Wakefield coach John Rafferty couldn’t have envisioned his crew holding a high-powered Plymouth South crew to 14 factors Thursday night time.
Then once more, lots about this 2022 version of Wakefield soccer has come as a nice shock.
“Plymouth South is a talented team, a great program and a bigger school than us,” Rafferty mentioned. “We knew it was going to be a big challenge trying to slow down (Casious) Johnson, the quarterback (Cole Brunstrom) and wideouts are very good and they had great size up front. It was just a hard-fought victory for our kids.”
Wakefield got here into the season as an unknown entity, however despatched a loud message all through the Middlesex League early on that it supposed to be a significant participant. After opening the season with wins over Greater Lawrence (28-6), Belmont (39-12) and Northeast (28-0), the Warriors hosted Stoneham.
There was loads of curiosity within the sport due largely to the truth that Stoneham coach Bob Almeida was in search of his two hundredth win. The Warriors proved to be poor hosts, rolling to a powerful 28-6 victory.
“That was obviously a big game for us,” Rafferty mentioned. “Bob runs a great program, they’ve had great success every year and we haven’t been able to get it done. But we have a good core group of kids, some of who have been playing since their freshman year. Their mantra has been one game at a time and they’ve been able to hold their focus.”
The protection has been stout all yr as evidenced by the truth that no crew has put greater than 14 factors on the board towards them. The offense has been paced by quarterback Javin Willis, who has proven the power to harm the opposition in quite a lot of other ways.
“Javin is a very talented kid, just a tremendous athlete,” Rafferty mentioned. “He can do a lot of different things, he can get it done with his feet and his arm.”
Having knocked off undefeated Plymouth South, the Warriors will face one other powerful opponent in North Attleboro in a Div. 3 state semifinal. Rafferty is aware of his crew may have their fingers full, however he additionally is aware of they’ve answered the bell 10 straight occasions this yr.
NEPSAC bowls
It was a banner day for the ISL, which obtained six bowl bids. BB&N, Lawrence Academy, Governor’s Academy, St. Sebastian’s, Rivers and Brooks will probably be enjoying subsequent week. Dexter Southfield defeated Pingree on Saturday, which helped them earn a bowl nomination, whereas Brunswick, Choate Rosemary Hall, Loomis Chaffee, Williston Northampton, Avon Old Farms, St. Paul’s, New Hampton, Proctor Academy and Canterbury spherical out the checklist of bowl entries. Matchups could be discovered on our highschool scoreboard web page.
SWEET 16
1. Catholic Memorial (9-0): Congrats to John DiBiaso on changing into the second soccer coach in state historical past to win his 350th sport.
2. Central Catholic (8-2): Sean Mercuri keyed a terrific defensive effort for the Raiders.
3. St. John’s Prep (8-2): Eagles pounded the rock to coronary heart’s content material towards beforehand unbeaten Andover.
4. King Philip (8-1): Ryan Gately couldn’t have picked a greater time to return from the injured checklist.
5. Milford (9-1): Oh Romeo, oh Romeo. What an effort by Romeo Holland.
6. Duxbury (10-0): Matt Festa is a weekly spotlight reel ready to occur.
7. Xaverian (7-3): Hawks hung powerful with Springfield Central for a half.
8. Mansfield (8-2): Tough loss to Milford within the quarterfinal.
9. Milton (10-0): Steve Dembowski bought the higher of his previous Thanksgiving Day teaching dance accomplice.
10. Andover (9-1): Just couldn’t discover a strategy to decelerate the St. John’s Prep offense.
11. Methuen (8-2): The previous fumble the ball, decide it up and rating from the 2 with eight seconds left to win the sport. Just like the way in which Tom Ryan drew it up.
12. Franklin (6-3): Heartbreaking dwelling loss to Methuen.
13. North Attleboro (7-2): The boys of November are again in enterprise as soon as once more.
14. Brockton (8-2): Boxers will face Bridgewater-Raynham at Fenway Park for the Southeast Conference title.
15. Everett (8-2): Shame that the Crimson Tide couldn’t discover a Thanksgiving Day opponent.
16. Wakefield (10-0): Warriors received the battle of unbeatens towards Plymouth South.
ON THE BENCH: Bishop Feehan (6-3), Peabody (9-1), Reading (9-1), Chelmsford (8-2), Billerica (9-1), Plymouth South (9-1), Hanover (8-2), Marblehead (7-2), Walpole (8-2), Holliston (9-1)
Source: www.bostonherald.com