Saugus Leftovers

by Tom Condardo

They don't draw pictures on the scoreboard.

But although the Pioneers came away with a convincing 35-21 win over Saugus, head coach Neal Weidman was clearly not overjoyed with the performance of his squad Saturday. In particular, he felt the Pioneer defense was not up to par handling the sleight-of-hand Triple Option Offense of the Sachems.

"We couldn't get it done today," Weidman told me concerning the inability of his defense to play the same type of effective assignment football they executed against Newburyport last week. "I guess they thought they should do it their way for a little bit. In the second half, they did it our way a little bit better so hopefully they'll be able to continue  to do that.

The numbers show there was a difference. In the first half, Saugus knifed through the Pioneer defense for 197 rushing yards. The Sachems were thrown for a loss only once and held to no gain one other play. They gained positive yardage the other 25 times they ran the ball. In the second half, the Pioneers slowed down the Sachems, holding them to 119 yards. They never lost any yards, but were held for no gain four times, including the two biggest holds on third and fourth down in the third quarter stand that turned the game around.

Weidman was quick to acknowledge that Saugus is pretty good at running that style offense.

"They run a true triple," he explained. "Their quarterback (Justin Winn) did a nice job riding the dive back. He was reading the defensive tackle first and whoever has the quarterback next. Every time one of our guys who was supposed to take the quarterback decided to take the dive back is when he would pull it late and get those big runs. There were some times when the guys that were supposed to take the quarterback and took the dive back actually thought they tackled the man with the ball."

Weidman was also impressed with the tenacity of Saugus.

"Even at the end when we were up 35-13 they weren't ready to wave the white flag," Weidman said.

The game did give the coach some fodder for practice this week as the Pioneers prepare for the start of league play against Amesbury.

"There's always stuff to work on," he acknowledged.

Short Fields
The Pioneer defense wasn't helped by the Sachems' ability to create short fields after kickoffs. On six returns, Saugus was able to get their offense the ball on the 38, 38, 40, 39, 47, and 33. On average, that's starting at the Pioneer 39 yard line.

"We're going to have to figure something out as far as kickoffs go," Weidman said.

First Time
The win for the Pioneers was the first ever over Saugus. It was only the third meeting between the schools and the Sachems won the first two contests in 2007 and 2008.

Injury Bug Bites
The first key injury has bitten the Pioneers. They played against Saugus without sophomore LB/TE/Backup QB Adam Buchanan who is out with a broken foot. It's hoped he can return in a couple of weeks.

C. J. Finn jumped in and had a solid game at linebacker playing alongside David Adams and Jake Rourke in the middle.

Milestone Game
Saturday's contest was the 550th in the history of Lynnfield High. The Pioneers' all time record is now 277-262-11.

Good Start Good Omen
The Pioneers' 2-0 start bodes well for the season if history is any indicator.

This is the 17th time Lynnfield has begun the season with two wins and the aggregate record of the previous 16 squads to do it is 128-27-3, an average season of 8-2. This is the first time the Pioneers have started 2-0 since 2010 and they have now done it 3 of the past 5 years. In the 21 seasons from 1988 to 2008, the Pioneers managed to start 2-0 only twice - 1991 and 1996.

Twin Powers
The Pioneers have been spelling captain Kyle McGah (5'9" 225) with junior Jake Rourke (5'10" 205) at running back. Both have similar running styles in that neither has ever met a defensive back or linebacker he didn't want to trample over.

McGah picked up 132 yards and 3 TD's against Saugus while Rourke had 87 yards and a score. It certainly doesn't give the defense a chance to catch their breath with the double threat.

"They are built the same and they run the same," agreed Weidman.

It appears they will give opponents similar headaches this season as well.

Making His Point(s)
Placekicker Dan Bronshvyag is off to a strong start going 5 for 5 in PAT's against Saugus after a 1 for 2 performance vs. Newburyport. The sophomore has two tough acts to follow in all time record holder Steve Ullian and Alex Roper who have held down the placekicking duties since 2008. In those five seasons, Ullian and Roper booted 126 PAT's out of the 463 kicked in the entire 55 year history of the program. That's 27% of all successful LHS PAT's.

Bronshvyag is off on the right foot (pun intended). It only took him two games to tie for third place for the Single Game PAT record with his performance against Saugus. Only four other Pioneers have ever accomplished that feat. Roper did it 4 times, Ullian twice, and Mark Owens (1978) and Kris Borkowski (1998) each did it once. Scott Milne holds the single game record with 7 against Masco in 1985 and Ullian is right behind him in second with 6 against Bishop Fenwick in 2010.

That's it for now. Check back Monday when I'll take a look around the CAL Small.