As the great musician Mick Jagger once said, “You can’t always get what you want.” That was most certainly the case two weeks ago, after a deflating loss in a winnable game against LS. Still, the Warriors weren’t going to let adversity bring them down. Wayland football is built around fighting adversity.
“Why don’t you guys just all come over, and we can take a look at the problems we had today and fix them?” Coach Breslin told his starters. So went the following week. The team worked hard and fought through conditioning in preparation for a game against DCL heavyweight Acton-Boxborough.
Finally, last Friday night, it was game day again. Wayland started the game receiving the ball, playing at AB’s house. The first drive was stopped short due to a holding penalty. The Warriors looked to junior kicker, Cogan Register to kick a 26-yard field goal to take the early 3-0 lead. The defense was the prominent component in the first half shut-down of AB’s offense.
With 7 minutes left in the half, Miles drove the offense down the field to the Colonials’ 35 yard-line where he threw a strike for 35-yard touchdown to Ian Bonner.
With almost no time left in the second quarter, AB’s quarterback Dana Duquette chucked a 22-yard pass into the end zone where it was tipped three times by Wayland defenders before it was caught by wide receiver Kevin Hughes for a touchdown.
AB got the ball back, but star lineman Alex Kazarian intercepted it to end the half on a good note. At halftime, voices echoed, ‘Don’t get comfortable, it’s not over yet!” and it wasn’t.
In the 2nd half, both defenses were dominant, as AB fought for a winning touchdown. With 2 minutes left and AB in possession of the ball, they seemed to be sparking a comeback. With one final chance for a win, Duquette was rushed and hit, but not before he released the football, which was caught by Jon Abbot. The problem for AB is that Abbot attends classes at Wayland High.
The interception sealed the win, and the Wayland Warriors are back in business after beating a 2nd top 20-ranked team, both games on the road. No one knows what exactly the future has to hold for this team, but they are definitely making a statement, with their eyes on another Super Bowl.
