 yards to set up Wakefield at the Canton 17. His TD pass to Sanchez came after the senior captain lined up in the backfield, found a soft spot in the zone and McNeilly led him up field on a picture-perfect throw and catch.
In the end, Canton’s two-minute drill in the waning moments of the first half ended up being the backbreaker as that started their run of four straight possessions with a TD.
The Warriors will look to get back on track this week when they welcome a strong, 7-2 Lynn English team to Landrigan Field on Friday night at 6 p.m. for a consolation round game.
English will come into Wakefield plenty motivated as they went 6-2 in the regular season but were left out of the Div. 3 state tournament, given a final ranking of No. 18. The Bulldogs responded with an impressive, 36-28 win over Acton-Boxborough on the road in a consolation round game Friday night.
This will serve as Wakefield’s final tuneup for Melrose as the Warriors will get ready for the 65th edition of the Thanksgiving game to be played on Tuesday, Nov. 25, 5 p.m. at Fenway Park.