Saugus Playoff Game Preview: Exam Time

by Tom Condardo

I'm sure the Pioneers have had it up to their chinstraps hearing about their weak schedule. Every comment you read comes with the caveat, "but who have they played."

Well they had no choice. They played the schedule they were handed. The five league games were predetermined. They scheduled their two non league games against last year's first and second place finishers in the CAL Kinney (Large). Both went to the playoffs and one (Pentucket) went into overtime in the Division Championship game before falling to Bedford 22-14.

Head coach Neal Weidman tried to schedule a couple of Division Three teams - Belmont and Concord Carlisle. Belmont never called back and CC basically wanted no part of the Pioneers since they had nothing to gain and everything to lose. This from a team that would go on to have a 6-0 season and earn the top seed in Division 3NW.

Yes you can question the opposition, but it's tough to question the dominance of going undefeated and outscoring seven teams 253-20. I don't care who you're playing, that's impressive. I guess they could have prevented those three touchdowns they allowed. Or played their starters more than a half in their blowouts and scored 350 points. But none of that would have mattered. The doubters would still be out there.

The third seeded Pioneers finally have a chance to answer them all Saturday night when they take on the number six seed Saugus Sachems, unquestionably their toughest foe of the year. The Sachems were nearly shut out of the playoffs when it looked like there were eight first and second place league finishers all earning automatic bids. Saugus left the CAL after one year and played an independent schedule this season so they had to make the playoffs as a wild card. As it turned out, Arlington Catholic got smote by St. Mary's on Saturday dropping them out of second place in the Catholic Central Large and opening a spot for the 5-2 Sachems.

That's really the way it should be. They've had a tremendous year scoring the exact same number of points as the Pioneers - 253. They lost a game they probably should have won against top seeded Winthop on the opening week in searing heat. They had taken a lead late in that game and were understandably exuberant, but were flagged for excess celebration. That ended up giving the Vikings great field position and Winthrop marched down the field to win a wild 44-41 game. Saugus' only other loss came against Division 3 Lynn English in another high scoring affair 44-31.

So therein lies the tale. The Sachems can score. In bunches. The Pioneers have allowed only 20 points all season. That's been about a half's worth of offense for Saugus this year. The question is, can they do it against this Pioneer defense.

The twist here is the Saugus offense. They run the traditional Navy Triple Option which is almost exclusively a running attack. They return nearly the same team that ran over the Pioneers for 316 yards in last season's 35-21 Lynnfield win. Their two main weapons, quarterback Justin Winn and running back Dan Cacciola, are back, a year older, bigger, and better.

But so is the Pioneer defense. Something's gotta give.

Coaches' Corner
To get some answers I reached out to Pat Sheehan, Triton head coach and former Pioneer offensive coordinator and captain in his playing days. Sheehan's Vikings, who run a nearly duplicate offense of the Pioneer attack, fell to the Sachems 36-22 in September. I asked him for some insight on the game.

"Saugus is good," Sheehan told me. "They are a senior heavy team and this will be the first time this season, besides the scrimmage against Masco, that Lynnfield doesn't have a complete size advantage. While I believe they are still bigger, it won't be as noticeable from the stands.

"Saugus runs the flex bone triple option and they run it by the book," Sheehan continued. "They

basically run four plays and they run them well. You first need to take away Cacciola. He's fast and he's a beast. Unfortunately if you take him away there is equally as effective quarterback Winn. He killed us for 160 yards and two scores. Then finally you have a couple of good wing backs that can churn up yards on the outside.

"Their passing game is not great," he went on, "but can kill you if you are all honked up on the run. They have scored a lot of points this year and they control the ball. My guess is that they have more third and fourth down conversions than anyone. They are very comfortable in third and four, or fourth and one or two.

"Defensively for the Pioneers this will be the toughest test of the year," he said. "I do think they'll be able to move the ball and score some points. The key will be getting the Saugus offense off the field.

"On the defensive side of the ball, Saugus has the great Joe Papagni influence over there this year, " Sheehan concluded. "They are stout against the run but not great against the pass."

