Over the past two plus years, Hamilton Wenham has won 12 straight league games and two league championships. In the ten games not involving Lynnfield, the Generals have outscored their opponents 259-96.
In a word, they have dominated.
They have also beaten the Pioneers twice, but in the eight regular season quarters the two teams have played, the Generals have beaten Lynnfield by a combined 30-29 score. In those 88 minutes of regular season play, H-W has led the Pioneers for only 19 minutes and 41 seconds, or 22% of the clock time. In the past two regular seasons, the most points the Generals have allowed is the 15 the Pioneers scored in 2010. The second most points they've given up is 14 - reached by Lynnfield last year and by Georgetown last season in a 41-14 rout.
I know this all sounds like Dan Duquette saying the Red Sox spent more time in first place than the Yankees in another season that they finished behind the Bombers.
But still.
Yet as tough as the Pioneers have played the Generals, they have nothing to show for it.
Last season, in non-Lynnfield games, the Generals' margin of victory was an average of 24 points. But the gritty Pioneers held a 14-6 edge over H-W until Trevor Lyons and Elliot Burr engineered a late game touchdown drive and two point conversion to tie the game with 0:37 seconds left. They went on to win it in overtime. The Generals then beat Newburyport in the playoffs before falling to Bourne in the Super Bowl, and if Lyons hadn't been hurt in the first half, they likely would have won that game as well.
Suffice to say, the Pioneers have played the Generals tougher than anyone in the league the past two years. The question is whether this is the year they can get over the hump and end H-W's two year championship run.
"They are going to be good," Pioneer head coach Neal Weidman told me. "They're athletic and they're on a roll right now. We're going to have our hands full."
After losing 13 seniors, including most of their mountainous interior lines, eight all leaguers and an all league honorable mention, the Generals understandably looked vulnerable out of the gate. After beating Triton 35-15, they were dominated by Pentucket 34-15. They bounced back with a big effort to drop Newburyport 12-7 but then fell to Amesbury 37-24.
They went into their bye week 2-2 but have been red hot coming out of it, winning two straight. First they handed Bishop Fenwick their first loss of the year 14-8 in overtime then steamrolled Manchester-Essex 43-13 last week.
Despite the graduation losses, the Generals still have arguably the best player in the league in quarterback Trevor Lyons who is a double threat with his elusive running ability and his growing passing proficiency.
He's run for nine touchdowns and three two-point conversions and is currently tied for fifth place in Division 3A scoring with 62 points. He has also thrown for seven touchdown passes, tied for third best in the division. He has also thrown five two point conversions. In all, he has accounted for 114 out of a total of 143 H-W points or almost 80%.
"He can throw," said Weidman. "He threw the ball decently last year too. He throws it even better this year which is a pain because everyone knows he can run the ball. It's one thing to stop the run. It's another to stop both."
The Generals have also some new and old weapons around Lyons including receiver Jimmy Campbell, a basketball player playing football for the first time. The tall target has three TD receptions as does returnee Christian Eckert. Lyons also has some backfield help in standout freshman running back Cameron Macri. The ninth grader has a couple of touchdowns including the game winner in OT against Bishop Fenwick.
The defense has also slipped, having allowed 114 points in six games, an average of 19 points per game compared to the 80 total they gave up all last year, an 8 points per game average. But Weidman still sees a dangerous General defense.
"Their defense is good," Weidman said. "They're athletic. Hopefully we'll be able to do some things against them. But they are one of those teams where they make you be balanced. You can't just do one thing or the other. You have to be able to do multiple things. They switch things up. They're well coached. They do a good job of keeping you on your toes."
If the Pioneers can dominate the line of scrimmage, their spread offense could find some holes in the General defense.
H-W has faced only two other spread teams this year in former Pioneer assistant coach and captain Pat Sheehan's Triton Vikings in the first game of the season and then M/E last week.
The Vikings jumped out to a quick 8-0 lead but Sheehan's young squad eventually wore down in a 35-15 loss. They hung tough in the first half and moved the ball deep into General territory several times but couldn't convert those opportunities into points. They trailed only 14-8 at halftime.
Triton runs virtually the same offense as the Pioneers - Sheehan being the former Lynnfield offensive coordinator - so the Viking coach's thoughts on the matchup are relevant.
"I think that this could be Lynnfield's year against Hamilton Wenham," Sheehan wrote to me earlier this week. "I have seen Lynnfield on tape many times this year so far and they seem to be getting better each week. I would give Lynnfield the edge where it matters most, on the line of scrimmage. I think if Lynnfield can run the ball effectively and limit HW's possessions, they should win the game.
"The X factor is Trevor Lyons," Sheehan went on. "He is the best player in the league and can change a game at any moment with his legs or his arm. HW hasn't been as consistent offensively as they were last year with Burr at tailback but they are a big play offense and with their tall receivers can score from anywhere on the field.
"Also, Lynnfield's defense has been great," the coach continued. "Given the points they have been letting up (or lack of points) they seem to be taking a lot of pride in their defense. So if they can take away Trevor running the ball on the perimeter and make HW one dimensional they could be very difficult to beat."
Last week, the Generals faced an M/E that has been hobbled by injuries. Even so, the Hornets' spread did move the ball against the Generals in the big loss, but they made mistakes in key situations, such as fumbling inside the five yard line.
So there appears to be points to be had. If the Pioneers are over their early season woes with turnovers and penalties in key spots, they should be able to score some points. So the question becomes whether the Lynnfield defense, growing stronger every week, will be able to contain Lyons. If they do, they have a shot at knocking off the champs. If not, this one could be a shootout, not unlike the Lynnfield-Amesbury game earlier this year.
A shootout will not be good for either team, since a key tiebreaker after head to head competition is pionts allowed in games between tied teams. So if one team wins 28-27 and it comes down to a three way tiebreaker, that team will be hamstrung by those 27 points hanging around their neck.
The winner of this game will be 2-0 in league play and still in control of its own fate. The loser falls to 1-1 and will need help to capture the league title.
They don't get much bigger than this one.
Game time in Hamilton is 1 pm.
That's it for now. Check back Saturday after the game for my first thoughts.
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