WILMINGTON POP WARNER A TEAM BLASTS ACTON-BOXBOROUGH 14-0

A host of Wilmington defenders tackling the Acton-Boxborough running back

BURLINGTON – The Wilmington Wildcat A team halted a two game losing streak and got back to their winning ways by defeating Acton-Boxborough (A-B) 14-0 on a day when both teams had to battle not just each other but the weather as well. The game was played in Burlington last Saturday in a driving rain with freezing temperatures. The win allows Wilmington to advance to the Eastern Mass Semifinals where they will face Everett and Reading will face Lawrence.

A-B won the toss and deferred to the second half so Wilmington took the ball to start the game. A return by Frankie Irizarry started the Wilmington drive on their own 38 yard line. The Wildcats came out with their starting offense: Kyle Kenyon at Center, Owen Steen and Colin Rooney at Guard, Michael Steen and Chris Medeiros at Tackle, Adam Bishop at Tight End, Frankie Irizarry and Nick Kullman at Wide Receiver, Andrew Sullivan at Quarterback, Pete Marino at Fullback and Joey Dumoulin at Tailback. After two straight games where the starting offense failed to score, the Wildcats came out with a methodical 12 play, 62 yard drive that culminated with Sullivan dialing up his own number from the quarterback and sneaking it into the endzone to give Wilmington a 6-0 lead. The PAT by Bishop was good and the Wildcats took an 8-0 lead.

The defense came out and immediately shut down A-B. The defensive line, led by Irizarry, Michael and Owen Steen, Medeiros, Jake Timmons and Omar Eldaly gave fits to the A-B offensive line while linebackers Dumoulin, Marino, Kenyon and Bailey Smith stifled the A-B running game. A-B went three-and-out and were forced to punt but a miscue on special teams where the punt by A-B hit a Wilmington player gave A-B the ball back with good field position. The defense stayed on the field and continued to shut down the A-B offense. Devin Clerico and Kyle Munro were solid at corner locking up on the A-B receivers while Sullivan played safety and came up with a couple of big touchdown saving tackles on the day.

The offense came back on the field and the Wildcats immediately went with their second offensive group that included Sean Kelley at Quarterback, Randall Vega, Smith and Munro at Running back, Will Ameral (a Burlington resident who has been playing with Wilmington this season because Burlington does not have a team. Will got to play on his home field.) at Center, Ben Stafford and Max Caso at Guard, Michael Smolinsky and Eldaly at Tackle, and Chris Stokes and Jason Marquard at Tight End. A loss on first down set up a second-and-long situation for Wilmington but solid runs by Smith and Vega gave Wilmington a manageable 4th and 3 and the Wildcats came up inches short of the first down.

The A-B offense came back out on the field and had a solid drive. They completed a long pass to set them up deep in Wildcat territory but once again, the Wilmington defense shut down the A-B offense. Although the offense struggled into the fourth quarter, the defense was solid as they pitched their fifth shutout in nine games this season.

The Wildcats tacked on a late touchdown on a long run by Dumoulin in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach. It was Dumoulin’s team leading ninth rushing touchdown of the season. The Wildcats took a 14-0 lead and that was the final score of the game.

Wilmington will move on to face a tough test against the Everett Crimson Tide in the semifinals of the Eastern Mass Conference.