Return of the Native
For those not familiar, Papagni is a Lynnfield resident and current Pioneer head lacrosse coach. He was also the Pioneers' defensive coordinator from 2000-2004 and put together the third best defense in the past 24 years of Lynnfield High football. The 2003 squad allowed only 11 points per game. That team posted a 6-4 record, the only the second winning season for the Pioneers from 1992 to 2008.

I caught up with Papagni to get his take on the game.

"It's going to be fun," he said. "(Lynnfield) has so many weapons. You have to stop the run and the pass. It's just about preparing."

He said he was looking forward to facing some of his laxmen on the other sideline. I tried to find out how he planned to defense the Pioneers but he wouldn't oblige.

"I should be watching film, not talking to you," he said.

So no help there. We'll have to see what he cooks up Saturday night.

Storm Clouds
Unfortunately for the Pioneers, another factor has creeped into the equation - the weather. The game was originally scheduled for Friday night when it's supposed to be cloudy with temps around 48 with a 7 mph wind. Understandably, the game was moved because of Halloween and the forecast for Saturday night now calls for steady rain, with a temperature of 43 (feels like 35) and a howling wind of 20-30 mph. Not good.

The weather won't affect Saugus. They run 95% of the time and the footing at the new LHS Stadium figures to be fine. The Pioneers, on the other hand, have been balanced this season, rushing for 1587 yards and 21 TD's and throwing for 972 yards and 12 touchdowns. They have had the luxury of letting their opponents pick their poison. Load up on the run and watch Danny Sullivan toss bombs to Jon Knee and Cam Rondeau. Try and cover the pass and let Jake Rourke, Sullivan, Rondeau, Knee, and Drew McCarthy gash you on the ground.

If the weather turns out to be as bad as they say, the Sachems might be able to overcommit to the Pioneer run game forcing Sullivan to throw into a gale half the game and with it the other half. They will essentially be playing with one hand tied behind their back.

But as Mr. Belichick says, it is what it is.

Triple Option Primer
I ran this piece last year before the Saugus game and it's still appropriate so I figured I'd drag it out again.

How do you explain the triple option?

Well thankfully we have Youtube. Below is a two minute example of the Navy Triple Option as run by....Navy! This'll give you a good idea of what to expect when the Sachems arrive at LHS Stadium Saturday night.



Basically the Triple Option refers to the three options that Saugus quarterback Winn has once he takes the snap from under center. 1) He can hand off to fullback on a dive up the middle. 2) He can toss it left or right to one of the wingbacks who will be lined up in back of the tackles or 3) He can keep it and run himself.

Defending the Triple Option
So how do you stop it? According to Weidman, it's "assignment football" which means the Pioneer defenders have to know what gaps to defend and which players to hit. When someone doesn't carry out his assignment, option plays go for big gains. The coach said that you have to be able to tackle on your own since there will be times when you won't get help bringing down a runner.

Here's how Delaware head coach Dave Brock explained it to Matt Leon of CBS Philly prior to his Blue Hens taking on Navy this past weekend.

"You are really forced to play a style of defense that you don't play every week," Brock said. "The players have to be very, very disciplined and understand where they've been, who they have to tackle and really as strange as it sounds, you really have to put every single potential person on the ground. If you start looking for the ball, you're going to be in trouble, because you won't find it. You'll think it's inside and the ball will be pitched and you really have to be very, very disciplined and make sure that you play your responsibility."

Sounds like he really has a handle on how to stop it doesn't he?

Delaware was blown out 51-7.

To be fair, the Midshipmen turned the tables on them a little bit. They did a lot of their damage through the air as Navy quarterback Keenan Reynolds threw for 233 yards and a couple of touchdowns.

"We were absolutely committed to try and stop the run," Brock told Delaware Online, "and I still feel like we should have been able to play the couple of outs they shot down the tube on us, but we missed a couple of keys and weren't able to do that. We had a chance to play the ball a couple of times and didn't play it very well."

So there's that.

That's if for now. Stay dry and enjoy the game.

Game time at LHS Stadium is 6 pm.