Wildcats conclude a run of three consecutive Middlesex League Championships and a record of 22-0 versus Middlesex League opponents over that three year span
WILMINGTON – After three weeks on the road, the Wilmington Wildcats B Team returned to Glen Road for their final home game of the season and they toppled arch-rival Woburn 28-6. It was a memorable day for the Wildcats as their many eighth graders played their final pop warner home game. Players like Michael Ducharme, Kyle Penney, John Kenney, Mikey Daley, Ryan Brewer, Blake and Braden Hiltz are winding down their seventh year in the program while other eighth graders like Mark Companeschi, Timmy Rivers, Kyle Bolis, Tommy Strow, Brett Chisholm, and Sudarshan Swamy all said goodbye to Glen Road on Sunday. Even though the Wildcats are 7-1 and should have home field advantage in the playoffs, the Glen Road facility is not structurally suited for Eastern Mass Pop Warner’s playoff venue requirements and unlike most pop warner programs in the state of Massachusetts, the Wildcats will not be allowed to play at the new high school field so Sunday was the final home game this season for the first place Wildcats.
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The game got off to a bang for the Wildcats when John Kenney returned the opening kickoff 75 yards for the touchdown. The PAT by Mikey Daley made it 8-0 in favor of the Wildcats, less than 20 seconds into the contest. It was the Wildcats first kick return for a touchdown this season. It was also a first for Kenney who has 14 rushing touchdowns on the season along with a punt return touchdown and a fumble return touchdown.
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The Wildcat defense came out a little flat on Woburn’s first drive allowing them to go the length of the field for a score. The Woburn PAT was no good so the Wildcats maintained an 8-6 lead.
On their second possession, Wilmington’s offense came out firing. A four play, 65 yard drive was capped off by a 50 yard touchdown run for Kenney. It was Kenney’s second touchdown of the day. The offensive line was led by Kyle Kenyon at center, Mark Companeschi and Owen Steen at guard and Michael Steen and Tommy Strow at tackle. The PAT was no good so the Wildcats lead moved to 14-6.
It was at this point that the defense began to step up and dominate the Woburn offense. Middle linebacker Blake Hiltz was a dominant force for Wilmington with eight tackles, two tackles-for-loss and a forced fumble while Frankie Irizarry moved over from his defensive tackle spot to replace the injured Drew Brandenburg at defensive end. Irizarry was second on the team in tackles with five including a tackle-for-loss and his team leading fourth fumble recovery for the season. Pete Marino also had a huge game for the Wildcats with five tackles including three tackles-for-loss and a sack. For the season Marino has been a key to the Wildcats defense with 37.5 tackles from his nose tackle spot (second leading tackler on the team) to go along with six sacks and 17 tackles-for-loss, both team leading statistics.
After the defensive stop, the Wildcats brought out an entirely new offense. Kyle Kenyon remained at center and Kyle Penney stayed in at one fullback spot. Changes included bringing in Timmy Rivers at quarterback, Braden Hiltz and Marino in the backfield, Nick Kullman and Ben Stafford at guard, Pat McAndrew and Colin Rooney at tackle and Sudarshan Swamy and Kyle Bolis at End. Hiltz had two quick carries for eight yards and a quarterback sneak by Rivers gave the Wildcats a first down. A false start penalty derailed the Wildcats drive so the defense came back out on the field.
Once again, the Wildcat defense dominated Woburn. Quarterback Andrew Sullivan was solid at defensive end notching two tackles and a forced fumble and linebackers Joey Dumoulin (four tackles) and Braden Hiltz (two tackles) helped keep Woburn’s running game in check. Defensive back’s Ducharme, Daley, Kenney and Aaron Soto helped shut down the Woburn passing attack.
The Wildcats offense took the field for their third possession of the game. Hiltz got the drive started with a nine yard run, followed by a tough two yard run up the middle by Marino for the first down. This was followed by a five yard run from Kyle Penney which set up a 45 yard touchdown run by Kenney, his third touchdown of the day. The Wildcats got great blocking from Kyle Penney, a monster fullback and a key factor in the success of the Wildcats rushing attack and Ryan “RB Smooth” Brewer who has blossomed into a tremendous perimeter blocker from his wide receiver spot for Wilmington. The PAT was no good so the Wildcats increased their lead to 20-6.
Wilmington came out and had another dominant defensive performance. The Wildcats rotated in defensive line players to keep them fresh. Brett Chisholm started the game for Wilmington and he rotated with Michael Smolinsky and Cameron Willis. Another stop gave Wilmington one last offensive opportunity for the half.
The Wildcats took over on the Woburn 29 yard line and four plays later, fullback Kyle Penney was blasting into the end zone for the score. Penney’s role at fullback is primarily as a lead blocker for Kenney, but he has been solid when he has touched the ball for Wilmington. He has 30 carries on the season for 120 yards, an average of four yards-per-carry almost exclusively on tough runs up the middle. Penney was one of the eighth graders playing his last Pop Warner game for Wilmington after seven standout years so the touchdown to end the half was fitting for a tough-as-nails fullback.
In the second half, holding a commanding 28-6 lead and with the defense playing at a dominant level, the Wildcats began to work on different dimensions to the offense. The Wildcats went to the air a bit more in the second half and the highlights included a 15 yard completion from Sullivan to Ducharme as well as a throwback to Sullivan from Kenney for four yards. For the season, Ducharme has three catches for 74 yards and two touchdowns in addition to his standout play on defense. Ducharme was another player suiting up for his last pop warner home game. Last season, Ducharme led the team in interceptions and also scored the winning touchdown in the Eastern Mass Championship game for the Wildcats on a fumble recovery to help Wilmington win its first Eastern Mass Championship in a decade.
Both teams traded possessions in the fourth quarter but neither team scored thus the final score was 28-6 Wilmington. The Wildcats finish the regular season 7-1 and after a bye in the first round of the playoffs, they will resume their quest for a second Eastern Mass Conference Championship next Wednesday when they take on the winner of Winchester and East Boston.
The Wildcats have had some standout performances during the regular season. Quarterback Andrew Sullivan finished with four touchdown passes in 11 completions, a rate of one touchdown every three passes completed. Two of those touchdown receptions went to Michael Ducharme with one apiece going to Pete Marino and Braden Hiltz. Quarterback Timmy Rivers tossed one touchdown pass this season to receiver Frankie Irizarry. The Wildcats are primarily a running team. The offense has amassed 1,501 rushing yards in eight games for a 187 yard-per-game average on the ground. John Kenney leads the way with 927 yards on 86 carries. Braden Hiltz has 331 yards on 45 carries and Kyle Penney has 120 yards on 32 carries. Team defensive leaders include Blake Hiltz (40.5 tackles, four forced fumbles), Peter Marino (six sacks and 17 tackles-for-loss), and Frankie Irizarry (four fumble recoveries). Timmy Rivers, Braden Hiltz and John Kenney each have one interception while Pete Marino, Kyle Kenyon and Frankie Irizarry all have one blocked kick.
