Manchester-Essex Leftovers

Any time you beat a team by 34 points and hang 47 on the scoreboard, you know the team has performed well. But the Pioneers' 47-13 win Friday night was even more impressive considering the circumstances.

The game had no standings or playoff implications and the Pioneers knew they were playing a team hobbled by injuries that had managed only two wins. And the big CAL/NEC 4 Championship Game with North Reading is looming on Thanksgiving Day.

It would be understandable for the lads to lose focus in a game such as this.

You only need to glance down the other end of Chestnut Street to see how North Reading handled a similar situation. Now I've seen the NR Hornets twice this year and they appear to be every bit as committed and focused as the Pioneers, but they apparently took their eye off the ball against Ipswich Friday night.

They found themselves tied with the snarling Tigers at halftime, then pulled ahead 15-7 in the third only to see Ipswich come back to within two at 15-13. They threatened to punch in the winning score but a Hornet interception at the one yard line with 11 seconds left preserved the narrow win.

"I give Ipswich all the credit," said North Reading offensive coordinator Ed Melanson. "They came ready to play and after seeing them live and on film I think they played their best game. As for us, we had a bad week of practice and it showed. We warned the boys that this was the very definition of a trap game and it proved to be just that. We came out flat and it hurt, I'm not making excuses, Ipswich came out flying. We were lucky to get out of there with the win."

No such lapses in chilly Manchester-by-the-Sea.

With their efficient, workmanlike dismantling of M/E, the Pioneers proved once again that they are a supremely focused group. That is a credit to both the players and head coach Neal Weidman's coaching staff who always seems to have the team prepared for every opponent.

"We watched them live and watched them on film too," Weidman said of M/E. "They have a lot of seniors and they do some good things. They have a lot of pride too. Last year they proved it against us when they came down and outplayed us."

Weidman knew how important it is to be playing at your best especially with what lies ahead.

"You always want to have a good feeling going into that last one," the coach said. "You need to be playing at your best because we're going to play the best team we've played all year."

Playing the Field
The Pioneers were highly efficient on offense obviously, but they were also blessed with great field position - especially in the first half.

M/E started things off by going for it on fourth and five from their own 46 but Anthony Costa flushed Cory Burnham out of the pocket and the pass fell incomplete so that is where the Pioneers took over.

Their other first half possessions began at the M/E 49, M/E 39, L49, L31 and L34. It's tough to keep the high powered Pioneer offense out of the endzone under normal circumstances, but when you spot them half the field or more, it becomes near impossible as the Hornets found out.

Adam Smasher Redux
Freshman Adam Buchanan, the Pioneers' designated short yardage QB - think Tebow Time, tripled his normal workload with three carries against the Hornets. He picked up eight yards, five for a first down to the one and then on the next play one yard for the touchdown on the opening drive of the second half. He had the last carry of the game for the Pioneers going for two yards.

Buchanan now has 8 carries on the year for 11 total yards but he has earned four first downs and scored two touchdowns.

Efficiency.

Extra, Extra
Senior Alex Roper had another five point extra point night against M/E. It was the second straight five PAT game in a row for Roper, the first time in LHS that anyone has accomplished that. It was the senior's third five PAT game.

Nowadays nearly every team, including the Pioneers, opt to kick for the extra point after touchdowns. But it wasn't always so. Lynnfield High football began in 1958, but the Pioneers didn't kick their first PAT until 31 games into the program. It took until 1961 when Dudley Welch booted one in a 63-0 win over Bedford for the Pioneers to get their first extra point.

So let's see how things have changed since the early days.

Roper has 22 PAT's this season in nine games.

From Lynnfield's first game in 1958, it took until 1973, 135 games later, for the Pioneers to equal those 22 PAT's. All time, the Pioneers have kicked 449 points after. All time Pioneer kicking leader Steve Ullian (75) and Roper who is in second place with 43, account for 26% of all Lynnfield PAT's in history.

Not So Special
The only nit one could pick with the Pioneers' performance on Friday was a couple of early breakdowns on M/E kick returns. The Hornets broke the opening kick for 30 yards and no harm was done when the Pioneers forced a four and out.

On the kickoff following the Pioneers' second TD, Chris Dumont sliced through the Pioneer coverage team for a 48 yard return. Kicker Connor Lordan finally brought him down with a touchdown saving tackle.

On the very next play, Burnham hit John Beardsley for a 36 yard TD pass to cut the Pioneer lead to 14-6.

"We didn't really cover that well on the first couple that were bad," Weidman said. "One we had a kid fall down which created a hole. The second one we kind of bounced over to the sideline and we didn't do a good job. We had a guy go out of his lane so that was a problem."

Run Down
M/E head coach Mike Athanas was quoted in the Gloucester Times before the game that the Pioneers were simply too tough to run against and he would be looking to his air attack to move the ball.

True to his word, the Hornets came out chucking, virtually abandoning the running game from the get-go. Eight of their first 12 plays and 11 of their first 16 were pass attempts. The results were two completions for 48 yards and a touchdown, six incompletions, one pass interference call and two sacks by captain Andrew Kibarian.

It probably wasn't a bad strategy though as the five runs of the first 16 plays went +1, +1, +25, -1, -1. For the game, the Hornets managed 91 yards, 25 on that first quarter run.

Knee High
Last week, sophomore Jonathan Knee made a nice play on a goal line stand to keep Georgetown out of the endzone. Friday night he made a great play on offense to keep the Pioneers' final scoring drive alive.

Facing a fourth and four from the M/E 32, Knee took the handoff on an end around needing to get to the 27 for the first down. He was hit at the 32 but shrugged that off. He was wrapped up at the 31 but Knee, all 120 pounds of him, kept driving and carried the tackler for three yards to the 27 and the first down as the Pioneer sideline erupted in cheers.

Great individual effort.

Everybody Into The Pool!
Knee wasn't the only Jayvee to see action as the coaching staff was able to clear the sideline and get just about everyone into the game. The Pioneers had 13 players run the ball as everyone had a chance to taste varsity action.

"It was very good," Weidman said of his ability to get everyone it. "We really wanted to play certain guys in meaningful situations when the game is still in the balance and see what they can do."

That's it for now. Check back Monday night when I'll take a look at other action around the league.