Travel to Winchester next week
Published in the September 10, 2018 edition.
By DAN PAWLOWSKI
WAKEFIELD — The process of getting better involves a mindset to embrace the positives.
The Warriors matched up against Reading on Friday night as underdogs, missing multiple key seniors as they measured their early-season progress against a deep, talented and experienced Reading team.
The Rockets’ offense exploded on plenty of big plays, including three long touchdown runs of 47, 32 and 27 yards from senior captain quarterback Matt Sannella.
Reading took a 17-0 lead into the break and and had three more touchdown runs in the third quarter to take a commanding 37-0 lead.
“We battled for a while and did some good things but had some breakdowns and had a hard time stemming the tide,” said Wakefield head coach John Rafferty about his first game as the head coach of his alma mater.
The Warriors could remember that moving forward, or they could focus on a fourth quarter in which they outscored Reading 14-0 behind two touchdown passes from senior captain Mike Lucey to junior Micheal O’Keefe. Lucey finished 15-of-26 for 129 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. O’Keefe proved to be his top target, pulling in 10 catches for 115 yards and two scores.
The first Warrior score in the fourth was a 26-yard pass and catch in which Lucey pumped to O’Keefe on an out route, freeing the big receiver to break towards the end zone on the sideline. Lucey dropped a beautiful pass into the end zone and O’Keefe did a great job of keeping both feet in for the score. The two connected on a slant for the two-point conversion and later found the end zone again on a 14-yard pass-and-catch on a 3rd-and-3 for the second score.
“Lucey fought the whole way through,” said Wakefield head coach John Rafferty. “He kept us in it for a while and had some positive connections with O’Keefe which was good to see.”
The first quarter was tight, as Wakefield put together a nice possession on their first drive thanks in part to a third down, 15-yard carry by Lucey who rushed seven times for 56 yards. In fact, the Warriors were just inches away from a long TD pass that would have sent an already loud Landrigran Field into another stratosphere as Lucey just barely overthrew senior wide receiver Tommy Mottl down the seam. Reading connected on a field goal after a long drive and then forced Wakefield to punt to end the opening quarter with the score 3-0 and the Warriors still very much in the game.
Sannella broke his first touchdown run from the Wakefield 47, juking his way to the goal line for a 10-0 lead.
A fumble on a punt attempt after Wakefield’s next drive put the Rockets in great field position on the Warrior 32 with 5:13 left in the half. Sannella didn’t wait around, getting to the edge on first down and cutting it back for another explosive run and a 17-0 lead.
As coach Rafferty said, the Warriors continued to fight, led by Lucey who marched them down to the goal line with the half winding down. Starting from their own 40 yard line, the Warriors would convert on a 3rd-and-6 with a nine-yard pass from Lucey to O’Keefe to just cross midfield. That set up freshman Aidan Sweeney (14 carries, 31 yards) who followed some good blocks from juniors Taaj Andrews and Liam Cosgrove on the left side for a 15-yard scamper. Sweeney got the ball seven times during this drive and added a 13-yard carry down to the six. It was by far the most productive series for the young playmaker who was welcomed to high school football by an imposing Rocket front line.
Lucey had a nice five-yard carry on 4th-and-2 earlier in the drive to keep it alive but a holding call would later push them back to the 20 and even though a 13-yard completion to O’Keefe made it a manageable 4th-and-7, the Rockets forced an incompletion to end the half.
It was all Reading in the third, as Sannella and the ground game exploded for three more scores.
The fourth quarter was no doubt a good sign for Wakefield who didn’t leave the field without more than a few positives to build on.
The Rockets showed up to Landrigan with 67 dressed players. The Warriors had 34.
That discrepency alone is usually a telling sign in high school football, but it was also the continuity that made this one tough for the home team.
“Our program has essentially existed for two weeks,” pointed out Rafferty crediting Reading, who were skilled sure, but who also have a sense of familiarity with the system of head coach John Fiore’s 15th season.
It was clear that the Warriors are still getting used to what’s expected of them from Rafferty and the staff, whether it’s x’s and o’s or how to exit the field as a group.
Especially without captain Danny Marinaccio and fellow seniors Derek Dimascio and Billy O’Keefe, the Warriors will most likely be shorthanded against the majority of their opponents. Nowhere is this more precarious than the offensive and defensive line, which was mostly composed of the same two-way players including Andrews, Cosgrove, juniors Anthony DeVito and Dan LaMonica along with sophomore Danny Hurley. They battled hard all game during what was their first taste of varsity action as a group, and Rafferty thought they had some good reps throughout the game. This unit will be very important for the Warriors who emphasize the run on both sides of the ball.
While nobody could blame the tiring line from getting worn out, there they were still making plays when the game was all but decided. Whether it was Andrews stopping runs in the backfield or DeVito who responded to a missed assignment on defense with just minutes left in the game by coming back and blowing up a run for a loss on the very next play, the Warriors proved that they are determined to get better. The message after the game from Rafterty was that so long as they can commit to the process and embrace both the positives and negatives, better days are ahead.
“We talked about what we did well and where we need to get better,” said Rafferty. “We need to work hard and learn from our mistakes. The most important thing is we have a continuous effort to get better.”