By Tom Condardo
Having done this for awhile, I know what it's like to walk up to a coach after a bad loss and ask him about the game. He's just spent most of his waking hours - probably some of his sleeping ones too - trying to get his team ready to play a game, and they end up getting beaten badly. The last thing he wants to see is a group of ink-stained wretches looking for quotes.
Believe it or not, there is some difficulty for coaches on the other side of that equation - the team that wins in a romp. Although every coach would rather be in that spot, it's still tricky for the coach when it comes to post game quotes.
First, they all want to show respect for the losing team and its coach since they all end up in that same situation at one point or another. Secondly, they don't want to say anything that their own players will read to make them think they are invincible. This is still high school football. No one is immune to getting beaten by anyone on any given week.
I thought about this as I listened to Pioneer head coach Neal Weidman following the 42-0 win over Manchester Essex Saturday. The Pioneers were almost frightening in their dominance. Lynnfield was much the better team that day. Not only was the talent on the field better, but Weidman had the luxury of sending in wave after wave of players to join the fray. Hornet coach Mike Athanas had only 33 players (including 9 freshmen) at his disposal compared to the nearly 60 for the home team.
Really what was Weidman to say?
"They have some nice athletic kids," the coach began. "They really get the ball to a lot of guys. We watched them and those guys did a lot of nice things when they got the ball."
Weidman was asked if the Pioneers were just that good. He acknowledged the size advantage both in bulk and in roster size.
"There's no doubt about that. Just looking at the number of kids on the sideline you can see that," he said. "They are pretty thin and they get young real fast. They have some big linemen but sometimes it's tough to maintain four quarters when you're that thin."
It was a very respectful analysis and true to a point. That point being the Pioneers didn't need four quarters to wear the Hornets down - they needed less than two. They are just a better team this year or at least on Saturday they were. However, it doesn't guarantee anything going forward.
Just ask Hamilton-Wenham. They beat Ipswich 28-14 two weeks ago and were probably licking their chops heading into the game against winless Amesbury this past weekend. The struggling Indians had lost three games by an average score of 41-7.
Guess what? Amesbury beat them 20-13.
"It was a different team out there," said Weidman who was at the game and watched the same Indian team his squad had beaten 41-7 the week before upset the Generals.
This is high school football. Anything can happen and usually does. There's a lesson there for the Pioneers who are riding high heading into a game this week against winless Georgetown. But that's a story for another day.
Bad Omen
The Hornets may have gotten a sense that Saturday wasn't going to be their day on the Pioneers' third play from scrimmage. Sophomore quarterback Adam Buchanan rolled out left and was hit as he attempted to pitch to captain Kyle McGah. The ball squirted loose but McGah calmly stopped, picked it up and barreled forward for a 12 yard gain and a first down. Not much went wrong for the Pioneers.
Think Pink
In honor of October being Breast Cancer Awareness month, the Pioneers were dutifully decked out in all manner of pink accoutrements. I saw pink socks, shoelaces, armbands, wristbands, towels, gloves and at least one pink mouth guard.
Great job guys.
QB Depth
One of the more impressive components of this year's Pioneer squad is its depth. With nearly 60 sophomores, juniors, and seniors you'd expect that the depth chart would be rather full. But numbers by themselves don't guarantee talent. The Pioneers luckily appear to have both.
Nowhere is that more evident than at quarterback.
Junior starter Danny Sullivan has been solid as shown by his work in big wins over Newburyport and Saugus, the Pioneers' toughest opponents to date. Sullivan has completed 63% of his passes (22 for 35) for 242 yards. More importantly, he's been a steady hand running the spread.
Sophomore Adam Buchanan, who played tight end against Newburyport, is his backup but missed the Saugus and Amesbury games with a broken foot. So when the Pioneers needed to go deeper into the depth chart the last two weeks, they pulled out sophomore Jake McHugh who has sparkled in appearances against Amesbury and Manchester Essex.
McHugh has 192 yards and a pair of TD's on 13 carries and is actually the Pioneers' second leading rusher behind who has 418 yards on 58 carries.
Sullivan was dealing with some lower back issues this week, so with Buchanan back, he was inserted into the starting lineup and led the high octane Pioneer offense to five TD's in the first half. He carried six times for 54 yards and was 3 for 5 passing for 97 yards and a touchdown.
"It was literally a game time decision," Weidman said of the choice to start Buchanan. "We were going back and forth right before the game and I said if we start Adam and he does well, then it gives Danny some more time. Danny was dealing (with the sore back) during the Amesbury game and Adam still had the boot on, so we had to put McHugh in and he did a great job. I didn't want to (start him today) just experience-wise. Adam just has a lot more varsity experience. It's great to have Adam and Jake who can both come in and do the job. You have three athletic kids there. It's a good luxury to have."
Adding to the embarrassment of riches, the Pioneers were also able to play their fourth string freshman quarterback Louis Ellis the last two weeks.
The quarterback position appears to be in good hands for the foreseeable future.
Teamwork
If you pick up the Villager this week, you'll find a sidebar on McGah's breaking the record for the most all time rushing touchdowns. In talking to Weidman after the game, he acknowledged the importance of the offensive lines McGah has run behind contributing to the record.
"He knows that too," the coach said.
So understanding the importance of the guys up front (and being the father of a former center) I thought I'd give some pub to the linemen that opened the holes for Kyle over the past three years.
In 2011, the primary offensive line was Andrew Kibarian, Jon Roberto, D. J. DeGeorge, John Gaff, and Connor Lordan with Matt Connelly filling in. In 2012, Gaff had graduated and freshman Cameron DeGeorge stepped in to join the rest of the returnees. Dom Costa, Nick O'Brien and Anthony Vaccaro also saw action.
This year there were holes to fill but the group of Costa, Vaccaro, DeGeorge, Alex Ganter, Connelly, David Adams and Steven White have been impressive. The group has ripped apart opposing defenses leading to 1063 yards on 142 carries for an average of nearly 7.5 yards per carry.
So kudos to McGah for all his accomplishments but also a tip of the helmet to the men in the trenches who do a lot of the heavy lifting.
Toeing the Line
Sophomore placekicker Daniel Bronshvayg is off to a torrid start. In three games, he is 12 for 13 including last week's 6 for 6 effort which ties him for second for the single game PAT record. Scott Milne holds the mark with 7 against Masco in 1985. Steve Ullian, the all time leading Pioneer kicker, also had 6 against Bishop Fenwick in 2010.
To put Bronshvayg's start in perspective, in the history of Lynnfield High football, 39 players have kicked at least one extra point. With the 12 that Bronshvayg has in three games, he moves into a tie for 11th place all time. Ullian heads that list with 75 career PAT's.
Squib Kicking
The Pioneers had been allowing opponents great field position on their kickoffs, with teams starting between the 35 and 45 on many occasions. On Saturday, they tried a different tack, with Dan Bronshvayg kicking the ball laying flat on the tee and squibbing it through the opposition's return team.
The results were good as the average starting position for M/E in the first half was their own 34.
Random Notes
- The Pioneers have now won two straight over the Hornets. They stand 3-3 all time with M/E.
- Jake Rourke's interception return for a touchdown was the first pick six since Tyler Palumbo did it against Hamilton-Wenham last year.
- The Pioneer offense has been growing steadily. In consecutive weeks they've now scored 21, 35, 41, and 42 points. Defensively they've allowed 13, 21, 7, and 0.
- M/E didn't get a first down until late in the first half and it came on a face mask penalty. Those 15 yards were double the seven total yards the Hornets were able to manage up to that time.
That's it for now. Check back Monday night when I'll take a look around the league.
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