The Falcons have sported a split personality so far this season, beating Winthrop and Peabody in the first two weeks of the season by a combined 84-30 score. But they will lug a two game losing streak onto Pioneer Field on Saturday coming off successive losses to Pentucket 33-20 and Saugus 24-14.
You can bet they will be amped up to get back to their winning ways against the Pioneers.
"The effort was there; it's that we had a lot of breakdowns in assignments," Danvers coach Sean Rogers told Salem News sports editor Phil Stacey in explaining the problems in the Saugus loss. "They had our our guys' heads spinning at times with their option, and guys were trying to do other guys' jobs instead of just focusing on their own."
The question is whether captains Mike Karavetsos and Tyler Palumbo, Kyle McGah and Anthony Costa can come up with the same type of production running out of the Pioneer spread.
In addition to the leaky defense, the Falcons suffered from a sputtering offense in the two defeats. They managed only 90 yards on the ground and 124 in the air against Pentucket. They had 243 yards against Saugus, but almost half of those came on their two touchdowns - a 60 yard run and a 48 yard pass.
In their first three games, Danvers had been employing an alternating quarterback system with Ryan Chasse and Nick Andreas. However, against Saugus, Chasse went all the way so they may have abandoned the rotation plan.
Head coach Neal Weidman knows the Pioneers will have their hands full Saturday when they step up two divisions to take on 2A Danvers.
"They're good on both sides of the ball," the coach told me. "In high school, when you score a lot of points as they have, it typically means your defense is good as well because you have the ball a lot. They go hand in hand."
The Pioneers and Falcons engaged in a full-on shootout last year in a 42-35 Lynnfield loss and despite their recent troubles, Danvers can get on the board in a hurry.
Anthony Garron (4 TD's) and Alex Vallas (3 TD's) lead the Wing T running attack. Garron is also the placekicker and his 37 points is tied for seventh in Division 2A. Jake Cawlina, a big 6'3" receiver poses another problem for the Lynnfield defense regardless of who is at quarterback. He has three TD catches in four games.
"Obviously they are explosive because of how much they are scoring," Weidman said.
Tom Waisnor, Voice of the Pioneers, notes that their captain, Joe Manson is a "stud lineman/linebacker with awesome instincts." His battle with Pioneer lineman/captains Andrew Kibarian and D. J. DeGeorge should be an interesting subplot.
If you read my pregame article in the Villager yesterday, and there is really no excuse for not doing so, you will know that the Pioneers were a little banged up so the two week break came at a good time.
This is the first time since 2003 that the Pioneers have had a bye week. That year, Lynnfield beat Amesbury 13-0 going into the bye and then lost to Pentucket 28-19 after. Overall, the Pioneers are 2-3 in games after the bye week going back to 1995.
Stretching back to last season, the Pioneers have played four straight road games so playing on Pioneer field should give them a lift.
Due to the SAT testing Saturday, the game will start at 2:30 pm. We've waited almost 11 months. A couple of more hours won't matter.
Perhaps the biggest disappointment, as Mr. Waisnor also points out, is that the nationally renowned Danvers High Band will NOT be making the trip to Lynnfield. They are truly outstanding and it's too bad they will not be here Saturday. Oh well.
That's it for now but check back Saturday after the game for my first thoughts on the contest.
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