By DAN PAWLOWSKI
LYNNFIELD — After his 3rd rushing touchdown of the game on Friday night, Jaden Fullerton let his teammates know that the Pioneers officially couldn’t stop him.
That was true from start to finish in Wakefield’s 28-0 victory in Lynnfield. Fullerton accounted for 170 rushing yards and all 4 Warrior touchdowns. Through two games, he has 7 TD’s and 314 yards on the ground.
“That type of production requires a full team effort,” said head coach John Rafferty after the Warriors improved to 2-0 on the young season. “Obviously, Jaden has been great but so has the offensive line. It’s good to see. We know in order to have a strong offense was need to be able to run the ball.”
The defense was just as impressive in Wakefield’s 8th straight victory going back to last season. With their shutout on Friday night, the Warriors haven’t allowed points in six consecutive quarters after shutting out Greater Lawrence in the second half in Week 1.
Quarterback Westin McNeilly was an efficient 8-for-11 for 79 yards while adding 37 rushing yards. Will Forbes (62 yards) and Myles Sanchez (17 yards) each had 4 receptions. Among the defensive headlines was a highlight-reel interception from Juan Jose Flores, a forced fumble and recovery by Jimmy Preston and an interception by Christian DiFlorio.
The Warriors, however, were far from perfect in this early-season game, as evidenced by their 8 penalties.
“We did a lot of good things but we also had a lot we need to clean up,” said Rafferty. “Most of those penalties were just a lack of discipline and that’s not us.”
Rafferty pointed to defensive plays by Flores and Sanchez as the tone-setters in this one.
On Lynnfield’s first possession, Sanchez had a huge hit to dislodge the ball after an initial catch and force an incompletion on 3rd and long.
As they would on all three of their first-half possessions, the Warriors put together a touchdown drive in their first series, keeping it mostly on the ground with Fullerton, going 65-yards on 11 plays. “Fully” had a 2-yard gain on 4th-and-1 from the Lynnfield 5 yard-line and then punched his first one in from 3-yards out, following a lead block from DiFlorio and strong blocking on the outside by Forbes.
Flores’ interception came just a couple plays later. He had a great read while backpedaling and then made an athletic, over-the-should grab at midfield, picking off a well-placed pass that seemed destined for a long completion.
“We knew they could throw it deep so it was great to see that from JJ,” said Rafferty. “Those two plays from Sanchez and Flores really set the tone.”
With the defense buzzing early, the offense went to work on extending the lead.
Wakefield went 52-yards on the ensuing drive, ending with a 2-yard Fullerton TD run. McNeilly had the play of the possession with an 18-yard carry on 3rd-and-4 from the Pioneer 23. McNeilly saw the defense leaning towards Fullerton on an option and kept it, getting to the outside and nearly reaching the end zone.
Carter Jefferson (4-for-4, PAT) made it 14-0 with the extra point early in the 2nd quarter.
Wakefield’s third drive started with 2:39 left in the half. On 2nd down from about midfield, McNeilly’s pump fake created space for Forbes down the seam. After making the catch, Forbes juked a defender and took off for a 44-yard gain. Fullerton’s 3rd TD came on the next play from 7-yards out, once again getting great blocking from his offensive line of Brandon Meahl, Damien Hunt, Joe Shea, Kevin Giberti and Coby Esposito.
DiFlorio’s pick came on Lynnfield’s first possession of the second half, tracking an errant throw on 2nd down from the Lynnfield 32.
After the Warrior offense stalled on their second straight drive to start the half, Preston got it back around midfield on Lynnfield’s next series, ripping the ball out and pouncing on it.
Wakefield’s offense didn’t find their groove again until the 4th quarter when they gave the ball to Fullerton six straight times to help ice the game. The junior responded with 54 yards on the possession, scoring his last TD from 7-yards out following a heavy block from Sanchez serving as the fullback on the play.
In the end, although it was far from a perfect game, the Warriors made the type of exciting plays that has the team and their fans feeling like this season could be a special one.
Wakefield (2-0) travels to Beverly (2-1) this Friday night at 6 p.m.
“One game at a time,” said Rafferty. “Beverly is a good team with a really strong rushing attack so we have our work cut out for us.”