Newburyport Leftovers

You'd think after covering nearly 350 high school football games I wouldn't be surprised by much. Well I was certainly shocked by the events of Friday night.

Before every game, assistant coach Fern Lavoie and I exchange predictions on the final score. I predicted 23-8. But as you might expect I picked the Pioneers to prevail.

Don't get me wrong. I knew there was a chance that the Pioneers could be upset by the Clippers. One thing that NEVER surprises me are the strange events that can happen in Newburyport. But what I never expected was for the Pioneers to be dominated like they were. I just didn't think that could happen to this particular Lynnfield team.

But then I reminded myself that things like this happen in high school football. In my preview I wrote about the Pioneers' snapping of the Clipper streak of 38 straight wins back in 1977. That Lynnfield team, which would finish 3-7 had no business beating a Newburyport team that was 7-0 and rolling. But they did.

But the way the Clippers completely shut down the Pioneers on Friday was actually stunning. Let's put it in historic perspective.

- The seven points were the fewest the Pioneers have scored in 16 games. You have to go back to the 28-7 loss to Wilmington in game three last season to match it. The 24 points allowed is the most since the 26-20 loss to Austin Prep in the playoff game last December.

- The Pioneers gained only 111 yards of offense. You have to go back 42 games to find a Lynnfield offense that picked up less. Back to the Thanksgiving Day game in 2006 when the Pioneers managed to gain only seven (7) total yards in a 22-0 loss to North Reading.

- The Pioneers picked up only two first downs. You have to go back  64 games to match that. The Pioneer team that would go winless (0-11) in 2004 managed to get only two first downs against Hamilton Wenham in a 29-6 loss.

Upsets happen. At the professional level. At the college level. And certainly at the high school level. And most times there is no real way to explain it. But I asked Pioneer head coach Neal Weidman after the game to try.

"They were real agressive and they attacked some things and had some success," Weidman said. "We had a real hard time running the ball. It made us one dimensional. They were definitely trying to take (the run) away and we didn't make them pay passing the ball. We had a lot of completions that if we hit may have got the running game going. But you never know."

"We were on the field too much defensively," he went on, "and offensively we were putrid. Awful."

I talked to the coach again on Saturday morning after what was most likely a fitful night of sleep and following a lengthy video session. He was in a better position to be analytical.

"I feel better after watching the film," Weidman said. "We left a ton of plays on the field. We just didn't execute. Kids started pressing and doing their own thing trying to make plays instead focusing on just doing their jobs. Kids that know their assignments just didn't do it."

"Right after the game, I thought they were that much better than us," Weidman summed up, "but that was not the case. They defnitely wanted it, but we just didn't play well. It just wasn't our night I guess."

Lineman's Dream
The Clippers rolled over the Pioneer defense for 244 yards, the most yards on the ground Lynnfield has given up since October 2008. In that 14-7 loss to Wilmington, the Wildcats exploded for 294 rushing yards.

Even more amazing, Newburyport's leading rusher was Clipper captain Dean Cataldo, a converted offensive guard. Cataldo carried 12 times for 139 yards and a touchdown. Not bad considering he has been a running back for only a couple of weeks. In fact, he is still listed in the program as an OG/LB wearing number 56.

When I watched the Clippers warming up I saw this huge number 44 running with the first team and knowing the shenanigans that get pulled up in Newburyport, I was wondering what was going on. Apparently, with the loss of Andrew Sokol, their lead back in the beginning of the year who suffered another ACL injury, head coach Ed Gaudiano converted Cataldo to fullback to add some power to the backfield. Looks like it worked pretty well.

I wonder if that will send some of the Pioneer linemen scrambling to Coach Weidman's office asking to carry the rock.

Postseason Puzzle
As I note in my Villager game story this week (on local newstands Wednesday), the loss hurts but does not completely kill the Pioneer chances for a CAL Small title and a post season berth. It just makes it more difficult.

I hate to start doing this already, but I'm sure everyone is curious, so here goes.

