WILMINGTON POP WARNER B TEAM SEASON PREVIEW

The 2012 Wilmington Wildcats Pop Warner C Team capped off a second straight undefeated season with a magnificent run through the Eastern Mass Conference playoffs that culminated with an Eastern Mass Championship win over Billerica.  This was Wilmington Pop Warner’s first conference championship in ten years.  With most of last year’s C team players moving up to the B team for this year, the Wildcats are looking for another spectacular season.  Head Coach Gerry Sullivan has led this squad to a 20-2 record over the last two seasons and he does not expect any letdown this year.  Let’s take a look at this season’s Wilmington Wildcats Pop Warner B Team:

The Wildcats were a power running football team last season, amassing 2,126 yards rushing in 12 games for an average of 178 yards per game on the ground.  The tandem of tailback John Kenney (1,101 rushing yards, 8.6 yards-per-carry, 19 touchdowns) and fullback Kyle Penny (451 rushing yards, 6.3 yards-per-carry, 4 touchdowns), were the best 1-2 punch in the Eastern Mass conference and should lead the Wildcats ground attack this season.  The team will also rely on RB’s Braden Hiltz and Peter Marino who combined for 496 rushing yards and six touchdowns last season.  Marino has also been impressive through four preseason scrimmages and has been the leading receiver for the Wildcats.

Andrew Sullivan will return as the starting quarterback for the 2013 Wildcats.  The Wildcats did not throw much last season but Sullivan still finished the year 10-26 passing with 122 yards in the air and another 36 on the ground.  He also scored three touchdowns.  Sullivan should be backed up by Timmy Rivers.  Rivers ran for two touchdowns last season and also had a touchdown on a punt return.  In addition to quarterbacking duties, Rivers also plays safety and slot receiver.

The offensive line was a position of strength for last year’s Wildcats and will have to be solid this season for Wilmington’s continued success.  Kyle Kenyon is the center and anchor for the offensive line.  Mark Companeschi returns at guard while Tommy Strow moves from left tackle to right tackle.  The left side of the line will be new with Wilmington’s Michael and Owen Steen returning to Wilmington Pop Warner.  The Steen brothers have been playing in Tewksbury for the last few seasons because of stringent pop warner size restrictions but they are back in Wilmington and looking to make an impact with the Wildcats.  In addition to the above mentioned players, the Wildcats will also rely heavily on Joey Dumoulin at Center, Pat McAndrew and Colin Rooney at tackle and Ben Stafford and Nick Kullman at guard.  Stafford will be one of two B team players returning from last year’s B squad (defensive back Aaron Soto is the other) and Kullman looks to come back after missing last season with an arm injury.

The Wildcats receiving corps will have to be solid in the run game well as the passing game if Wilmington is to be successful in opening up the offense a bit.  Slot receiver Blake Hiltz moves over from his left guard spot to help anchor a receiving group that includes Drew Brandenburg (four catches, 56 yards and a touchdown on 2012), Michael Ducharme (who will also play corner, the same position he played last season when he scored the winning touchdown in the Eastern Mass championship game), Mikey Daley (who also serves as a starting corner back, punter and kicker for the Wildcats), Ryan “RB Smooth” Brewer, Rivers, newcomer Sudarsham Swamy and Frankie Irizarry.  At 5’10”, Irizarry provides a big target and he has looked good during the preseason while learning a new position.

Defense

The strength of the 2012 Wildcats was their defense.  Wilmington outscored their opponents 190-12 during the eight game regular season, surrendering only two touchdowns all year while recording shutouts in six out of eight games.  The Wildcat defense also managed to intercept 11 passes, recover five fumbles and record an astounding 75 tackles-for-loss on the season.

Just as running back is a position of strength on the offense, the Wildcat linebackers were the heart and soul of the Wilmington defense.  Led by Blake Hiltz (66 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 interception and a team leading 12 tackles-for-loss), Braden Hiltz (41 tackles, 1 sack, 4 tackles-for-loss) and Joey Dumoulin (35 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 interception and 6 tackles for loss), the Wildcat linebackers terrorized opposing offenses all season and were a big reason the squad recorded shutouts in six out of eight regular season games.  Backing up the linebackers will be Kenyon, Companeschi, Penny and Stafford.

The defensive line was solid for Wilmington in 2012.  Pete Marino was a highlight reel from his nose tackle spot recording 24 tackles, a sack, and interception, a blocked kick, a touchdown and seven tackles-for-loss.  Bookend defensive ends Drew Brandenburg and Frankie Irizarry were instrumental in stopping the run and rushing the passer for the Wildcats defense.  Brandenburg was the team’s third leading tackler with 38 tackles while Irizarry led the team in sacks (four) and fumbles recovered (two).  Irizarry has been playing some defensive tackle during the preseason and that could open the door for QB Andrew Sullivan to pull double duty at defensive end as well as quarterback.  Additionally, Kyle Bolis, Strow and Steen should also see time at defensive end.  The Wildcats have a lot of defensive tackles on the roster including Brett Chisholm, Kullman, Kenyon, Companeschi, Steen, Michael Smolinsky and newcomer Cam Willis.  With that many fresh bodies rotating in and out of the game, the Wildcats should be able to maintain solid pressure on opposing backfields.

As teams begin to pass more at this level, the defensive backs will be forced into an expanded role this year with increased pass coverage duties as well as run support.  Starting corners Michael Ducharme and Mikey Daley were arguably the team MVP’s in last year’s Eastern Mass conference championship game.  Ducharme scored the winning touchdown off a fumble recovery while Daley had five punts over 30 yards each to consistently keep Billerica in bad field position.  Ducharme led the team with four interceptions on the year while Daley recorded 14.5 tackles, an interception, a forced fumble and two tackles-for-loss.  Joining them will be Aaron Soto who has looked good in the preseason.  At safety, John Kenney will pull double duty.  In limited time at safety last season, he recorded 17 tackles and had one interception.  Rivers and Brewer will also see time at safety.

The Wildcats open their 2013 season on Sunday, September 8th at 12:30 down at the Glen Road field against an opponent to be determined.