by Tom Condardo
It was interesting watching the Pioneers celebrating their championship following the 34-0 win Saturday. I wouldn't call it subdued, but it wasn't the wild, out-of-control frenzy that you might expect. The Pioneers were jubilant of course, but they acted like a team that's been there before, which of course they have. This is their second straight title. And they've already reached the bright lights of Gillette Stadium so they know winning the CAL Small was simply a first step, not a destination.
I believe the Pioneers' reaction says more about the maturation of the Lynnfield football program than anything else. In former days, victories were scarce and every one was to be cherished and enjoyed. As the program has developed under head coach Neal Weidman and his staff the goals have gotten more ambitious and the players are responding accordingly.
All good things.
"We have another league game and of course we want to play well and put ourselves in the best position possible going into the playoffs," the coach told me after the game. "We really just need to continue to improve. It's really good to play a team like (Hamilton-Wenham) just for the competitiveness sake where they stood up and punched you and you have to punch back to get it done. You need that in order to be prepared to play down the road."
The win Saturday not only clinched the tenth title in school history, it also ensured that there will be a
"Points are important," Weidman said to me, "though I'm not big on that. The biggest thing is every game. It really has to be about getting better. So in order to get better we need to play the game and we have to play well."
All in all, a great position for them. And they worked hard to get there.
"The kids have been great," the coach said. "They worked at it. Lifting weights in the offseason and all the other things they do. They made the committment to do it and that's why they're being rewarded for it.
"I've said all along we have really good players. Not only are they good players but they worked at it. You need both."
So the Pioneers deserve congratulations on a job well done and we all wish them continued success as they move on to the next stage of this exciting season.
Extra Homework
I've always preferred covering the games from the sideline and not just because I need to be there to take pictures for my Villager stories. You just get a better feel for the game there rather than from up in the press box.
It's also fascinating to watch and listen to the Pioneer staff as they work their tails off during the games. You always hear it's the job of a coach to put the players in position to win and Weidman and his staff do that as well as anyone I've ever seen.
That skill was clearly evident on Saturday during the game. As the Generals broke the huddle and came to the line of scrimmage, someone on the Pioneer sideline (usually Weidman or defensive coordinator John O'Brien) would yell out to the Pioneer defense exactly what play H-W was going to run. They then would instruct certain players what they needed to do to stop it. And they were spot on almost every single time.
I'm sure the coaches went over all this during practice and the shout outs were reminders to do what they had practiced, but it was still impressive. It also had to be a little unnerving to the Generals when they realized the Pioneer defense knew exactly what was coming.
I asked the coach about preparation time for a game like this.
"We always put a lot of time into preparing for all the games," he told me. Then he paused for a second. "I spent a couple of extra hours on it this week."
It certainly paid off.
Danny Boy
It was obvious that the Generals were keying on captain Kyle McGah, which was a smart thing to do. They obviously didn't stop him but they did "limit" him to 75 yards rushing and "only" two touchdowns.
The Pioneers, took advantage of that plan by putting more of the offense into the hands of quarterback Danny Sullivan. He played one of his best games against the Generals completing 12 of 14 passes for 140 yards and no interceptions. Using the NFL quarterback rating formula, Sullivan ended the game with a 115.17 rating.
He also worked the spread read option nearly to perfection, pulling at the last second as most of the General defense converged on McGah. As a result, Sullivan picked up 54 yards rushing including a two point conversion run.
His continued development bodes well for the Pioneers as they move into the second half of the season.
Championship Tally
As I mentioned earlier, this was the 10th title for Lynnfield. The championship breakdown is as follows: Cape Ann League (4), Dual County (3), CAL Small (2) and CAL/NEC (1). The only other time the Pioneers have won three titles in five years or less was in the early days when they won back to back to back championships in 1960-61-62.
Even Steven
The win evens the all time series with Hamilton Wenham at 20-20-1 with the Pioneers being outscored 671-639. It was the fifth time the Pioneers have shut out the Generals, the last coming in a 35-0 blowout under head coach Scott Brennan in 1998. Lynnfield is 3-3 against the H-W in the Weidman Era.
Lucky 13
Triskadaphobia is the fear of the number 13 but there was nothing scary about the number Saturday.
The win was the 13th straight regular season win for the Pioneers. Ryan Battaglia's game changing kickoff return made him the 13th Lynnfield player to register a point this season. And don't forget the year is 2013.
TributeBefore the game, Tom Waisnor, Voice of the Pioneers, asked for a moment of silence for Pamela Wells, the mother of Alex Rogers, General tight end who lost her life in a tragic accident during a charity bike race in September.
The Generals are all wearing patches with the word "PAM" on their helmets for the rest of the season in memory of Ms. Wells.
Senior Day
Saturday was the day when the graduating class for both the football team and the cheerleaders were honored before the game. Parents were presented with flowers as each player and cheerleader was announced.
Here is the full list of seniors from both squads.
Cheerleaders: Vanessa Caraffa, Jen Caruso, Logan Colby-Nunziato, Sloan Colby-Nunziato, Alexis Finn, Jill Lee, Maddison O'Leary, Samantha Sieger, Aris Valdez
Football players: Shyheim Cole, Franc Kalenderi, captain Kyle McGah, captain Anthony Costa, captain Matt Kramich, Austin Caswell, Ryan Battaglia, Kenny Grant, Ken Julian, Nick Bucci, Ryan Devoe, Efstratios Hios, Pierce James, Matt Connelly, Joe Dias, Alex Ganter, Anthony Vaccaro, Kevin Nunez, captain Dom Costa, and Jacob Dalton.
Congrats to all the seniors.
Kibarian Shines
From the alumni files, Stonehill College freshman defensive end and former Pioneer captain Andrew Kibarian was named Rookie of the Week for his play in a 23-21 win over Southern Connecticut State University last week.
Kibarian matched his previous high of eight tackles (six solo) and got him named to the NoontimeSports.com New England Football Weekly Honor Roll. He leads all Stonehill freshmen and is fifth on the team in tackles with 36 (17 solo). He leads the team in tackles for losses with 4.5 for a total of 13 yards and 1.5 sacks for six yards, a forced fumble and a quarterback hurry in six games.
None of that comes as a shock to Pioneer fans who watched A. K. terrorize CAL opponents for the past four years.
That's it for now. Check back tomorrow when I'll review the league action from the weekend and take a look at the updated Power Rankings.
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