Around the CAL Baker - Week 7

by Tom Condardo

So another Baker season is wrapped up and now it's on to the playoffs for two teams and into the post regular season games for the other four members of the league. I'll wrap up the final Baker League action and then take a look at the upcoming Division Four North playoffs which start Friday night.

First, the final Baker standings.



Amesbury pulled off the upset in Manchester, upending the Hornets in a slugfest 21-6. The loss knocked Manchester-Essex out of the Division Five playoffs.

The Indian defense was strong, holding the Hornets to a single touchdown and stopping them three times in the red zone. The teams battled through a scoreless first half but the Hornets took a 6-0 lead in the third when Charlie Otterbein hit Jake Rich for a 60 yard TD strike. That would be it for the M/E offense.

The Indians answered quickly to take a 7-6 lead on a Adam Incontri 15 yard run. Brandon Doucette and Brandon Kelleher added touchdowns to account for the final score.

The Ipswich defense took control to lead the Tigers to a 13-0 win over a stubborn Georgetown squad. The win lifted Ipswich into the seventh seed in the D4 playoffs and a rematch with North Reading.

Division Four North Playoffs

Here are the final results for the division.



The D4N playoffs have turned into a Cape Ann League jamboree with two teams from the Baker and three from the Kinney pulling down five of the eight playoff spots.

As usual, it was a mad scramble for playoff positioning with the final seedings not decided until Saturday afternoon. Pentucket, North Reading, Lynnfield, Stoneham, and Ipswich had locked up spots going into the weekend, but there were still four teams scrambling for the final three spots. Only one of the seeds was settled with Pentucket locked in the #1 slot.

Pat Sheehan's Triton Vikings made the biggest move, holding on for a huge 27-26 win over Masco, the second straight year the Vikes have beaten the Chieftains. A loss may have knocked Triton out of the playoffs, but the win vaulted them into the fourth seed and a home game for the first round. It's going to be Old Tyme Football up in Byfield as the Vikes will host Stoneham at their high school field on Friday night. There's no stands or pressbox - both condemned and torn down before the season - so the fans will have to ring the field to watch what is shaping up to be a hard fought battle.

Watertown's 21-14 win over Stoneham allowed the Pioneers to hold on to their #3 seed and set up a Pioneer Stadium matchup with the Raiders on Friday night. Ipswich's win over Georgetown helped the Tigers squeak by Bedford by two points and avoid Pentucket in the first round. Instead Ipswich travels to North Reading for a rematch with the Hornets. Due to a conflict with Field Hockey Senior Night at Arthur Kenney Field on Friday, the game will be played Saturday afternoon. Bedford fell to Wayland Friday night and dropped to the #8 seed.

NR beat the Tigers 27-15 in Week One, and the Hornets have been rolling ever since - with the exception of their lone loss to Pentucket. The Tigers are the feel-good Cinderella story of the season, reaching the playoffs for the first time since 2006 under new head coach Kevin Fessette. Unfortunately the clock is likely to strike midnight in North Reading for the scrappy Tigers who appear to be decided underdogs.

Barring a monumental Ipswich upset, the winner of the Watertown/Lynnfield game will be heading to North Reading for a division semi-final game. Turkey dinner three weeks early perhaps? The Pioneers have to get by a tough Watertown team first and that will be no easy task. More on the matchup later in the week.

Pentucket hosts #8 seed Bedford Saturday afternoon in a rematch of the 2013 division final. The Buccaneers won that one in overtime but the Sachems are scary-good this year and will be tough to beat anywhere but especially at home.

The D4N playoffs features some new blood as this will be the maiden playoff voyage for both Ipswich and North Reading. Pentucket, Bedford, and Stoneham return after missing out last season. The Pioneers, Watertown, and Triton are the only returnees from last season. Interestingly, Hamilton-Wenham, Saugus, Weston, and Swampscott, four teams that made the playoffs last year, finished 12th, 14th, 15th, and 16th this year.

The only three teams to have made the playoffs all three seasons are the Pioneers, Watertown, and Triton. Arlington Catholic is the only school in the 16 team division to miss the playoffs all three years.

That's it for now. Check back Thursday for my preview of the Pioneer/Raider matchup.