Let's kick this off!

Last Saturday, the Lynnfield Pioneers kicked off the 2009 football season with an impressive 34-7 win over the Matignon Warriors. After some lean years, the Pioneers look like a team that could make some noise in the Cape Ann League Small.

For a complete report on the Matignon game, pick up this week's edition of the Lynnfield Villager and check out my game story.

Last Week's Game:
Saturday's game marked the beginning of my 21st season covering the Pioneers. Over the years, I have gathered a lot of info and factoids that I simply can't include in my Villager articles due to lack of space. What I hope to do in this blog is to share some of that info with you.

Pioneer Factoids:
For example, did you know that Saturday's game was the 503rd game in the history of the school? Or that overall, the team is 6 games under .500 at 243-249-11>

How about the fact that the Pioneers have played Matignon four times and have a 3-1 record overall, having beaten them in 2001, 2008 and 2009 and losing in 2006.

A Look Back at Pioneer Seasons Past:
Since the Pioneers kicked off the season against the Warriors, I thought it would be a good time to look back at one of the team's most exciting battles of recent years: their 2006 heartbreaking loss to Matignon.

The game was defined by a series of big plays that Matignon used to burn the Pioneers. Lynnfield dominated, holding the edge in time of possession and first downs but alas not on the scoreboard.

The two teams battled to a stalemate in the first half with Matignon breaking the ice on a 67 yard TD romp by Cameron Ortiz. The Pioneers tied the score at 7-7 when Jeff Millinazzo returned a punt 42 yards for a score and Danny Canty added the extra point.

The Pioneers open the second half up tempo using the spread offense that was installed for the first time that season. Millinazzo, Ben Salisbury and Chris Costa did the heavy lifting on a 70 yard TD drive to give the Pioneers a 14-7 lead.

Early in the fourth period, Davidson Peguero picked off a Pioneer pass and returned it 82 yards. Matignon had no longer snapper due to injury and had to go for two but the pass was caught out of bounds and the Pioneers led 14-13.

With 6:41 left in the game, Matignon completed a TD pass and a two point conversion to gain a 21-14 lead. The Pioneers answered again with Steve Palladino and Salisbury keying a 61 yard drive capped by a four yard Millinazzo run to cut the lead to 21-20 with 2:47 left. The Pioneers went for two and the win but Milinazzo was stopped just short to maintain their one point lead.

Trying to get the ball back, the Pioneer defense allowed Ortiz loose for a 47 yard score to seal the win at 29-20. They got the ball back with 30 seconds left and Salisbury punched it in with 10 seconds left on the clock for the final 29-27 loss.

Adding injury to insult, senior captain Dana Barletta was reinjured his shoulder making a hit on defense.

Around the League:
I will also post info from around the league gleaned from area newspapers, look at some scores and comment on the possible affect on the Pioneer season.

For example, some eyebrow raisers from last week's CAL scores include a 26-0 win by North Reading over the Tigers in Ipswich. Ipswich returned 17 seniors and nothing much was expected from the Hornets, so that one is a bit of a head scratcher.

Also surprising was Triton's 40-0 whitewashing of two time defending CAL Small Champ and defending 3A Super Bowl champion Amesbury. Not a huge surprise that Triton won given they are a CAL Large team with a legit load of a running back in four year starter Brendan O'Neil. O'Neil ripped through the young Indian defense for 152 yards and four touchdowns on 12 carries. Amesbury was also hurt by the loss of running back Jesse Burrel who according to the Newburyport News was serving the first of a two game MIAA suspension.

Newburyport looks to be for real as they shut down Hamilton-Wenham 19-0. The Generals have a veteran quarterback in Andy Duval, but they lost 17 seniors so you have to think they'll be taking a step back this season.

A Look Ahead:
That leaves Georgetown as the only remaining question mark since they did not play this past weekend. The Pioneers will get the first up close look at the Royals when they travel to Georgetown to open their CAL Small season on Friday afternoon. Yes you read that correctly. Due to the Jewish holiday, the big game will be a Friday game with a 3 pm start. That figures to be a huge one for Lynnfield and we'll talk more about that key game in later posts.

So that's the format. A little about the past game, some history, some factoids, some league scuttlebutt and a look ahead to the Pioneers' next game. I hope to post several times a week, so check back for further updates.

2009 could turn out to be a huge year for Pioneer football. I invite you to follow along with the Lynnfield Football Gridblog.