Wilmington Pop Warner A Team Wins a Nail-Biter Against Methuen 14-12

WILMINGTON – The Wilmington Pop Warner A Team returned to Glen Road on Sunday after two road games and managed to move to 5-0 on the season with a hard fought overtime victory over Methuen, 14-12. The Wildcat defense was solid on a day that the offense struggled to move the ball. The defense was led by linebacker Kyle Kenyon who had 7.5 tackles and a sack on the day and defensive end Frankie Irizarry who had 5.5 tackles and a sack. Joey Dumoulin also had a solid two-way game for the Wildcats with five tackles (including two tackles-for-loss) on defense to go along with 69 yards rushing on 16 carries.

After beginning the game with a big defensive stop, the offense got off to a rocky start when a penalty put the Wildcats at 1st and 15 before the first play. An 11 yard run by Dumoulin and a one yard run by Peter Marino gave the Wildcats a manageable third down situation but a holding penalty on the next play negated a long run by Dumoulin and forced the Wildcats to punt.

The Wildcat defense came out and played solid against a strong Methuen offense. Chris Medeiros, Jake Timmons and Omar Eldaly were a force from the defensive tackle spot with a combined 5.5 tackles, including two tackles-for-loss.

The Wilmington offense came out for its second possession and once again, a solid drive was derailed by a couple of costly mistakes. Dumoulin had runs of three, seven, ten and twelve yards and on a 1st and 10 play, a false start, followed by a fumbled snap, a negative two-yard run and an interception stopped what started as a solid drive for Wilmington.

Once again, the Wildcat defense was solid. Coming off of three consecutive shutouts they continued to thwart the Methuen offense. Nose tackle Owen Steen and his brother, defensive end Michael Steen were a disruptive force on the defensive line while the Wildcat defensive backs (who were without injured corner Devin Clerico) led by Andrew Sullivan at safety and Adam Bishop and Kyle Munro at corner were solid in the passing game.

With just a few minutes remaining in the first half, Wilmington went with a different offensive unit. Will Ameral went to the center spot while Ben Stafford and Max Caso went to the left side of the offensive line. With Michael Smolinsky and Eldaly alternating with the starting offense, the Steen brothers pulled double duty at right guard and right tackle with this unit. Jason Marquard and Chris Stokes went to tight end while Sean Kelley came in to play quarterback. Wilmington used a trio of running backs including Randall Vega (nine carries, 63 yards), Bailey Smith and Kyle Munro. Smith began the drive with a three yard run followed by runs of two and five yards by Vega to give the Wildcats a first down. Unfortunately, a problem with the quarterback-center exchange led to a fumble that was recovered by Methuen. After a defensive stop, the game went to the half with both teams failing to score.

The second half began with a long drive by the Wildcats. Vega ran for 16 yards on four carries followed by a four yard run by Kelley. A forty yard run by Vega gave the Wildcats great field position but on the next play, a fumble that was recovered by Methuen was scooped up and returned for a touchdown. Methuen missed the PAT but took a 6-0 lead in the third quarter.

After an afternoon of offensive problems, the Wildcats showed their resiliency with their next possession. Munro had back-to-back carries with four and five yards respectively followed by a two yard gain for Smith to give the Wildcats a first down. The starting offense returned to the field and continued a 14 play, 50 yard drive that culminated with a 16 yard touchdown pass from Sullivan to Marino. This was the third touchdown between the duo in the last two games. The PAT was blocked so the score was knotted 6-6.

After a defensive stop and another stalled offensive drive, the game went into overtime. The rules of overtime give each team a possession and four downs from the 10 yard line. Methuen had the first possession and after three stops, Methuen scored on fourth down with a halfback option pass to a wide open receiver in the endzone. Methuen took a 12-6 lead and Wilmington had to at least score a touchdown to tie and they needed the touchdown and PAT to win.

When you are a two-time Eastern Mass Champion and a three-time Middlesex League champion you know how to handle pressure. Even with a four year streak of never losing a home game at Glen Road on the line, the Wildcat offense looked cool and composed as they took the field. A two yard run by Dumoulin, along with a penalty on Methuen gave the Wildcats a 1st and 8 from the eight yard line. On the next play, Sullivan connected with Marino on a six yard pass play up the right sideline. Great route running and downfield blocking by wide receiver Nick Kullman made the play possible and set up a second down and two situation where Sullivan dialed up his own number from the quarterback spot and ran the sneak right up through the heart of the Methuen defense to tie the game at 12 apiece. With the win hanging in the balance, kicker Adam Bishop drilled the PAT right through the uprights to give Wilmington a 14-12 victory.

The Wildcats moved to 5-0 on the season and will face Lexington next week in a big Middlesex League matchup at 2:00 in Lexington.