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Health & Fitness

WILMINGTON POP WARNER B TEAM BLANKS WATERTOWN 28-0

WATERTOWN – In 2012, the Wildcats held their opponents during the regular season to a total of 12 points, including shutouts in six out of eight games.  On Sunday, the Wildcat defense started to show some of their 2012 form by blanking Watertown en route to a 28-0 victory.  Wilmington (2-1, 2-0 in Middlesex League play) was led on defense by Nose tackle Pete Marino (four tackles, two tackles-for-loss, one sack and a fumble recovery in the endzone for a touchdown), Middle linebacker Blake Hiltz (five tackles, one tackle-for-loss) and Safety John Kenney (3.5 tackles).  Kicker Mikey Daley also had a huge day for the Wildcat special teams booming kickoffs that consistently gave Watertown terrible field position while also contributing four points on PAT’s.

For the second straight week, the Wildcat offense came out a bit flat.  Wilmington went four plays and out and in stunning fashion, Watertown hit on a few big plays and took the ball all the way down to the Wilmington five yard line where they had first-and-goal.  This is where things went south for Watertown.  The Wildcat defense, led by Marino, Hiltz, linebackers Joey Dumoulin and Braden Hiltz (six tackles between them), defensive tackles Brett Chisholm and Frankie Irizarry and Defensive ends Drew Brandenburg and Andrew Sullivan (one sack each for the defensive ends) stuffed Watertown on four straight downs and the Wildcat offense took over deep in their territory.

This is where running back John Kenney and the offensive line changed the tide of the game.  Kenney carried the ball 10 times on a 14 play drive that culminated with a one yard QB sneak for a touchdown by Sullivan.  Kenney had a remarkable 69 yards rushing on that drive alone.  In addition to Kenney, fullback Kyle Penney had two carries for 12 yards and Blake Hiltz had one catch for five yards.  The line (Kyle Kenyon, Mark Companeschi, Michael Steen, Owen Steen, Tommy Strow) did their job opening up holes for Kenney and when the holes weren’t there, Kenney did what he could to make positive yardage for the Wildcats.  After Sullivan’s touchdown run, the PAT by Mikey Daley put Wilmington on top 8-0.

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A booming kick and excellent kickoff coverage gave Watertown bad field position and after another unrelenting defensive series in which Watertown lost yardage, the Wilmington offense took over on the Watertown eleven yard line.  Marino had two carries for five yards and the short drive was capped off by Braden Hiltz who scored his first of two touchdowns on the day with a six yard run.  The Wildcats had almost an entirely different offensive unit on the field for that drive.  Kenyon stayed in at Center and Sullivan stayed in at quarterback but the Wildcats had Hiltz, Marino and Mikey Daley in the backfield, Ryan Brewer and Sudarsham Swamy at End and an offensive line that included Pat McAndrew and Colin Rooney at tackle as well as Nick Kullman and Ben Stafford at guard.  Wilmington took a 14-0 lead.

Another great kick by Daley backed up Watertown and the defense came out and continued their unrelenting play.  Watertown had no luck running the ball after their first drive so they went to the air where they were shut down by corners Michael Ducharme, Daley, and Aaron Soto.  Wilmington also made some changes on defense bringing in Michael Smolinsky, Cameron Willis and Kyle Bolis at defensive tackle and even with different personnel, the results were still the same.  No yards of offense for Watertown.

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After another four-and-out, the Wilmington offense struck quickly again.  The Wildcats took over on the Watertown 19 yard line and after three solid runs by Braden Hiltz, including a two yard touchdown run, the Wildcats went up 20-0 and that was the score at the half.

In the second half it was time for the defense to put points on the board.  A solid kick by Daley along with twenty lost yards had Watertown pinned on their five yard line for a risky fourth down punt.  On the snap, defensive tackle Frankie Irizarry and Marino blasted through the line and Irizarry used his 5’10” frame and long wingspan to block the punt which Marino instinctively fell on in the endzone for a Wildcat defensive touchdown.  The PAT by Mikey Daley was good and the Wildcats went up 28-0.

The Wildcat offense was forced to play conservatively for the remainder of the game due to a Pop Warner rule that penalizes teams if they exceed a 32 point margin of victory in a game.  Since one more touchdown would have put Wilmington up 34-0 and Watertown was not likely to score a point, the offense took a conservative approach running straight up the middle into eleven Watertown defenders since the Wildcats were forced to run between the tackles into eleven blitzing defenders (another brilliant rule by Pop Warner that places players feelings over the real potential consequences of player safety).

After a loss to Division 1 powerhouse Everett to start the season, the Wildcats have won back-to-back games, outscoring their two opponents by a combined score of 60-6.  This game marked the seventeenth consecutive Middlesex League win for the Wildcats over the past three seasons.  The Wildcats hit the halfway mark of their regular season on Sunday when they take on Saugus at Glen Road.  The game is scheduled for a 12:30 start so come on out, see some great football and support your Wilmington Wildcat B team.

 





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