Around the CAL Baker: Week 3

by Tom Condardo

The Pioneers had the week off but four other CAL Baker teams suffered through another winless week. The non-Lynnfield Bakers wrapped up the first three weeks of the season with a combined 0-10 record having been outscored by non-league opponents 308-71.

I'll take a look at last week's action, preview the opening week Baker schedule, and review the updated Division 4 North Power Rankings. I also present what could be an interesting scenario developing in the playoff race.

But first  a look a this week's standings.




The best Baker performance of the week came in Hamilton where the Generals battled a strong North Reading team before falling 21-13. The Hornets have been flying under the radar but with a hard hitting defense and their relentless single wing offense humming along, they should contend in the CAL Kinney.

The teams battled throughout the contest. The Hornets capitalized on a General fumble on its opening drive to take a 7-0 lead. Hamilton-Wenham knotted it on a short TD blast by Jimmy Littlefield who is emerging as another classic hard running General back. He carried 21 times for 120 yards on the day. The Hornets went up 14-7 later in the second quarter but Littlefield's four yard run near the end of the half cut the lead to 14-13. The PAT was no good and the Hornets held a slim one point lead at the break.

The turning point came right after the half when a long Littlefield run got the Generals to the Hornet five yard line. But North Reading held, knocking down a fourth down pass at the goal line. They broke a 68 yard TD run shortly thereafter to hold on for the win.

The Generals had several chances in the second half but couldn't come up with the big play when they needed it. They will take their 0-2 start into their Baker Opening game - a Thanksgiving Day preview Friday night against Ipswich.

The Tigers meanwhile, threw a scare into Newburport last week, leading the Clippers for most of the first half before getting burned by a couple of long pass plays. Ipswich picked off a Michael Shay pass on Newburyport's opening drive but couldn't punch it in. They settled for a 27 yard field goal to take a 3-0 lead. The Clippers came right back to take the lead on a 30 yard pass from Shay to JJ Bajko- the duo who had success against the Pioneers.

Ipswich retook the lead early in the second quarter when quarterback Jake Long ran it in from the two to give the Tigers a 10-7 lead. The Clippers converted a Long interception into a late first half TD to go up 15-10 at the half. They extended it to 22-15 in the third period and ended the scoring by blocking an Ipswich punt and returning it for a score to make it 28-10 early in the fourth quarter.

The Tigers will try to regroup in their Baker League opener at home against the Generals.

Amesbury held their own against Pentucket for a while, holding the Sachems to a 0-0 first half. Unfortunately for the Indians, the roof fell in during a third quarter that saw the Sachems score four times - two Jeff Porter runs, a pick six interception and a block punted returned for a score. They added a fourth quarter TD to go up 36-0. The Indians scored their lone TD on a 65 yard Brad Kelleher run late in the fourth.

The Indians host the Pioneers Friday night.

Manchester-Essex played better in week two but fell to Greater Lawrence 22-6. The took a quick 6-0 lead when Craig Carter hit Jack Hennigan with a 38 yard TD pass early in the first quarter. Unfortunately for the Hornets, the Reggies answered with three straight TD's - one each in the second, third and fourth quarters for the win.

M/E and Georgetown - who was idle this week - will put on another Tday preview game on Saturday in Georgetown.

Division Four North Power Rankings

The Pioneers had a good week without even playing. Thanks to wins by Pentucket and Newburyport, Lynnfield picked up six points to vault into a first place tie with Winthrop with a Power Ranking of 13.00.

Although it's early, a couple of teams bear watching as the playoff hunt plays out. Saugus appears to be a wagon this season, averaging nearly 38 points a game with their tricky Navy triple option. The Pioneers understand that very well as they had a difficult time stopping the Sachems last season. Saugus returned basically the same team. Winthrop, the smallest school in the division, handed the Sachems their only loss in the opening weekend in a wild 44-41 comeback win. The victory was aided by a "excess celebration" penalty against Saugus late in the game that gave the Vikings great field position on their winning drive.

If Saugus continues to play well, a scenario exists where they may regret dropping out of the CAL this season. They petitioned the Northeast Conference for reentry and they agreed for next year but this year the Sachems are playing as independents. That could come back to haunt them since the first and second place finishers in each league automatically qualify for the playoffs. Since Saugus is not in a league, they have to make it as a wild card. That wouldn't have been a problem last season when three wild card teams got in, but looking at this year's teams, there is a possibility of the eight team field being made up of only first and second place league finishers.

In an evenly balanced CAL Kinney, unless Masco finishes first or second, two slots could go to Division 4 teams. In the Baker, if M/E or Georgetown fail to come in first or second, two more automatic Division 4 slots would be gone. Bedford is a first or second place contender in the Dual County league and Winthrop looks likely to finish first or second in the Northeast Small. That would be six automatic slots.

Stoneham and Watertown are currently 2-0 in the Middlesex Freedom, but have yet to play the big boys in that league. Arlington Catholic is 1-1 in the Catholic Central Large. If two of those three teams finish first or second, that could eat up the last two slots in the division and leave Saugus out in the cold regardless of their power rating.

That scenario is a long way off but it will be interesting to see how that plays out.

That's it for now. Check back Thursday night for my Amesbury game review.