O Pi'09ers!

If you weren't sure that high school football season was over, Mother Nature reminded us with a couple of snow/slush storms to drive home the fact. While it was painful to watch Austin Prep roll over Holliston in the Division 3A Super Bowl and knowing that the Pioneers would probably have done the same thing, at least we have the satisfaction of knowing that Lynnfield was probably the second best team in the division this year.

Pretty heady stuff.

The mind boggling announcement at the banquet last Sunday that 10 Pioneers were named All League illustrates how far the program has come. Chris Grassi (CAL Small Player of the Year) and captain Jon Leydon (Lineman of the Year and oh yeah, High Honors for the first quarter by the way) led All League seniors Ty Surette, Nick Roberts, Tim Lamusta, Doug Ullian and captain George Hennessey. All League Juniors who will be returning to defend Lynnfield's crown next year are 2010 captains A. J. Roberto and Gino Cohee along with Evan Panzero. Quite an impressive accomplishment.

And anyone who did not get a little chill watching Sophia Hennessey's outstanding video recap of the historic season needs to get checked for a pulse.

A full three page spread with pictures, all the award winners and a my recap article of the records set by the 2009 Pioneers is in this week's Villager. Definitely a keepsake edition.

It's been fun writng this blog all season, since space is always limited in the Villager and there is so much additional information to share. The fact that the team did so well made it even more exciting.

I have had a lot of positive feedback and kind words regarding the blog (and I thank you all for that) and even a request to keep it going during the offseason.  Now without games it will be difficult to come up with material on a regular basis, although I could bore you to tears with a year by year review of each team. Don't worry, I won't. But I have spoken to head coach Neal Weidman and he has agreed to keep me in the loop on the off season goings on, so I plan on putting something together at least once a month.

So you don't have to keep checking back and wondering when I will be posting, I have decided that I wlll post on the 9th of each month, just like today, in honor of the '09 team. So if you ever forget when to check back, just remember this year's team and that should serve as a reminder to tune in on the 9th of the month.

So to wrap up the season proper, I though I would do a quick review of the season, so we can all look back and enjoy one more time. And just as an aside, as I continue to post in the future, something tells me I am going to be referring to this 2009 club a good deal regarding "best since" and "most since" references. So I thought I'd hang a nickname on this year's championship season and I'm going to use Pi'09ers. I'm not sure if its pretty clever or just lame so I'll work with it a while to see how it feels before I make a final determination.

Now on to a quick look back.

Many people have heard the phrase "potential means you haven't done anything yet," particularly when it comes to sports. Coming into the season, the Pi'09ers had plenty of potential and actually had huge expectations heaped on them. The coaching staff tried to put a lid on it to keep the pressure off the players, but it was obvious that if it was ever going to happen for Lynnfield Football, this would be the year.

The first sign for me that something special was happening was the scrimmage against Northeast Regional. This was my 21st visit to the stadium by the rocks in Wakefield. It's always a good test for Lynnfield because the Knights usually have tough kids that play hard. I have seen scrimmages in which the Pioneers have held their own, some when they got pushed around and a few when they have done very well.

But this year, the domination was striking. Lynnfield piled up 34 points in a game like scrimmage. NE finally scored when the Lynnfield subvarsity checked in. Now I felt all along that this Lynnfield team had the horses, but after watching the way they dominated Northeast, my first reaction was that the Knights were in for a down year.

Not quite. In case you hadn't noticed, Northeast finished 6-5,  went 4-0 in winning their league (Commonwealth Small) and beat Brighton 22-12 in the Division 4A Super Bowl last Saturday.

The Pi'09ers got off on the right foot with a 34-7 beating of Matignon that could have been more had not Weidman called off the dogs early and let the backups and subvarsity pick up some valuable playing time. Another sign of what was to come. 6:'5" Warrior lineman Jay Kennedy was featured in the Boston Herald the Friday before the game but he was obliterated by what would become a powerful Lynnfield line led by Leydon, captain Eric Inglese and Panzero.

Things really started to come into focus at Georgetown the following week. All the preseason hype was that the Royals would be in the thick of things in the CAL Small. But with the graduation of all everyting Joe Esposito and standout lineman Matt Kumph, I never bought into Georgetown this season. I didn't have the nerve to say so, but it turned out that way as the Pi'09ers shredded Georgetown 32-6 and sent them reeling towards a 1-9 season.

The only bad news coming out of the Georgetown game was the loss of center Greg Banos. As Weidman related at the banquet, the three year starter had been playing his best football up to that time. For him to lose his entire senior season was a tough blow obviously for him, but also for the team. In presenting Banos the Matignon game ball, coach Mike Geary went as far as to say that "if he didn't get hurt, there is no question in my mind that we would be celebrating a Super Bowl victory."

Weidman recalled the decision process that the staff went through following the injury to Banos. They decided to move Doug Ullian to center (despite him never having snapped before) and brought sophomore Jon Roberto into the lineup. Weidman noted that Banos stayed with the team and worked with Ullian whenever he could.

Unfortunately for Lynnfield, the first game for the retooled line was a tough road game against the physical Wilmington Wildcats. The large Lynnfield crowd knew they were in for a tough night when Evan Butters returned the opening kick for a touchdown and then the Pioneers fumbled the first snap from center deep in their own territory. The Wildcats turned that into a score shortly after and Lynnfield was quickly in a 14-0 hole.

