Wilmington Pop Warner Advances to Eastern Mass. Title Tilt

Editor's Note: The following information was provided by Wilmington Pop Warner.

The Wilmington Wildcats D1 team made it through a crazy week that began with a severe snow storm, loss of power in town, having fields closed and resorting to practicing on the Shawsheen Tennis courts, having their opening round playoff game moved to last Friday night and if they advanced, having to turn around and play 36 hours later on Sunday morning. 

Those elements plus the top two teams in the Greater Boston division, Cambridge and Somerville, stood in the way of keeping the Wildcats from advancing in the Pop Warner playoffs.

But the Wildcats handled all of the obstacles and are heading to the Eastern Massachusetts championship game which will be held at on Wednesday, November 8 at 6:00 PM.

The top-seeded and undefeated Wildcats had to go on the road for their first two playoff games due to a lack of an available facility in town and they came away with a 26-0 dismantling of Somerville and a 12-7 nail-biter against Cambridge.

Wilmington 26, Somerville 0

The Wildcats went into Billerica on Friday night to play on the frozen tundra of Lampson field and the team came away with a 26-0 victory over Somerville.  The Wildcat defense was stifling, allowing Somerville to run less than 15 plays for the game and holding them to negative yardage. 

Joey Dumoulin, Mark Companeschi, Bret Chisholm and Justin Fraser lead the way with two tackles apiece while Michael DuCharme, Frankie Irizarry, Nick Kullman and Michael Daley each chipped in with a tackle.  DuCharme also had one pass defensed while Chisholm also added a fumble recovery.

The Wildcats won the coin toss, elected to receive and came out of the gates blazing. Tailback John Kenney (eight carries, 114 yards, two touchdowns) took the handoff on the opening play from scrimmage and gained 27 yards to get to the Somerville 12 yard line.

After a one-yard gain by Kenney on the next play, fullback Kyle Penny (six carries, 42 yards, two touchdowns) ran right up the middle for an 11 yard touchdown run that put the Wildcats up 6-0. It was Penny’s first of two scores on the day. 

After stopping Somerville’s next drive in four plays, the Wildcat offense struck quickly. Kenney had three carries on the drive for gains of 44, 2 and 3, scoring on the third play to put the Wildcats up 12-0. The PAT was good when quarterback Andrew Sullivan ran the sneak up the middle to extend the lead to 13-0.

The second quarter began and the Wildcats put together an impressive six play drive that culminated with Penny’s second touchdown of the game. The highlight of the drive was a 24 yard pass completion on a fullback screen from Sullivan to Penny. The touchdown and PAT put the Wildcats up 20-0 early in the second quarter.

After another stop of the Somerville attack, the Wildcat offense came back on the field for their fourth offensive series and scored in three plays, culminating with a 44 yard run by Kenney.  This put the Wildcats up 26-0 and it is a lead they would not relinquish.

The offensive line for the Wildcats was spectacular, holding their blocks and opening up wide lanes for the backs to run through. Center David Fraser, Guards Mark Companeschi and Kyle Kenyon, Tackles Pat McAndrew, Sam Vince and Tommy Strow and Tight Ends Bailey Smith, Joey Dumoulin and Ryan Brewer were solid all game for the Wildcats. The Wildcats ran the ball for 225 yards and a lot of that success comes from the work of the offensive line.

Due to Pop Warner rules attempting to keep game scores from getting out of hand, the Wildcats came out in the second half and had to resort to just pounding the ball up the middle. The squad turned to Peter Marino, Daley and Smith who combined to run the ball 14 times for 64 hard fought yards in the second half.

After knocking off Somerville in the quarterfinal round, the Wildcats had to turn around and play their semifinal game against Cambridge less than 36 hours later. Cambridge certainly had the advantage going into Sunday’s game.  They played at home on Thursday night so their players got an extra day to rest.  Their coaches came to the Wildcat game on Friday and got to scout the team.  The game would even be played on the Cambridge home field so the Wildcats certainly had their work cut out for them and what happened on Sunday was a game for the ages!

Wilmington 12 Cambridge 7

The Wildcats faced their toughest test of the season and came away with a hard fought 12-7 victory over Cambridge.  The Wildcat defense led by Kyle Penny (five tackles and four forced fumbles), Kyle Kenyon (four sacks), Michael DuCharme (three tackles and two passes defensed) and Justin Fraser (team high seven tackles) held Cambridge in check for most of the game allowing only one score when Cambridge returned a punt to the Wildcat three-yard line.

The Wildcats had a solid opening possession with a nine play, 44 yard drive that failed to result in points but put Cambridge in bad field position when they started on their own three yard line.  After allowing no yards to Cambridge, the Wildcats came out for their second offensive series and tailback John Kenney (21 carries, 91 yards, 1 touchdown) scored from three yards out to give the Wildcats a 6-0 lead.

On the third offensive series, the Wildcats went four and out and Cambridge returned the punt to the three yard line where they scored to take a 7-6 lead.  This was the first time the Wildcats had trailed all season.

The rest of the first half went back and forth with both defenses playing solid and the teams went to the half with Cambridge holding on to a 7-6 lead.  Aside from giving up one touchdown, the Wildcat defense was outstanding all day.  Defensive End Frankie Irizarry had three tackles and was solid all game at containing the outside attack, linebackers Mark Companeschi (four tackles), Joey Dumoulin (three tackles), Kyle Penny (five tackles) and Peter Marino (one tackle) anchored the field from sideline to sideline and cornerback Mikey Daley (one tackle) helped to shut down the Cambridge outside running game.  Defensive tackles Sam Vince and Nick Kullman also helped anchor the middle of the Wildcat defensive line and kept Cambridge from running up the middle all day.

The Wildcats took the opening kick of the second half and had an 11 play drive that did not result in points but did put Cambridge in bad field position.  Quarterback Andrew Sullivan directed the offense all game and was masterful on the drive.  The offensive line led by David Fraser, Companeschi, Kenyon, Tommy Strow, Dumoulin, Bailey Smith, Pat McAndrew and Ryan Brewer did a solid job blocking and opening up holes against a stout Cambridge defense.

After a defensive stand, the Wildcats struck on their second offensive series of the half. The team put together a magnificent 10 play drive that covered 35 hard fought yards and culminated with fullback Kyle Penny plunging in from the two yard line. This put the Wildcats up 12-7 and with the defense solid for the rest of the game, which became the final score.

The Wildcats finished the regular season undefeated and are now ready to play for the Eastern Mass Conference Championship on Wednesday evening against West Lynn.  The game will take place at Wilmington High School at 6:00 PM.