By DAN PAWLOWSKI
WAKEFIELD — With eight minutes left in their first Middlesex League Freedom Division game of the season on Friday night at Landrigan Field, the Wakefield Warriors found themselves backed up into a corner.
With the game tied 14-14, Watertown had it 1st-and-goal from the 10-yard line, a go-ahead, 4th quarter touchdown appearing imminent.
Six minutes of game time later, Wakefield was somehow up 27-17 and well on their way to a Senior Night victory.
After the defense held the Raiders to a field goal on that goal-to-go stand, Wakefield’s offense wasted no time in riding a wave of momentum. On the second play of the ensuing drive, junior running back Jaden Fullerton (122 rushing yards, 3 TD’s) broke free for a 45-yard touchdown run, giving the home team the lead for good, 20-17 after a missed point-after.
It was Fullerton’s second of three TD runs in this one. His first came from 18-yards out to tie the game at 7-7 in the opening quarter, his last from 11-yards away to ice it with 2:17 remaining.
Friday. The junior rushed for 122 yards and 3 TD’s, upping his season rushing totals to 671 yards and 13 TDs. (Alicen Encarnacao Racca Photo)
Wakefield (3-2), ranked No. 10 in the Div. 4 power rankings released Friday morning, found themselves in a true tug-of-war with the visiting Raiders (2-2, No. 22 in D5) throughout most of the game.
Watertown dominated the time of possession in the first half, but despite having the ball for just 2:53 of the first 24 minutes, the Warriors were able to keep it tied, 14-14 at the break.
Watertown’s first drive took over 9 minutes as they went 82 yards on 11 plays finishing on a 5-yard TD pass.
Wakefield — who honored seniors Christian DiFlorio, Myles Sanchez, Carter Jefferson, Juan Jose Flores, Cam Sartori, Tommy DeFeo, Will Forbes, Luciano Rossetti, Brady Breda and Abe Ennab before the game — responded with a 7-play, 71-yard scoring drive, the highlight being a 30-yard connection down the sideline from junior Westin McNeilly (134 passing yards, 1 TD) to DeFeo (3 catches, 94 yards, 1 TD) before Fullerton found a gap for his first TD.
Watertown took over 7 minutes on their second drive finding the end zone again on a 1-yard keeper by QB Coleman Keuchkarian-McKeen.
Wakefield’s answer was even quicker this time as McNeilly hit DeFeo on a first down bubble screen springing the senior who took it 60-yards to the house. DiFlorio motioned out on the play and provided a good lead block along with WR Sartori on the outside, allowing DeFeo the space to find his gap and take off, getting Landrigan Field to its feet. Jefferson’s second PAT made it 14-14 with 4:30 left in the half.
Watertown moved the ball well again on their third drive (Wakefield had just two possessions in the first half) but the Warrior defense held up on their own 14-yard line. On 2nd down from the 14 and 28 seconds left, DiFlorio brought down Keuchkarian-McKeen for a sack. Without any timeouts left, the Raiders rushed to the line to get another play off but couldn’t, causing a stir on the Watertown sideline as the referees were caught trying to get into position in time before the ball could be snapped.
Both defenses came ready to play in a scoreless third quarter with Wakefield punting on their first two drives of the second half and Watertown turning it over on downs before their second drive would go into the 4th and end with a 21-yard field goal after Wakefield’s stand.
Fullerton’s 45-yard TD run featured more strong blocking including DiFlorio and sophomore Coby Esposito who pulled and led the way along with junior Brandon Meahl at the second level. Fullerton followed these blocks early and then did his part, using a stiff arm to shed one tackler and cutting to his left to juke two members of the secondary before accelerating to the end zone where he was greeted by a big group of happy Warrior fans. Fullerton upped his season TD total to 13 in this game, none bigger than that run which completely flipped the script in what was a borderline must-win game for Wakefield’s postseason chances.
The Warrior defense made sure to keep it that way. DiFlorio had a clutch tackle-for-loss on 3rd down during Watertown’s next drive before teaming up with Rossetti to pressure Keuchkarian-McKeen into an incomplete pass on 4th down, giving the ball back to Wakefield on the Watertown 26 with 3:29 left.
On 4th-and-1 from the Raider 17, the Warriors fed Fullerton who responded with a 6-yard carry for a new set of downs one play before his 11-yard TD run which featured good seals from linemen Meahl and sophomore Kevin Giberti, accounting for the 27-17 final score.
In the end, Wakefield got a good test from a motivated Watertown and responded well to come out on top in their final regular season game at Landrigan Field in 2025.
The Warriors will travel to Wilmington (4-1) this Friday night, their first of three straight Freedom Division games on the road. The Wildcats (No. 12 in D6) are coming off an impressive, 14-6 victory over Stoneham (No. 9 in D6). Kick-off is set for 7 p.m.