So instead of trying to recreate the dreaded Delaware Wing T in practice next week, head coach Neal Weidman and his staff get to practice it all this week, then try it out against the Sachems on Saturday. Then they get another week to make any needed adjustments.
It's a near perfect scenario for the Pioneers.
Make no mistake, the 3-2 Sachems will certainly be a formidable foe on Saturday. They are coming off a 17-14 loss to North Reading last week in a game they led 14-3 at halftime. And no doubt Pentucket head coach Steve Hayden will be reminding his boys about last year's game in Lynnfield when the Sachems took a 14-0 lead at the half only to see the Pioneers come roaring back to win 21-14.
"They're good," Pioneer head coach Neal Weidman said of the Sachems. "I was there in North Reading and I saw them play Danvers. They're good, strong and aggressive. They have tough kids. They're well coached. Watching North Reading and Pentucket play last week you saw two good teams playing each other. It was very obvious to watch. We have our work cut out for us."
The Sachems started the season with a rough 21-7 loss to Marblehead, but bounced back with consecutive wins against Hamilton-Wenham (34-15), Danvers (33-20) and Ipswich (14-0) before falling to the Hornets last week.
As usual, the Sachems are not huge. Their offensive line averages 6'1", 181 lbs and they will be going up against the huge Pioneer front wall of captains Andrew Kibarian, D. J. DeGeorge and Mike Soden who average 6'4" 220 lbs. Hayden noted the size when we talked under the goal post last week during the Danvers game.
"They are big," he said of the Pioneers. "Not only are they big, they are also very athletic."
But that is the beauty of the Wing T offense. In this case, size doesn't matter.
"They know what to do," Weidman said of the Pentucket O line. "With the Wing T you can get away with the smaller line because it's all angle blocks and they know exactly how to do it."
Small, quick, strong offensive linemen who look more like running backs and linebackers have been the hallmark of both the Pentucket and Ipswich lineup for years. Jack Welch ran the Wing T at Ipswich for over thirty years and despite having the smallest enrollment numbers in the Cape Ann League, the Tigers were always league contenders.
The Wing T is predicated on misdirection, inside handoffs and as Weidman pointed out, precise angle blocking with an occasion step back pass mixed in.
A couple of years ago in my game preview for the Tigers, I wrote an in-depth post about the Wing T and what is the best way to handle it. I went back and talked to several former Pioneers who had prepared for and faced the Ipswich offense, with various levels of success, for their thoughts on the best way to defend it. Here is a link to that post called "Defending the Wing T" if you'd like more insight into the dangerous offense.
The key to the Pentucket Wing T is explosive running back Cody Rothwell who has run for 625 yards in the first five games including a 235 yard effort against Danvers. His 51 points are 6th in Division 3A. Lynnfield's Kyle McGah is 16th with 30 points.
The danger is that on every play, quarterback Matt Kuchar can hand off or pitch to Rothwell and when the defense keys on that, he can give it to bruising fullback Tim Freiermuth busting through the middle. At 5'11, 235 lbs, Freirmuth is bigger than his linemen and is a load to get down. The double barreled attack is a nightmare for opposing defenses to handle.
Kuchar is in his second year at the helm and if the Pioneers sell out to the running game, he will burn them with passes to Mike Tashjian and Will Sullivan.
Defensively, Pentucket plays the same aggressive, quick-to-the-ball style they always have and it will be interesting to see if the solid Lynnfield offensive line can open holes for McGah. It's not known yet whether captain Mike Karavetsos will be able to go on Saturday, but if not, the tandem of sophomore Danny Sullivan and freshman Adam Buchanan will have to run the show.
Weidman knows what his team faces on Saturday.
"It's good," the coach said. "It's the reason why we really wanted to have a tough, non league schedule to help prepare for the league games. That means each week you're going to play a good team."
The Pioneers will be looking to get over the .500 mark heading into the league schedule and Pentucket will surely provide the test they need. Not to mention a great preview for the Ipswich game next week.
Game time in West Newbury is 2 pm.
That's it for now. Check back Saturday after the game for my initial thoughts on the outcome.
No comments:
Post a Comment