They recovered somewhat, battling back to 14-7 at the half, but in the second half they never could stop the Wildcats and suffered their only regular season loss, 28-7.

In a brilliant piece of scheduling, the Pi'09ers were able to try and rebound against Cathedral the following week, although at about 10:45, there was serious concern that the Panthers were going to show up at Pioneer Field. Apparently they had the wrong directions and ended up at the High School. Assistant Coach Pat Sheehan quickly retrieved them.  In a replay of the Matignon game, the Pi'09ers ravaged the Panthers 34-8 to get Lynnfield back on the winning track and improved their record to 3-1.

Then came the toughest four game stretch of the season, that would reveal how good the Pi'09ers really were. Two tough non league games against Danvers (Division 3) and Triton (Division 2A) followed by defending CAL Small and Division 3A Champ Amesbury and a potential winner take all showdown with Newburyport.

At the time, if you had said Lynnfield would sweep all four games by an aggregate 76-48, you wouldn't have gotten too many people to believe you. But that is exactly what they did.

Cohee nearly singled handedly shredded Danvers, picking up 192 rushing yards and a TD. In a steady rain, another common theme for the Pi'09ers,. Lynnfield built a 14-0 lead and then held on for dear life in a wild final few minutes. A last minute iinterception by Roberts finally sealed a huge confidence boosting win for Lynnfield.

They got another shot of confidence the next week when they took on undefeated Triton and super running back Brendan O'Neil. In a see saw game that saw the lead change six times, the Pi'09ers trailed 19-18 with 3:41 to play. From there, Lynnfield embarked on a 56 yard march with Cohee carrying seven times. As assistant coach Pat Sheehan described it at the banquet, there was nothing fancy about the drive. "It was quarterback power right and quarterback power left." With nine seconds left and the ball on the five yard line, record breaking kicker, and 2010 captain Steve Ullian calmly drilled a 22 yard field goal for the 21-19 win. The Pi'09ers moved to 5-1 and were perfectly set up for their league schedule which was to begin the following week.

Problem was, they came out against Amesbury and laid an egg in the middle of Pioneer Field.. Weidman acknowledged that his squad was outplayed, but they didn't lose. With the Pi'09ers trailing 10-7 midway in the fourth, Panzero and Lamusta combined for the play of the year. Panzero stripped Amesbury running back Jesse Burrill and Lamusta picked it up and ran it in for the score to give Lynnfield the 14-10 win.

That set up the huge showdown with Newburport at Pioneer field. The Pi'09ers set the tone on the very first drive. They won the toss, elected to receive and ran the ball right down the Clippers' throats on a 74 yard, four minute scoring drive. The Clippers really never recovered. Lynnfield built a 27-0 lead that showed how dominant they were. Newburyport scored two meaningless TD's to make it a 27-13 final, but it wasn't that close. Most impressive is that the Pi'09ers were riddled with injuries as Cohee played on a bad ankle, A. J. Roberto played with a broken hand and Grassi had a sore thumb. The Clippers, though, were the ones who left bruised and beaten.

With the tiebreaker advantage against Amesbury and Newburyport, the Pi'09ers had their fate in their own hands. They went to Ipswich and had to face a Tiger team with 17 seniors riding a 29 game losing streak. It was a game that was never in doubt, but one in which Lynnfield fans could never really feel comfortable. And also it was in the rain again. They got out of town with a 20-3 win.

The Pi'09ers only needed to beat either Hamilton Wenham or North Reading to secure the league title, but no one wanted it to come down to Thanksgiving Day. It was another lackluster effort against H-W, caused by sickness and an emotional trauma caused by the sudden death of Freddy Shove's sister in an auto accident.

But the Pi'09ers easily defeated the Generals 21-3 who were punchless without injured quarterback Andy Duval. For the first time in 23 years, Lynnfield celebrated a league championship and punched their ticket to the postseason.

Thanksgiving Day was simply icing on the cake as the Pi'09ers took care of business routing the shorthanded Hornets 35-14. Mike Pescione had a pair of touchdowns and the relentless defense harassed NR quarterback John Brooks all morning at the brand new $2 million field at North Reading High.

Five days later, the Pi'09ers travelled to Reading High and took on Austin Prep and as we are all so painfully aware, came up a couple of plays short of making the trip to Gillette. The 26-20 OT loss was a tough ending, but one which should not detract one iota from a tremdous season.

A final word about this coaching staff. I have covered high school football for more years than I care to think about, and I can tell you with assurance that coaching makes a HUGE difference in the success of a program. Yes you need players, but good coaching staffs put their players in position to win. From what I have observed over the past two years, this coaching staff does just that. It is obvious that Weidman, defensive coordinator Greg Haberland and assistant coaches Pat Sheehan, Mike Geary, John O'Brien, Gino Fodero, Fern Lavoie and Sean Roche put in ton of time getting the team ready. Not only do they know football, but they care about the kids and put an enormous amount of time which allows them to be successful. They are to be commended.

After years of struggling, Lynnfield football is back. With 13 seniors next year, the Pioneers will be looking to continue to build on the foundation laid by the Champion Pi'09ers. Next season can't come fast enough.

See you back here on January 9th.