Minutemen Fall Just Short in Peterson's Debut

With 12 seconds left in Saturday’s game against Wakefield, Lexington quarterback Conor Murray threw a 30-yard pass to the front-left corner of the end zone, which landed incomplete, just inches over the outstretched hands of a diving Samir Pathan.

Two failed hail-mary attempts later, and Lexington walked off the field, having lost 20-14 to their Middlesex League foe in the teams’ opening game of the season – and .

“We’re building to what we need to be,” said Peterson, who replaced Bill Tighe, the team’s coach for the past 36 years. “We played hard, and that’s all you can ask for.”

You didn’t have to look to the sideline to realize that the veteran Tighe was no longer around. Murray, a senior, attempted 36 passes – completing 19 for 163 yards – in Peterson’s spread-offense attack.

Wakefield also went to the air, as quarterback James Bourque went 17-27 for 246 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.

“I knew we had good skill players,” Wakefield coach Mike Boyages said. “It was more a question if we could protect the quarterback.”

Wakefield was starting five new offensive linemen from a year ago – Tim Carbonneau, Mike Amentola, Nick Salamone, John Nardone and Mark O’Brien – and Boyages liked what he saw.

Lexington took the early lead, as Murray’s twin brother, running back Nick Murray, capped a three-play, 74-yard drive with a two-yard touchdown run up the gut just moments before the end of the first quarter. Conor started the drive with an 11-yard run, before Nick went for 60 on the following play.

Other than that drive, Lexington’s offense stalled in the first half, as Conor went 6-13 for 23 yards, compared to his much-improved second-half numbers – 13-23 for 140 yards. Conor also led the Minutemen in rushing with 98 yards on 12 carries.

After Lexington scored, Wakefield came right back. Senior Zach Bates (8 carries, 41 yards) did most of the damage on the ground, before Bourque found slot receiver Dan Cardillo on a eight-yard slant for a touchdown to cut the lead to 7-6.

Wakefield then forced a punt and then after two long passes by Bourque – a 34-yard pass to Cardillo and a 33-yard pass to Michael Miller – Bates capped off the three-play drive with a four-yard touchdown run up the middle, as Wakefield took a 14-7 lead with less than five minutes remaining in the first half.

On the ensuing kickoff, Wakefield recovered a squib kick. The Warriors marched downfield once again, with Bourque completing four passes, the last of which was another short slant to Cardillo for a touchdown to put them up 20-7 with under two minutes to play in the half.

Early in the second half, Lexington had two threatening drives, but both ended with fumbles. Nick Murray fumbled on Lexington’s first drive of the half at Wakefield’s 12-yard line, and then Pathan fumbled at the beginning of the fourth quarter at midfield.

With Wakefield still leading 20-7 and just four minutes to play, Conor Murray orchestrated a 10-play, 72-yard drive in one minute, 51 seconds, to make it a one-possession game, at 20-14, with 2:09 on the clock. On the drive, Murray found Pathan in the back of the end zone on fourth-and-goal from the 10, even with a defender in his face.

After forcing a quick three-and-out, Lexington got the ball back at their own 29-yard line with 52 seconds left. Murray completed three passes – one to Pathan, two to Noah Hurley – to set up the near-miss to Pathan from the 30 yard line.

Hurley led a plethora of Minutemen receivers with 10 catches for 79 yards. In addition to him, Pathan and Nick Murray, Rhett Adley, Shane Foley and Max McDaniel also made grabs for Lexington. Nick Murray rushed for 72 yards on seven carries as well.

Along with Cardillo and Miller, Nick Calderone and Matt McKenna had big receiving games for the Warriors.

Lexington will travel to Concord-Carlisle for a 7 p.m. game Friday, Sept. 16, while Wakefield will host Lynn English at the same time.