Schools

VIDEO: Wildcats Not Enough for Ortiz and Woburn

Wilmington takes fourth quarter lead, but falls 39-29.

limited Woburn standout running back Chucky Ortiz to just one touchdown in the first half. But after took over the lead for the , Ortiz took over the game for the Tanners.

Parsons blasted 33 yards for a touchdown one play after quarterback Matt Ferreira scampered 47 yards on a quarterback keeper, and Wilmington led 21-20 with 9:54 to play on Friday night.

But Ortiz scored three times within about three minutes late in the fourth, five times total in the game, and Wilmington fell, 39-29, under the lights of Alumni Stadium.

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Ferreira opened the scoring and put the hosts ahead 7-0 with 1:39 to play in the opening frame. After the Tanners cracked the scoreboard in the second quarter, Ed DeLucia sprung free for a 32-yard score at the 1:54 mark of the period.

Woburn's speedy senior running back notched his first touchdown of the game with 15 seconds left before halftime, and sliced the Wilmington lead to 14-12 at the intermission.

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His second tally of the game came with 1:12 left in the third quarter, but the Tanner lead was short lived thanks to Parsons' touchdown.

Cue the Chucky Ortiz show.

With 6:41 to play, the captain ran 17 yards to paydirt to put Woburn on top 26-21 after a botched two-point conversion attempt. Then he sealed the win at the 5:04 mark when he snatched a Ferreira pass out of the air and ran the interception about 35 yards into the end zone. Just for kicks, he broke free and ran 48 yards for his final touchdown of the day with 3:07 left on the clock.

Still, the Wildcats refused to go away. Ferreira lofted a pass to Tim Woods in the back of the end zone and then tossed to DeLucia for the two-point conversion with just over a minute to play.

Head coach Mike Barry's charges then recovered the onside kick, giving a flicker of hope for a miraculous comeback. But that hope ended when Ferreira's desperation play was intercepted with less than a minute to play.

Woburn ran out the clock, and sealed its 39-29 win.

The Wildcats have now lost two straight decisions, but the real action begins next week when Wilmington plays Wakefield its its first small school division kicks off.


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