WILMINGTON – The Wilmington Wildcats B team took to their home field on Sunday in a Middlesex League matchup with the Burlington Patriots. The Wildcats began their quest for a third straight Middlesex League championship with a 34-6 drubbing of the Patriots. The Wildcats were led by fullback/nose tackle Peter Marino. Marino had two catches for 35 yards including the game-winning touchdown on a beautiful 25 yard touchdown pass from quarterback Andrew Sullivan (3/7, 45 yards passing, two touchdowns (1 rushing). Marino was also a monster on defense recording a team-leading six tackles (including three tackles-for-loss plus a sack) and a forced fumble. Wilmington also got a big day from the running back tandem of John Kenney and Braden Hiltz. Kenney had six carries for 26 yards and a touchdown and he also contributed a second touchdown on a punt return. Hiltz was the workhorse for the Wildcats carrying the ball nine times for 81 yards including a touchdown. On defense it was Marino along with Blake Hiltz that led the way for Wilmington. Hiltz recorded five tackles including a fumble recovery.
The Wildcat offense came out a little flat on their first series, failing to get a first down. After a solid defensive stop, the Wildcat offense got it going on their second series. Kenney had two carries for 12 yards and fullback Kyle Penney had a catch for 10 yards, plus an additional 15 yards for a facemask penalty. This gave the Wildcats a first down on the Burlington six yard line and with great blocking from the Wildcat offensive line (Kyle Kenyon, Mark Companeschi, Tommy Strow, Michael Steen and Owen Steen), Kenney made his way to the endzone to put the Wildcats on top 6-0.
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The Wildcat defense took the field and continued their unrelenting assault on the Burlington offense. The defensive line, led by Marino, Drew Brandenburg, Frankie Irizarry, Sullivan and Brett Chisholm spent most of the day Sunday in the Burlington backfield. Irizarry and Sullivan each had a sack on the day.
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On their third offensive series the Wildcats struck quickly. Braden Hiltz had a 16 yard run on the first play of the series and on the second play of the series, Sullivan hit Marino with a beautiful pass coming out of the backfield for a 25 yard touchdown pass. The Wildcat offense had success on the perimeter all day due to solid blocking by wide receivers Timmy Rivers, Mikey Daley, Michael Ducharme, Sudarshan Swamy and Ryan Brewer.
The defense continued their dominance over Burlington. Joey Dumoulin was solid at linebacker recording four tackles on the day. The Wildcats also got significant contributions on defense from Aaron Soto, Michael Smolinsky, and Cameron Willis.
The Wildcats scored again on their next possession. Switching things up a bit, the Wildcats went with Colin Rooney, Pat McAndrew, Nick Kullman and Kyle Bolis on the line with Braden Hiltz and Marino going into the backfield. Hiltz had 37 yards rushing on the drive, culminating with a five yard touchdown run. The PAT was good by Mikey Daley and the Wildcats went up 20-0 at halftime.
Even miscues went the right way for the Wildcats on Sunday. Early in the second half, John Kenney mishandled a punt but managed to recover the ball and he raced 55 yards into the endzone to put Wilmington up 26-0.
After giving up a score to Burlington to make the game 20-6, the Wildcats had one last scoring drive in them. It was a seven play drive that culminated in a touchdown run by Sullivan, plunging in from the Burlington one-yard line. The PAT was good and Wilmington went up 34-6, the final score of the game.
The Wildcats will be back in action on Sunday when they take on Watertown in another Middlesex League matchup.
