The 1986 Super Pioneers: Tiger Tamers Clinch a Tie

To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the only Pioneer team to make it to the Super Bowl, I am taking a week by week look back at the Super 1986 season.

LHS Football Wayback Machine

November 15, 1986

After the stunning comeback against Hamilton-Wenham the previous week, there was little doubt that the Pioneers had shaken off their late season slump and were ready to claim their crown. 

But there was another huge battle to be fought, this time against the Ipswich Tigers, who came into town with the same 6-1 league record as the Pioneers. The game was to be the defacto CAL Title game.

Both teams had explosive offenses, but it was the Pioneer defense that controlled this one. They held the high-powered Tigers to only a single touchdown, their lowest output of the year. After what the Pioneers had done the week before, there would be no denying the revived Lynnfield squad.

"That game was the test," Pioneer head coach Bill Adams said of the H-W game in a 1996 interview on the 10th anniversary of the 1986 season. "That was definitely the turnaround game for the season."

Against the Tigers, Adams and his coaching staff pulled out all the stops according to the game account in the Villager by David Angelini. After a scoreless first period, the Pioneers jumped out to a lead early in the second after a "diving fumble recovery" by lineman Chris Loomos. Jay Kelleher than took a reverse handoff after a fake pitch at the Ipswich 24 and cruised easily into the endzone. Dave Frontero added the extra point and Lynnfield led 7-0.

Ipswich cut the lead to 7-6 on a 93 yard bomb shortly thereafter. They missed the PAT but had clawed to within a point. That would be as close as they would get.

The Pioneers then embarked on a 76 yard touchdown march consisting of 10 straight running plays, most by co-captain Todd Coviello. Then on the 11th play of the drive, with the Ipswich defense sucked in to stop Coviello one more time, the senior stopped and tossed a pass to a wide open quarterback Frontero at the 12 yard line. Frontero followed that with a TD pass to David Callahan. The point after was blocked, but the Pioneers took a 13-6 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The Pioneers exploded into the second half when Jason Mochi took the opening kick and motored 74 yards for a quick six for the home team. Frontero then hit  Callahan for the two point conversion and the Pioneers led 21-6. 

Loomos, co-captain Darrell Carty and John Dean led a swarming Lynnfield defense that continued to smother the Tigers. 

From there Coviello took over. His first carry of the quarter went for 68 yards and then two plays later he punched it in for this 11th touchdown of the year. That  made it 27-6 and the declawing of the Tigers was complete.

Carty recoverd a fumble at midfield early in the fourth quarter to end an Ipswich threat, and then the Pioneer ground and pound offense ate up seven minutes of clock to seal the deal.

"We dominated the line both ways," Adams told Angelini after the game. "The team played a complete game. We went all four quarters."

The win lifted the Pioneers to 8-1 overall and clinched a tie for the CAL title at 7-1. The only team with a better record in Division Three was Lincoln Sudbury, a team Lynnfield would learn more about later in the season.

The only thing standing in the way of capturing the crown was the 2-7 North Reading Hornets, who would be coming to town on Thanksgiving morning. Also on the line, if things broke right could be a Super Bowl bid.

Adams was not taking the struggling Hornets lightly.

"We have no reason to be overconfident going into the game," the coach said. "North Reading has won a couple of games in the past few weeks and they've put a lot of points on the board."

Next: Going for it all against the Hornets.

If you played on or were involved with the 1986 team and would like to share a memory, please pass it on to me at tcondardo@gmail.com