Hamilton Wenham is in the driver's seat and controls their own fate. They are the only undefeated team left in the league with a 3-0 mark (after a 12-10 escape over a valiant Georgetown team on Saturday). If they run the table, they will be 6-0 and will take home the title and head to the playoffs.

That is easier said than done, since they have to play in Amesbury this week, then finish at home with the Pioneers and Ipswich on Thanksgiving Day. Let's put it this way. If they finish 6-0, they will certainly have earned it.

Newburyport, Amesbury and Lynnfield all have one loss, but the Clippers and Indians play on Thanksgiving, so only one of them can finish 5-1. Newburyport is already 3-1 and after a non-league game against Triton this week, they finish with Georgetown and Amesbury. Even though the Royals have been improving, I can't see Newburyport stumbling in that game especially since it will be played at home.

So where does that leave us.

First, the Pioneers have to win out. That would leave them at 5-1. It would also leave H-W at 5-1 if they won their other two games. Then it would come down to Amesbury-Newburyport.

This is where that final touchdown Newburyport scored on Friday night with 34 second looms large. That score effectively put the Pioneers on the wrong end of any tiebreaker involving the Clippers.

If the Clippers win out and finish 5-1, they would win the head to head tiebreaker by virtue of their win over the Pioneers.

If H-W beats Amesbury and Ipswich, but loses to the Pioneers, and Newburyport beats Amesbury, the three teams would finish 5-1. H-W beat Newburyport, Newburyport beat Lynnfield and the Pioneers would have beaten H-W. Still tied. On to the next tiebreaker.

Points allowed among the tied teams.

Here is where that late Clipper touchdown could doom the Pioneers. Newburyport lost to H-W 14-7 and beat Lynnfield 24-7 so they have a total of 21 points allowed in that three team tie. H-W allowed only seven to the Clippers. That would bring it down to the score of the H-W/Lynnfield game.

Lynnfield has already given up 24 points to Newburyport, so they could never win the points allowed tiebreaker with the Clippers.regardless of the score against H-W. However, if Newburyport hadn't scored that last touchdown, the Pioneers would have been sitting at 17 points, four less than Newburyport. So theoretically, if the Pioneers could beat H-W, score more than 10 points (to get H-W above the 17 the Pioneers would have had) and allowed less than four (to keep them below the 21 Newburyport has allowed), they could have still won the tiebreaker with Newburyport. But already sitting with 24 points allowed, they don't have that opportunity. They can't win any tiebreaker in which Newburyport is involved.

So let's simplify this. The Pioneers have to win their final three games and Amesbury has to beat Newburyport on Thanksgiving Day. If that happens, it would leave Lynnfield in a tie with either Amesbury or Hamilton Wenham and the Pioneers would win either of those tiebreakers thanks to head to head victories (if they win out).

So to make it short and sweet: Go Indians.

Horror Films
For those who are gluttons for punishment, here is the link to Fox25's "Highlights" of Friday night's game. And here's the link to the photo gallery of Friday nights's game.

Thinking Pink
In a nice touch, the Pioneer seniors all wore pink armbands during the game to support Breast Cancer Awareness month. Dodie Bossi, mother of senior nose guard John Bossi, came up with the idea and provided the bands to the players.

Preventive Medicine
We all know what a great job Athletic Trainer Sean Roach does handling the bumps, bruises and more series injuries the Pioneers suffer during the course of the season. Friday night in Newburyport, he went a step further.

Rather than just treating injuries, he proactively worked to prevent them. During pregame, Roach noticed an exposed sprinkler head on the field at World War Memorial stadium. He got to the grounds crew who dutifully brought out some dirt to cover out the dangerous hazard.

You know what they say: a pound of prevention.....

Notable
- The Pioneer seven point output snaps their 20+ points a game scoring streak at 12, Ironically, the streak started against Newburyport in last years 27-13 win in Lynnfield.

- The loss was Lynnfield's 30th against Newburyport with only eight wins since 1973. The Pioneers have been outscored by nearly 500 points (864-379) in the 38 games between the schools.

That's it for now. Check back on Tuesday when I will take a look at the weekend action around the league.