Pioneer Power!

Before we get to tonight's exciting 30-13 win by the Pioneers, there is breaking news.

Fox25 just announced that their High School Friday team will be in Newburyport next Friday night for the Clipper-Pioneer game. That means the two teams will be previewed on Fox25 news during the week and that highlights of the game will be shown on Friday night's 10 pm newscasts. Lots of other features will be posted on the Fox25 website as well. Congratulations to all who voted!

Well the Pioneers will be hard pressed to provide a show as exciting as tonight's performance in Amesbury. That folks, was one quality high school football game, made even better with the Pioneers coming out on top.

You can read my complete game story in this week's Villager which will be out on Wednesday, but suffice it to say that the Pioneers took care of a number of things on their "to-do" list.

- Beat a quality opponent. Check
- Beat a quality opponent convincingly. Check
- Come from behind in the second half for a victory. Check.
- Overcome a major injury (to co-captain Jeff Gannon). Check
- Overcome some weak officiating, bad luck and poor play (in the first half). Check. Check. Check.
- Make a statement to the rest of the Cape Ann League Small. CHECK.

Kudos to the large contingent of Pioneer fans that braved the cold and filled the visitors' side of Landry Stadium. They were as loud and boisterous a Lynnfield crowd as I have ever seen or heard.

Many of them were looking for the Tums at halftime as the Pioneers trailed 13-7 after a shaky first half. But Lynnfield tied it in the third and blew it open in the fourth behind co-captains Gino Cohee, A. J. Roberto and Steve Ullian, junior Mike Thomas and a revived defense that rose up and smote Amesbury, shutting them out in the second half.

The Pioneers are now 7-0 overall but more importantly 2-0 in the CAL Small.

Athletic trainer Sean Roach will be busy this week. Gannon suffered some type of knee injury and Wes Sullivan was shaken up in the closing minutes of the game as well.


Check back Sunday night for more on the Amesbury game.