Bishop Fenwick Leftovers

Now that was more like it.

After last week's...fortunate...win over Amesbury there was no telling which way the Pioneers would go. Would they have a false sense of invincibility or would they recognize their fortune and learn from the escape?

Clearly it was the latter.

"They watched the film (of the Amesbury game)," said Pioneer head coach Neal Weidman. "They knew they weren't good. I was confident they would come out and play better than we did last week. They probably played a little better than I thought we would."

You think?

The Pioneers crushed Bishop Fenwick, dominating the line of scrimmage and rolling for 408 yards of offense. You can read my full game account in this week's Villager, but Lynnfield started strong in this one and never looked back.

This was the first 400+ yard game for the Pioneers since last year's 30-13 comeback win at Amesbury. They only had one other game that topped the 400 yard mark and that was against Cathedral (421 yards)

This was a team possessed which had learned from the Amesbury game.

"Amesbury was tough," Weidman continued. "They came ready to play last week. They were real physical. We didn't have a great week of practice last week and we played like we practiced. This week was better in practice and we played better. I keep telling those guys that they have to recognize that correlation that they practice better then they play better."

Weidman also cautioned that Bishop Fenwick was not Amesbury.

"Fenwick is a real young team," he said. "They do have a couple of players or kids that are going to be players. (Freshman Rufus Rushins) is a tank and (sophomore Eric Razney) is real quick and will be a nice one. (Sophomore quarterback Nick Bona) is young, but is going to be a good player. He's tough and fast."

It was also mentioned that the Pioneer line had a distinct size advantage over the smallish Crusader line.

"That's always a struggle for smaller schools," he replied. "Finding some bigger kids that are willing to play offensive line."

Weidman also said that getting the first win last week was a contributing factor to how well the Pioneers played against Fenwick.

"That's part of it," Weidman explained. "Gaining some confidence from the fact that they won it. The first one is the hardest one.

Explosive Start
The Pioneers put this one away early, taking the fight out of the Crusaders in the first quarter with two surgically brutal scoring drives. In leaping out to a 13-0 lead, the Pioneers gained 156 yards on 19 plays (8.2 yard per play average). More than half the plays (11) were good enough for first downs (9) or touchdowns (2).  While the Pioneers were mowing them down in those first eight minutes, the Crusaders managed to run three plays for  eight yards.

"You like to be able to put points up early and take advantage of that," said Weidman. "Getting off to a fast start has always been good for us. Whenever we get out to a fast start, we usually play pretty decent."

Thomas Tallies
After being held out of the endzone in the Pioneers' first two games, tri-captain Mike Thomas got into the scoring column early in the third on a nifty 13 yard run. It would have been his second TD of the game if not for a bizarre play on Lynnfield's opening score.

On Lynnfield's opening drive, Thomas rumbled through one of the many holes the Pioneer offensive line ripped in the Fenwick front wall and appeared headed for a 14 yard score. However, the ball was stripped at the three yard line, then bounced straight up into the grateful arms of Alex Pascucci who took it into the endzone to get credit for the score, the first of his varsity career.

Thomas looked much more dominant in this game, punishing defenders and dragging would be tacklers. That included one play that resembled a rugby-like scrum where a hive of nearly all 22 players bounded about 10 yards toward the Pioneer goal line. Thomas finished with 113 yards on 16 carries.

"He ran well and carried some people," Weidman said. "He ran hard. It was hot and humid so we had to get some guys some breaks but he was good."

Redemption Island?
Senior Dan Ashwell had a breakout game which Weidman acknowledged.

"He had a good game," the coach said. "Two TD catches and an interception and a couple of nice tackles. He dropped that pass in the endzone last week and I think he wanted to redeem himself."

Ashwell's two scores came on passes of 45 yards and 75 yards from Mike Karavetsos. On both plays the speedy senior simply ran by the Fenwick defense and Karavetsos led him perfectly both times.

It was the first two touchdown reception game by a Pioneer receiver since Rick Berardino did it against Georgetown a year ago.

Karavetsos Coming
Weidman also noted the improvement in Karavetsos, his junior signal caller.

"He's getting better each week and that's the goal," Weidman said. "He's getting over being super nervous to start the game and he's starting to take some time to get some experience. The kid's come a long way. He's not only come a long way since he was a freshman, but he's come a long way since the start of this year."

The running game has been there for him all year and he is the Pioneers' leading ground gainer with 234 yards in three games. He's averaging 7.1 yards per carry.

But it's his passing game that has improved most dramatically. After a 2 for 9, 12 yard performance against Newburyport, Karavetsos put up an 11 for 18, 214, 1 TD, 2 Interception performance against Amesbury which could have included more completions and touchdowns if not for a couple of dropped passes. Then last week, the junior was 5 for 10 for 159 yards, 2 TD's and 1 int.

Being a stat freak, I decided to dust off the NFL's passer rating formula to see how those performances tracked.

Against Newburyport, Karavetsos put up a 26.16 rating. Then against Amesbury that jumped to 74.77 and then against Fenwick it leaped to an impressive 135. For the year, Karavetsos has a 79.22 passer rating.

For comparison purposes only, former Pioneer quarterback Gino Cohee had an 84.47 rating as a junior in 2009 and a 99.13 last year as a senior.

Palumbo Power
Junior Tyler Palumbo made his presence felt all over the field on both sides of the ball against Fenwick and is fast becoming one of the Pioneers' more consistent players.

Palumbo had several key pass breakups in coverage from his linebacker spot, was in on many tackles and had a couple of quarterback pressures on blitzes. On offense, he had a couple of carries, caught a two point conversion pass and threw several key blocks. He was also in on several special teams tackles.

"He started as a sophomore last year, one of only three starters back," said Weidman. "We expect him to do well and he is. He's a tough kid. He's not very big but he's pretty tough."

Special Teamers
Speaking of special teams, a couple of youngsters made their impact felt on kick coverage Saturday.

Sophomore Matt Kramich and freshman Alex MacLachlan each had a pair of special teams tackles hustling down field to help stifle the Fenwick return game.

Kramich has been doing it in all three games beginning with the opening kick of the season when he stuck the Newburyport kick returner.

Home Stand Over
The Pioneers' completed their three game homestand with a 2-1 mark. They now head out on the road for visits to St. Mary's in Lynn and Danvers for night games the next two weeks.

They have now played four straight home games going back to Thanksgiving Day last year. Their last road game was the nightmare, last second loss to Hamilton Wenham last November.

The last time the Pioneers opened a season with three straight home games was in 2006. That year, they lost to Georgetown and Matignon, then beat Hull before heading out on the road.

Notable:
- A special Ronald Reagan Centennial coin was used for the opening toss. It was part of a nationwide ceremony to honor the late president for the 100th anniversary of his birth.
- The 35 points scored by Lynnfield was the most for the Pioneers since the 41-0 beatdown of Ipswich last November 6.
- The Pioneers are now 2-0 against Fenwick having outscored the Crusaders 77-29. However, with all the young talent Fenwick has, something tells me these games will be much more competitive if the series continues next season.
- The Pioneers played without last week's receiving standout John Rogers who now has several pins in his thumb. It is not known when he will return.
- They also played without linebacker A. J. Gallo, last week's hero for his game winning fumble recovery. Gallo was suited up but was in bed with strep throat most of the week, according to Weidman.

That's it for now. Check back tomorrow night when I take another look around the CAL/NEC 4.