In 1978, eight year old Jeff Wall, future North Reading football coach "was probably at home playing with his army men," according to the coach. Future Lynnfield head coach Neal Weidman's three year old self "wasn't doing much."
Neither was aware what was happening on Thankgiving morning that year, when the Pioneers and Hornets engaged in a winner-take-all CAL Championship game at Pioneer Field. That monumental game played 34 years ago was the last time the archrivals squared off with a guarantee that one of them would leave the field with the title.
In this week's Villager, I take a look at the 1978 and 1980 games along with my pregame preview article of this year's big game along with two pages of stats for both teams. You should definitely check that out
Championship Banners
After the NR losses, the Pioneers bounced back for CAL Titles in 1983, 1985 and 1986 (including a trip to the Superbowl) and most recently in 2009.
But Thursday morning, it will be back to 1978 for the arch rivals when the CAL/NEC 4 Title and a trip to the Division 3A playoffs against the winner of the Amesbury/Newburyport game will be on the line.
One team will go home a champion. The other will go home disappointed.
Formidable Foes
Weidman and Wall were nowhere near Lynnfield in 1978, but there is no question where they will be on Thanksgiving morning: on opposite sidelines playing a high level game of football chess trying to outwit each other to capture the crown.
They each have their work cut out for them.
Weidman has to figure out a way to stop Carl Lipani, C. J. McCarthy and the Hornets' steamrolling single wing steamroller while attempting to score points against an aggressive North Reading defense that has allowed one touchdown or less in five of their nine games.
Wall meanwhile has to defend a multi-faceted Pioneer attack that can inflict damage on the ground with Kyle McGah and captain quarterback Mike Karavetsos or with an efficient pass game with Karavetsos throwing to captain Alex Pascucci and Matt Kramich, A. J. Gallo and Tony Mancini.He also has to hope that his run-heavy offense, which has attempted only 13 passes all season completing three, one for a touchdown, can penetrate the imposing Pioneer front seven led by captains Andrew Kibarian and D. J. DeGeorge in the line and captain linebacker Tyler Palumbo.
There is no question the teams are as evenly matched as they can be, so what eventually will turn the tide?
Wall certainly has a great deal of respect for the Pioneers and knows what he faces Thursday morning.
"You can't really pick your poison," the NR coach says of Lynnfield. "If you stop the run, they're going to pass and if you stop pass, they're going to run. They spread you out and then run you. You have to pick which one you want to try to stop. But then they can hurt you with the other.
"One of the things about their offense," Wall continued "Is how explosive they are. Against Georgetown they scored the first two times they touched the ball. They're never out of a game where we would have a little trouble catching up. We try to grind it out with a slow paced offense so if we fall behind, we're in trouble. We're hoping not to get into that situation.
"At least with our line this year we have a little bit of size," Wall said, acknowledging the size advantage the Pioneers enjoy. "But they are just huge. I don't know what they are putting in the water in Lynnfield, but we're going to have to pipe some over here."
Wall also spoke about his team's "all-in" philosophy on the run game.
"The fear is that everyone says we're one dimensional," Wall said. "We've thrown the ball 13 times all year, so I guess we're a little one dimensional."
Can The Wing Be Stopped?
"If you're disciplined and you're big up front and you have linebackers flying around, it's very difficult for us to get going. It comes down to footing as well. At Georgetown (14-0 NR win), we didn't have our footing and we struggled the entire game. We feel better playing at home on turf. We're hoping Lynnfield's field is holding up this week."
With above average temperatures this week and no storms in sight, the field shouldn't be an issue although a freeze Wednesday night followed by a thaw during the game could make things a little messy.
North Reading offensive coordinator Ed Melanson, the architect of the single wing offense is certainly concerned about the Pioneers.
But can they stop the wing?
"Heck yes they can stop us," Melanson said. "They stopped everyone else. Even the two games they lost were awful tight and low scoring."
And it's not like the Hornet offense has never run into trouble. Ipswich held Lipani to 63 yards and no points and nearly upset North Reading in last week's 15-13 Hornet win. I asked Wall what the Tigers were doing that was so effective.
