Picking At Some Matignon Leftovers

Before we look at the upcoming showdown with Georgetown, I want to tie up some loose ends from the Matignon game this past weekend. But first to start things off...

Quick Factoid:
You probably know that the school that was originally built on the current Middle School site in the late 50's was the first Lynnfield High School. And you probably know that this is the reason the varsity football field is located there and is still the site of LHS home games. But did you know that the Pioneers' home gridiron was originally known as "Pioneer Field?" Once the "new" high school was built on Essex Street in 1965 and the original HS became the Middle School, the field came to be known simply as the Middle School Field. I like "Pioneer Field" a lot better.

Okay, back to business.

Burned by the spotlight?
Most of the pregame buzz at rainy "Pioneer Field" (told you that sounds better) before the game Saturday morning surrounded the article in Friday's Herald about Matignon lineman Jay Kenney. The 6' 5" 305 lb Kenney was described in the article as "one of the best offensive linemen in the state" and was said to be "poised to wreak havoc on the Catholic Central League."

The senior is being looked at by the likes of Wisconsin and UTEP so there is no denying his talent. However, he had virtually no impact on Saturday's game. The Warriors were held to 21 yards rushing and the Pioneers rolled through the Warriors for 201 yards on the ground. Granted football is more than one player, but how was Kenney neutralized?

According to Pioneer line coach Mike Geary, credit goes to senior captains Jon Leydon and Eric Inglese and junior Evan Panzero, who rotated turns handling the big guy. Geary also credited Defensive Coordinator Greg Haberland for using a slanting scheme by the Pioneer D-Linemen.

"Somehow those 300 pound lineman always have more trouble blocking when they have to move their feet," Geary said. As a four year starting lineman for the Pioneers (1997-2000), Geary would know although Mike topped out at about 60 pounds less than three bills in his playing days.

The Kids are Alright
One of the key Pioneer strengths this year is having twelve seniors on the squad. Head coach Neal Weidman is happy about that. He was even more pleased to have them standing on the sideline during most of the second half as he let his younger Pioneers play almost two quarters of the rout.

"We were able to get some young guys on the field and see what they could do," Weidman said. "They did a good job. They struggled a little bit offensively with the wet conditions and they were a little nervous. They were still playing against varsity kids since (Matignon) didn't have as many subs to put in."

The coach emptied the bench and actually used four quarterbacks in the game. Junior Gino Cohee started, junior A. J. Roberto came in for a couple of series and freshmen Alex Roper and Mike Karavetsos played the rest of the second half. (Sidenote: Alex and Mike combined weigh nine pounds less than Kenney 286-305).

It wasn't too many years ago that the Pioneers didn't have four QB's on the roster, let alone get them all into a game.

Welcome Back
After the game, Weidman gave a shout-out to junior lineman Chris Klotzbier.

"He came back from St. John's Prep last year and hadn't played in a year," the coach said. "We started him at guard today and he did a nice job in there. I'm real happy for him."

Clock Management?
When you read my game story in the Villager (available on newstands today!) you will see an amazing stat: The time of possession edge went to Matignon 27:56 to 12:04.

That's correct. You read that right. The Pioneers had the ball for only 12 minutes but managed to score 34 points. That's what happens when you have scoring drives of of 73 seconds, zero seconds (Panzero's fumble recovery in the endzone), nine seconds, 86 seconds, and three minutes and nine seconds.

Put another way, the Pioneers averaged 2.8 points per minute. Pretty efficient, I'd say.

Okay, enough of Matignon. Check back Thursday and we'll take a look at Georgetown and the much anticipated league opener on Friday afternoon.