Pioneers Should Respect, Not Fear Triton

On first look, the numbers for the Triton Vikings half way through the season are daunting.

• Undefeated with five straight victories
• Two shutouts
• Outscored opponents 175-44
• Division 2A's leading scorer Brendan O'Neil has scored 15 touchdowns, 9 extra points for 103 points

 It's enough to hope that the Vikes, like Cathedral, miss the turn into the Middle School field and head to the High School. Only this time, no one should go and retrieve them. However, a deep dive into those numbers may reveal a slightly different picture than one of an unstoppable juggernaut.

Let's look at Triton's four lopsided victories

• They have all come against Lynnfield's CAL Small brethren Amsesbury, Hamilton-Wenham, Ipswich and North Reading from Division 3A. two divisions beneath Triton
• Those four teams - which Triton  has coldcocked by a score of 146-26 - have a combined record of 2-17 (and one of those wins was NR over Ipswich)
• That quartet has been outscored 554-89 and been shut out 11 times. 49 of those points have been from North Reading. Ipswich, Amesbury and H-W have scored a combined total of 6 touchdowns in 19 games.

The Vikings only tight game was a solid come from behind 29-18 win over Whitman Hanson, the only school from the same Division (2A) that Triton has played so far this year. W-H appears to be a solid team, although their 4-1 record has come against three teams one division below them and one team from their own division with a combined record of 5-15. Triton has not played a team in a higher division yet this year.

Compare that to the Pioneer's schedule which has resulted in a 4-1 mark. Yes they have had easy victories over two teams two divisions below them in Cathedral and Matignon. Those two teams are 1-8 but have scored a combined 87 points to 224 against.

One of the Pioneers' lopsided wins came against struggling Georgetown from their own division. The other was against a solid Danvers team, one division higher than Lynnfield, that came into the game with a 3-1 record..

Lynnfield's only loss came when they stepped up two divisions (as they will be doing this week) against Wilmington. The Pioneers were sunk in that game by the disastrous opening game TD kickoff return and two short field drives by the Wildcats set up by fumbles. One could argue that there were long stretches of time when the Pioneers showed they could hang with Wilmington. The Wildcats, by the way, are 4-1 having outscored their opponents 118-40 and are a solid contender in the CAL Large.

Some other reasons to believe that the Pioneers have a legitimate shot against the Vikes:

• Of all the scoring the Vikes have done, only three TD's have come via the pass. No one has stopped O'Neil (more on him later) so sophomore quarterback Blaise Whitman has had an easy time of it. What would happen if O'Neil could be contained (big if of course) and a sophomore had to win the game with a passing attack that has been in mothballs all year?
• And before you say no one can stop O'Neil, take a look at what the Pioneers stout defense has done against two other pretty good backs. Wilmington's Evan Butters, currently in seventh place in Division 2A with 42 points played the first half against Lynnfield before getting hurt. He carried eight times and managed only 21 yards (2.6 yard average). Of course he did score that 89 yard kickoff return for a score. Last week, the Pioneers faced another good back in Eric Burgos from Danvers. Burgos has 36 points and is tied for seventh place in Division 3 scoring. The Pioneers held him to 51 yards on 20 carries (2.6 yard average). O'Neil appears to be a step up from those two, but the Pioneers have shown they can stop good backs. They will be tested this week.
• The only offense with any pop that the Vikes have faced is W-H which has scored 104 points so far this year. It's a good bet Triton has not seen anything like the Pioneers multi pronged attack which has scored 121 points so far this year..
• Interesting tidbit from last week's Triton-North Reading game: Hornet Bobby Rosano ran for 145 yards and a touchdown against the Vikings. That could mean that Gino Cohee ( led by Lynn Item Player of the Week Gino Cohee who is tied for eighth place in Division 3A scoring with 42 points),  Chris Grassi or George Hennessey could find some running room.
• The Vikings may be without starting tackle Andrew McManus (6'3" 283 lbs) who was taken off the field in an ambulance with an elbow injury. If he does not play, that would surely leave a big hole in the Triton line.
  

The key to the game is clearly O'Neil and whether he is able to do against the Pioneers what he has done against everyone else he has faced. Pioneer coach Neal Weidman calls him "an unbelievable running back who's real physical and runs real hard." Weidman went on to say that O'Neil is "one of the best players I've seen in a while. He's big and strong and fast and elusive. He's so good he stands out, but they have a bunch of other guys that are real good too but they get lost in the shuffle because he stands out. On some other teams, those guys would probably get more publicity."

So what does all this mean? It means that if the Pioneers can play a solid game, stay away from turnovers and costly penalites, they may have a shot to pin the first L on Triton. If they make it easy for the Vikings with mistakes and they fail to contain O'Neil, it could be a long afternoon at the Middle School Field.

Game time is 2 pm.

Lynnfield Connection
An interesting side note to Saturday's game is the deep connections between the Triton coaching staff and Lynnfield High football.

Head Coach Jim O'Leary was the offensive coordinator in Lynnfield from 1989-1996 under both Bill Adams and Scott Brennan. One of his main weapons was big tight end Billy Adams, Jr. who is an assistant under O'Leary on the Viking staff. Also coaching the Vikes is former Pioneer defensive coordinator Dave Dempsey.

As for O'Leary and young Adams, they have a solid place in Pioneer football history. Both were members of the 1991 Pioneer team which went 9-1-1 and just missed out on a league title and a trip to the Super Bowl. O'Leary's offense scored 238 points, 6th best in LHS history. Adams, a sophomore, caught four TD's and a two point conversion for 26 points on that team. He was also a monster on defense from his defensive end position.

In a bizarre end to the season, the Pioneers went into Thanksgiving Day needing a win over the Hornets and needing wins by Masco over North Andover and Hamilton Wenham over Ipswich. If all three happened, the Pioneers would then have had to win a coin flip with H-W for the CAL crown and the right to go to the playoffs. It was all rendered moot when Ipswich beat the Generals on Turkey Day to take the crown but excitement had been building for that potential dramatic coin flip.

And as a final footnote, that 91 team from almost 20 years ago was the last Pioneers squad that has come close to realistically challenging for a league title. Obviously Neal Weidman and this 2009 group hopes to join that elite team.

Check back Saturday after the game for more.

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