Charlie Breitrose
The Watertown Raiders football team is fighting for a home playoff game.
The Watertown football team lead Wilmington for the whole first half of the Raiders final regular season home game, but fell 32-17.
Watertown took the lead on a first quarter 3-yard touchdown run by fullback Edward Ferreira, and then doubled the lead when quarterback Nick McDermott scored on a 1-yard run.
A 39-yard field goal by Conor Kennelly gave the Raiders a 17-8 halftime lead.
However, Wilmington (4-1) held Watertown scoreless the rest of the game and running back John Kenny scored two of his three touchdowns in the second half to lead the Wildcats to the victory.
The loss drops the Raiders’ record to 3-2, and 1-2 in the Middlesex League. Watertown hits the road for the last two games to secure a tournament spot and possibly a home playoff game. On Oct. 13 Watertown plays at Stoneham (4-1) and on Oct. 20 the Raiders travel to Wakefield (2-3).
Currently Watertown is tied for third in Division 5 North. The top 8 out of the 11 teams make the MIAA Tournament, and those that do not make the tournament go into the non-playoff bracket. The seeding is based on a complex system which gives more weight for games against teams from higher divisions, and takes into account the record of a team’s opponents. See the MIAA’s seeding process here (go to page 6).