A Look at Past Pioneer Football Champs

In the 52 seasons of Lynnfield High football, only seven other squads can claim the distinction of being champions. The 2009 edition is number eight.

Now is a good time to take a look back at those other champs.

Of those seven other title winners, only one other has made it to the post season. That would be the 1986 team under Bill Adams who made it to the Division Three Super Bowl.

But to be fair, as Adams himself points out, getting to the postseason in those days was not easy.

"In the old format it was a lot harder to get to," Adams pointed out. "I think there were 36 teams in each division and the top two teams based on that power point system made it. Even undefeated teams sometimes didn't go."

For those too young to remember that system (most of you?) when the Super Bowl format begain in 1972, the MIAA devised a point system to rank the teams in each division. Teams earned points for their own victories - more points for wins against teams in a higher division and fewer points for wins against teams in a lower division. Teams also recieved points for wins by teams that they defeated. So if  you beat better teams in higher divisions, you earned more points. It was very difficult to make the top two, which makes the accomplishment of that 1986 team all the more impressive.

Lincoln Sudbury shut out the Pioneers 19-0 in that game which was not a huge surprise. Adams has called that game "a perfect mismatch" pitting one of the biggest schools in the biggest leagues in the division against one of the smallest schools in the smallest leagues in the division.

L/S came into the game riding a 24 game winning streak with two players - linebacker Mike Croel and lineman Joe Sims- who would go on to play in the NFL. It didn't help that a lot of the key Pioneers were suffering from the flu that day as well.


Early 60's ThreePeat

The (Blue and) Gold standard for Pioneer football is the unbelievable juggernaut of 1960. In only their third year of varsity play under head coach Steve Sobiek, Lynnfield captured the Dual County League crown and finished with a perfect 9-0 mark. But that was only half the story. They also outscored their opponents 410-64.

Stop. Go back and read that again. 410 points!

For those without a calculator handy, that's a 45.6 per game AVERAGE. They beat Wayland and Ashland 60-0 and Lynn Trade 60-6. They trounced Westford Academy 50-0,  Bedford 50-6 and Dracut 54-12. The FEWEST points they scored that season was 22 and they did that twice. They scored 55 touchdowns and 38 two point conversions. And a stat that is inconceivable in this day and age, they did not kick a single point after touchdown. They didn't really need to though, did they?

The Pioneers repeated as Dual County champs in 1961 although they came back down to earth a bit with a 7-2 mark averaging "only" 29 points a game.The defense was better though holding opponents to 56 total points compared to 64 the year before.

The Pioneers made it three in a row with another Dual County League title in 1962 with an 8-1 record. The offense continued to slow down averaging only 17 points a game, but they didn't need much scoring since the defense allowed only 32 points all year. They posted shutouts in six of their nine games and 20 of the 32 points they allowed came in their only loss 20-0 to Wilmington.


The Pioneers would have to wait 11 more seasons for their next championship and it came in the newly formed Cape Ann League in 1973. Bill Rodan's club went 8-1 and took home the first ever CAL title.

Mid 80's Powerhouse
There would be another 10 year championship hiatus until the powerhouse Pioneers of the mid-eighties began to dominate the CAL with three titles in four years. Rodan's 1983 team started it off with an 8-1 mark enroute to the crown. After a 5-5 season in 1984 Rodan retired and Bill Adams took over the program.

Adams' first club in 1985 was a bit of a surprise going 9-1 and winning the CAL. The Pioneers repeated in 1986 with a 9-2 record that clinched the league and sent Lynnfield to the Super Bowl.

It took almost a quarter century, but the Pioneers are back with a title and a post season trip. Most of the Pioneers championships have come in clusters. Could this year's team be the start of a trend?

Check back later for more on the Thanksgiving Day and the upcoming playoff.