This is the final game of the year that will be played at the Middle School Field, so as is the custom, serves as the centerpiece for Senior Day. The 13 graduating seniors and their parents will be honored before the game against Manchester Essex in a ceremony that marks a milestone in all their lives.
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| 2000 Co-captain Kevin "Speedy" Condardo and your Faithful Chronicler (Hey it's my blog!) |
Yep, it goes that fast. And from personal experience, I can tell you that it doesn't slow down from here. It's hard to believe, but it's been 11 seasons since my son played his last home game for the Pioneers. The time does fly.
The second emotion is pride. The pride that results from knowing the sacrifices each of their sons has made to get to this point in their high school football careers.
On Saturday, tri-captains John Gaff, Mike Thomas and Jonathan Roberto will lead senior teammates Nico Varano, Jared Owen, Dan Ashwell, Tyler Shaffer, Joe Mehr, Cameron Weeks and Steven Yobaccio on to their home field for the last time. Injured seniors Michael Doherty, Frank Coburn and Jonathan Rogers won't be playing but they will be there to take their rightful place as members of this senior class which has enjoyed one of the winningest three year stretches in LHS history.
With one more win this season, this group of seniors will have won 25 games, a three year mark matched only by the seniors on the 1987 team. Two wins would make them the winningest seniors in school history over a three year period.
Former Pioner assistant and head coach Scott Brennan said something to me once which still resonates. And this is not to denigrate any of the other important high school sports but only to show what kind of commitment and dedication is required to be part of a high school football program.
"You PLAY baseball, soccer or basketball," Brennan said. "But you ARE a football player."
That description aptly fits all former Pioneers who have made it through the football program. And it appropriately describes the 2011 seniors that will be honored on Saturday in their final home game. They ARE football players.
Congratulations to you all.
Now on to the game.
Once all the photos have been taken, flowers given out and hugs shared, the Pioneers will have to step onto the field with the hopes of sending the seniors off with a final home win. To do that, they will have to get past a hungry Manchester Essex team that is itching for its first win as a member of the CAL/NEC 4. They have 10 seniors on the squad which also will make them a formidable opponent.
Clearly they have struggled offensively which is no surprise seeing as HW and NR have a couple of the best defenses in the league. They also fell behind Ipswich 26-0 before scoring two early second half touchdowns to make the game look closer than it really was.
In addition to the Generals and Hornets, M-E lost to Amesbury 28-7, the other opponent common to the Pioneers.
The Hornets run a spread offense much like the Pioneers. Quarterback Corey Burnham has either one or two running backs in the backfield with him. They have a good sized offensive line with six returning starters, but they could get very little going in the running game against H-W or NR. Burnham was able to pick up some yardage against Ipswich in the second half. Besides Burham, the prime M-E backs are Jake Fitzgerald and Chris Dumont.
Burham is not afraid to throw the ball and when he does he looks for John Beardsley and Joe Burgess.
Defensively, the Hornets can be tough. They basically shut down the rugged North Reading running game inside and NR was able to escape with a 14-0 win after getting some running room outside.
Ipswich was shut down in the middle of the line for the most part, but again was able to gain some yardage to the outside and through the passing of Nick Andreas.
Although the line has been one of the key strengths of the Pioneers' this season, they may have to attack the Hornets at the edges and through the air to put some points on the board. Needless to say, the battle in the trenches will be very interesting.
This will be the fourth meeting between the schools. The Hornets won the first two including the heartbreaking 21-14 overtime win in 2007 when they came back from a 14-0 deficit in the final three minutes of play to tie it then win it in overtime. In 2008, they had to battle to beat the Pioneers 35-21 enroute to a Super Bowl.
The Pioneers finally beat them last year in the inaugural game at Hyland Field in Manchester, winning handily 37-6. It probably won't be that easy this year.
You can be sure, though, that the Pioneers will be up for this one. They do not want their seniors to leave their home field for the final time on a sour note.
Game time is 11 am.
Check back Saturday afternoon for my post game thoughts.
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