Newburyport Game Preview: Men on a Mission

by Tom Condardo

Okay. Enough about the past. Time to focus on the future. The immediate future. Like tomorrow night.

The history between the Clippers and Pioneers at War Memorial Stadium is just that. History. I'm sure the Pioneers are as sick of hearing about it as I am of writing about it.

And in reality, the real root cause of the Pioneer struggles in Newburyport has nothing to do with a curse, haunting, or bad luck.

It's because the Clippers usually trot out a very talented team. That will be the case again Friday night and to snap the streak, the Pioneers don't need a voodoo doll or cursebreaking spell. They're just going to have to play better than the Clippers.

Newburyport lost 18 players from last season's team that went 4-3 to finish second in the CAL Kinney and grab an automatic berth in the Division 4 North Playoffs. An injury ravaged Clipper team hung with Bedford for a while before succumbing 20-7 in the first round. They went 2-2 the rest of the year and finished 6-5.

Graduated are feature back Trevor Bradbury, stud lineman Dillon Guthro, and talented receiver Ethan Northey. The will be led by 14 seniors this year.

Solid Core
The Clippers suffer from some inexperience, but they have a solid core returning. Quicksilver quarterback Michael Shay, who was 9 for 15 for 98 yards passing and ran for  20 yards a pair of TD's in his first ever varsity game last year against the Pioneers, returns with a valuable year of experience under his belt. He'll have a pair of seasoned receivers in Jonathan Bajko and Tyler Therrien. The line is anchored by three returnees in Seamus Sullivan, Peter Greene and Reed Nation.

So although depth may be a problem, the Clipper starters will be strong as usual.

This will be Newburyport's opening game which could be an advantage for the Pioneers. The first game jitters, penalties, and mistakes that Lynnfield was able to get out of their system last week against Pentucket, could be a problem early on for the Clippers. If so, it would behoove the Pioneers to take advantage of them. Squandering opportunities against this team can be fatal.

This is a non league encounter but both teams are in Division 4 North, so it could have playoff implications since both teams are expected to be in the hunt. Danny Ventura of the Boston Herald has the Pioneers ranked first in the division with the Clippers at #7.

The Clippers run mostly out of an I-pro offense with a ton of play action. They love to run the fullback dive which the Pioneers will have to respect.  Look for Shay to do a lot of sprint outs with a pass-run option to take advantage of his exceptional speed.

Defensively, the Clippers will run mostly a 4-3 and they will be aggressive and quick to the ball as they always are. As was the case with Pentucket, Newburyport is strong and experienced in the defensive backfield

Pioneer Offense Balanced
As for the Pioneers, as usual it will depend on what the Clippers decide to try and take away. Head coach Neal Weidman expected teams to try and stop their favored run game this year so he thought he'd have to go to the air to loosen things up. Pentucket's lack of size and inexperience couldn't contain the Lynnfield running game which rolled for 190 yards rushing. They achieved the balance Weidman talked about with 184 yards passing. Expect Newburyport to do a better job on the run game so the Pioneers may be forced to air it out more Friday night.

Defensively, the Pioneers contained the hobbled Sachems for the most part but did struggle with the fullback trap out of the Wing T offense. Against the Clippers the task will be trying to contain their speed.

Regardless of the outcome, expect a hard hitting, competitive contest.

Game time in Newburyport is 7 pm.