Pioneers Make A Statement

I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so.

Although in classic "what happened last year will probably happen this year" style of most prognosticators, Georgetown was anointed a contender who would give the Pioneers a hard time, I just couldn't see it. Granted they have a good program with a solid head coach and some very good players, but losing what they did, including all-everything quarterback Joe Esposito, it was pretty apparent to me that they would struggle, especially in early in the year.

Which is why it was a scheduling advantage for the Pioneers to play them early. Playing them in their first game before they had a chance to get their legs under them was even better.

That is to take nothing away from the exhilarating, impressive performance of the now-rolling Pioneers in their all around 32-6 bashing of the Royals. The win was the biggest in many years for Lynnfield football. The Pioneers came ready not only to play hard but to win convincingly. In hindsight, it's easy to talk about Georgetown's graduation losses, their less than 30 player roster and their trying to "find their identity" as the Newburyport News spun the loss, but none of that was discussed beforehand.

The pregame feeling was that Lynnfield, which is still learning how to win, was going up against a powerful league opponent who had experienced success, was feeling good about themselves and was feeling confident going into the season. The Pioneers played it that way and in the process have made a loud statement that they plan on being a part of the CAL Small title race this year.

They leave behind a shattered Royal team which is now going to have to pick up the broken pieces that the Pioneers scattered all over their home field. But as Pioneer head coach Neal Weidman said of Georgetown after the game, "they have some good players. It's going to take some time, but they'll be a good team this year."

As evidenced by yesterday's beat down, just not as good as the Pioneers.

Check back for more on the game and some historical perspectives.