Mistakes kill English in loss to Wakefield

LYNN – Coming off a loss to Peabody in its season opener a week ago, the Lynn English football team was hoping to get off to a fast start against Wakefield in its home debut on Friday night at Manning Field.View Photo GalleryIt looked like that just might happen when the Warriors fumbled the opening kick and Miguel Martinez recovered for English inside the Wakefield 15. But an offside penalty nullified the play and then Luke Martin dashed 68 yards for a touchdown on the next snap to set the tone for a 32-14 Warriors victory.”We really needed to get off to a quick start and the opportunity presented itself on the opening kick,” English coach Peter Holey said. “We just weren’t mentally disciplined. We need to get better with that.”The Bulldogs (0-2) were their own worst enemy on Friday as they also had an interception returned for a touchdown and then a fumble on a kick off returned for a score that turned a close game into a 20-point Warriors lead at the half.Wakefield also took a page out of Peabody’s book from a week ago by using its physical offensive line to open up holes for Martin, who finished the evening with 131 yards on 13 carries, and his backfield mates. The Warriors had to only throw three passes in the game.”Their offense was just a tough matchup for us at this point of the season,” Holey said.After Martin’s touchdown on Wakefield’s first play, the Bulldogs went three-and-out before the Warriors drove deep into English territory. They were on the verge of another touchdown when fullback Joe DiFazio fumbled and Jeremey Garcia recovered at the one for English.Two plays later, however, the Warriors pressured quarterback Lucas Harris and his pass was picked off by Brian Dickey, who returned it 30 yards to the house for a 12-0 lead after one period.The Bulldogs put together their best march of the half on the ensuing possession, mixing the run and pass well on an 11 play drive that covered 77 yards and took over five minutes off the clock.Harris capped the march with a nine yard keeper on first and goal early in the second quarter to get the Bulldogs back within six after a missed extra point. It proved to be as close as English would get.The Warriors needed only three plays to respond as a 39 yard pass to Tighe Beck got Wakefield inside the 20. Two Martin runs later it was 18-6 with 6:25 left in the half.On the ensuing kick, Sakada Chhay was stripped of the ball, which was returned 16 yards to the end zone by Paul McGunigle to give Wakefield a 26-6 lead at halftime.”We need to cut down on those kind of mistakes,” Holey said. “We are a young team and we are going to get better.”English failed to get a first down on the opening drive of the second half and the Warriors pounced as Martin carried on four of six playd on a 30 yard drive, capping it with a two yard plunge that made it 32-6 with 6:39 left in the third.The Bulldogs had a chance to cut into the lead late in the third when Harris scrambled inside the five on third-and-15 at the Warriors 27 but he fumbled and Wakefield recovered at the two to effectively put the game away.English would cap the scoring with 7:58 to go on a nifty 48 yard run by Stevie Collins. He also caught the conversion pass from Harris to provide the final points.