Interception a perfect ending for Watertown’s victory over Wilmington

It’s no easy task to win every game week in and week out, but with a tough win against Wilmington, the Watertown High football team has managed just that, finishing the regular season Oct. 24  a perfect 7-0 record going into the playoffs.

In similar fashion to their previous win over Burlington, the Raiders took a 7-point lead in the fourth quarter with a Zach Rimsa touchdown run, and a late Wilmington drive was stopped by an end-zone interception from the Raider secondary. This time, the late-game heroics were provided by senior Jared Grillo, who rose above Wilmington receiver Ryan Colangelo to snatch the pass and seal the 14-7 victory for Watertown.

“I think it was a great high school football game,” said Watertown head coach John Cacace. “There was a lot of toughness out there and we were fortunate to get the W. I think we shot ourselves in the foot in the first half with some penalties and turnovers, but we kept fighting and playing tough.”

A big interception from senior Austin Farry set up the eventual game-winning drive, and Rimsa continued his monster season with another touchdown, finding the end zone for the ninth time in just seven games.

“Zach has been a huge contributor this year,” Cacace said of his sophomore tailback. “He gets tough yards for us between the tackles and has a nose for the end zone. He’s quite versatile and a smart football player, and it’s great to have him as one of our weapons.”

The victory brought the Raiders to 7-0, and they have drawn the second seed in Division 4 North for the upcoming playoffs. The Middlesex League champions will host seventh-seeded Swampscott (3-4) on Halloween at 7 p.m. at Victory Field.

“It’s a whole new season and a whole new focus,” said Cacace. “We want to make a run and see how far we can get.”

It was a messy game as the teams combined to turn the ball over five times.

“We need to clean up some of the mistakes,” remarked Cacace, “We had a couple of blown assignments, a critical drop, some bad penalties, and three turnovers. To be the best, you’ve got to minimize those things.”

After senior quarterback Nick Giordano threw an interception on the Raiders’ first drive, the Watertown defense forced Wilmington to punt after three plays and wasted no time in capitalizing.

Farry took a handoff from Giordano, faked a pitch to Grillo, kept the ball and blew past the Wilmington defense down the right sideline for a 64-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead in the first quarter.

Wilmington responded in the second quarter, grinding out a touchdown of its own. It took 17 plays, but the Wildcats slowly advanced the ball 58 yards before senior quarterback Mike Carrocino faked a handoff and floated it into the end zone, hitting tight end Joe Visalli for a 6-yard touchdown to tie the game at 7. The score stayed level going into the halftime.

Neither team could find a breakthrough in the third quarter, until Farry stepped in front of a pass for an interception that gave the Raiders great field position on the Wilmington 32. Watertown jumped on the opportunity. Five plays later, Rimsa dove into the end zone to put the Raiders up 14-7 at the start of the fourth quarter.

With minutes remaining in the game, the Wildcats got the ball back on their 13 after a Watertown fumble. Highlighted by a 30-yard throw to Colangelo, Carroccino led his team to the Watertown 21 in the final two minutes.

It was here that, for the third straight game, the Raider defense came up big.

Carroccino tried to hit Colangelo again, going for the end zone, but Grillo was in perfect coverage, rising for the game-sealing interception. The Raiders could just run the clock out, and squeezed out the 14-7 victory.

“I think the turnovers were key,” said Cacace. “Austin [Farry’s] interception to set up our second score and Jared [Grillo’s] interception to seal the game were huge.”

It also ensured the Raiders would be playing again at Victory Field.

“Now, we go into Division 4 North and try to conquer some new opponents, and we are going to face some very good football teams,’’ said Cacace. “Every week will provide new challenge and a new goal.

“There is no one in the division that is unbeatable, so the challenge is to go out there, put a great game plan together, play good, solid football and see what happens.  We’ve got a chance to compete for another title this year and we’re very excited about that.”

–Oct. 29, 2014–