"We were dissapointed in the way we played," Wall said. "But credit Ipswich. They came out and said they were going to stop the run and they did. They're better than a two win team. They're very aggressive on defense and they were in most of their games on teams that ran the ball. They struggled with teams that threw the ball. Unfortunately, we only put one or two passes up.
"At some point they took their corners out and put more linebackers on the field," Wall said in explaining the Ipswich strategy for stopping the wing. "They had 11 guys within three or four yards of the ball. It's tough to run on that."
I asked Melanson if he thought the Pioneer coaching staff would use the Ipswich game as a blueprint to stop the Hornets.
"I don't think they will put a whole lot of stock in that one game," he replied. "Don't get me wrong Ipswich played very well but our kids were looking past them and we came out flat, etc. The Ipswich defense is not the Lynnfield defense and I can't see Coach Weidman just copying another teams' defense. He's too good of a coach and I'm not that lucky.
"It would be like us copying what Bishop Fenwick did against Lynnfield," Melanson went on. "Two different teams, players and philosophies. It's a lot like teams that tried to copy the way Newburyport played us early on and it hurt them."
So then how will the Pioneers play the wing?
"I don't think they'll tell me," Melanson responded. "I expect them to do what they have done all year, if it ain't broke don't fix it. They have a huge line and their linebackers are nasty and their defensive backs are just as good. I don't see a weakness over there."
Weidman didn't put a lot of stock in the Ipswich game either.
"I think there was definitely some sort of a chance that (North Reading) was looking ahead," the coach replied. "Knowing that it wasn't a super meaningful game for them and that it was all coming down to the Thanksgiving game. I really didn't matter what was going to happen in that game. They're still going to give their best effort on Thanksgiving."
Keys to Victory
So what does Weidman see as the keys to a Pioneer win?
"The kids know what it's all about," the coach said. "They're excited to play. They just have to realize that all they can do is do what they've been coached to do and play as hard as they can."
Both coaches agreed that the two rivals playing for the title was a special event.
"They've struggled and we've struggled and the idea of both of us doing very well in a season seemed like a pipe dream," Wall said. "We told the kids it's been 32 years since this has really meant something. We told them to enjoy it, but to stay focused. We'll have plenty of time to look back on it later, but we don't want to have regrets. They're taking it in stride. I don't think they fully get the magnitude of it yet."
"It's exciting for the kids and coaches," Weidman said. "We had the Rotary Luncheon and talked a lot about the fact that it will be exciting for the kids to have that experience."
"I was hoping this would be our year," Wall summed up. "But we can't catch a break. We're kind of up but can't catch it when they're down. But it's great. If anything I respect Lynnfield. I respect Neal a ton for what he's been able to do over there. He does a great job as well as the other coaches. I've seen a lot of their games this year and I'm amazed at how well disciplined they are and they bring it every game. That's a credit to Neal. If we can't win it, I hope it would be them."
Stellar Coaching
Speaking of coaches, I've been covering high school football for 36 years and I can't emphasize enough how crucial and what an impact coaching has at this level. I've had the fortune to watch many good coaches and coaching staffs in action, and this years' Pioneer staff of Weidman, John O'Brien, Jon DeMarco, Gino Fodera, Chris Sakelakos, Fern Lavoie, Peter Marinelli, Vincent Calderone, Jeff Gannon and John Bossi is as good as any I've seen. They have the players buying in and in terms of strategy and tactics, they have the players in the right position to make plays nearly every game. That is what a winning program is all about - kids that play hard and coaches who put them in a position to win. Check on both accounts.
"I've been really lucky," Weidman said. "We had some really good coaches and we replaced them with some other real good ones. People ask what do you attribute any success you may have to and really the first thing is good players. We've been lucky that we've had good players. The other thing is that we've had really good assistant coaches. There are a lot of head coaches out there looking for guys to put on their staff, so I've been really fortunate to get the guys that I've had."
One final note. Tom Waisnor, Voice of the Pioneers, told me he is challenging the Lynnfield student body to show up and give the Pioneers a true home field advantage. I told him I would pass it on.
Check back Thanksgiving Day after the game for my first take on it. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone and see you at Pioneer Field Thursday morning.
No comments:
Post a Comment