Reading Scores Early And Often To Beat Wakefield

After waiting patiently for their opportunity, Reading seniors Matt Panacopoulos and Jack Geiger proved Friday night that patience is rewarded.

Panacopoulos got his first start at quarterback and made it look easy, scoring three touchdowns and passing for a fourth as Reading beat visiting Wakefield, 48-14. In a little more than a half, Geiger ran for 104 yards and added a 75-yard kickoff return for a score along with a two-point conversion run.

"I'm really happy with the result," said Reading coach John Fiore. "I'm happy with a lot of things we did. There are a slew of things we have to clean up, first and foremost is the penalties. We got a lot better from last week to this week and that's all we can ask of our kids."

John DiMare also scored on a kickoff return and if there were two key scores in a lopsided game, it was the two kickoff returns.

"I couldn't be prouder of our special teams kids today," said Fiore. "Dave Erwin has been working with special teams this year so we're real pleased with the results there. John and Jack made some plays and our guys were finishing blocks. That's 14 points on the kicking game and we'll take it. I love to see that."

DiMare's return came after Wakefield cut the margin to 13-7 on Danny Marinaccio's 56-yard run with 3:48 to play in the second quarter. DiMare's 80-yard return took the air out of Wakefield's momentum. After Geiger's conversion it was 21-7 and the Warriors 7-point score had been trumped by Reading's 8-point response seconds later.

Geiger's 75-yard kickoff return opened the second half, and made the score 35-7, quickly ending any thought Wakefield might have had of a comeback. Panacopoulos scored his final touchdown in the third quarter before the two teams traded scores in the fourth. Joe Bean scored on the first play of the fourth quarter from eight yards out to give Reading a 48-7 lead before Wakefield scored on a 29-yard pass from Mike Lucey to Cam Souza to make it 48-14.

"It was great senior leadership this past week by Jack Geiger in particular at practice," said Fiore. "I knew he was going to have a big night tonight because of the way he led our team in practice this week. The other guys rose to that standard. That's what were going to need moving forward."

Fiore also singled out his rookie quarterback for praise.

"Matt did a great job tonight," said Fiore of Panacopoulos, whose one touchdown pass covered 9 yards to Matt Sannella in the second quarter. "Just real happy for him, helped his team in a lot of ways tonight."

One win doesn't clinch anything and Fiore knows there's work to do before facing Acton-Boxboro next week.

"We've got a long way to go here. But it's a good step forward tonight."

Photo by Bob Holmes