The potential existed for the Wakefield Warriors to blow out the host Lewis Lancers in their most recent game of the high-school football season.
That didn’t occur. Instead, the Warriors won, 34-20, in a much closer result in the Sept. 12 non-district clash.
But that was a good thing, according to third-year Wakefield coach Clarence Martin, as his team improved to 2-1.
“It’s great to play in a close game that we won, because we haven’t had many of these in a while,” Martin told ARLnow. “Our players needed to be involved and experience what it’s like to play in a close game like this.”
Martin believes winning such a game will continue to build the Warriors’ confidence and further their goal of consistently being more competitive.
“The whole team showed a lot of resilience throughout the entire game, which is what we want,” Martin said. “They figured out ways to work through this game and win.”
Wakefield finished just 2-8 last season, losing its final five games, and finished 0-10 in each of the previous two campaigns, when none of the contests were close.
This season, Wakefield lost its first game, 38-17, after falling behind 24-0 in the first half, then won by a rout, 42-0, in its second contest.
Martin’s goal when he took over as head coach for the 2023 season was to gradually make Wakefield competitive again and a regular district contender, as was the case when Wayne Hogwood led the squad for nine years through the 2021 campaign.
Against Lewis, Wakefield’s Andrew Mason returned the game’s opening kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown. Andrew Jackson made the extra point, and it appeared a blowout was in the cards.
Not so fast.
Lewis answered with a touchdown drive to tie the score at 7. The Warriors moved in front 17-7, but Lewis rallied again, cutting the score to 17-13. There would be no blowout.
Wakefield eventually led 34-20 at halftime. There was no second-half scoring, but Wakefield had to bear down on defense to stop a couple of Lewis scoring threats.
Martin liked that.
“That’s the way we need to play tough on defense throughout the entire game,” he said.
Wakefield’s defense was led by the consistent tackling of senior middle linebacker Sean Perry and sophomore linebacker Santiago Aceves Villanueva. Each made 10 tackles. Both have been the team’s top tacklers in all three games, most notably Perry.
The Warriors’ fast-pace offense was led by the passing and running of junior quarterback Judah Connor. Through three games, Connor has thrown for 629 yards and seven touchdowns and rushed for 154 yards to two scores.
Freshman receiver Xavier Winkelmann has 13 catches for 269 yards and four TDs. Mason has eight catches, and running back Saswat Aryal seven with 86 yards rushing.
Jackson has booted 11 extra points and two field goals.
Wakefield stands a good chance to improve to 3-1 when it hosts the winless Justice Wolves on Friday, Sept. 19 at 7 p.m. Justice has been blown out in its three games.
