Georgetown Game Preview: Friday Night Lights

by Tom Condardo

After nearly a year - 336 days to be exact - the Pioneers are coming home. There hasn't been a varsity football game played in Lynnfield since November 9, 2013, but the boys are back in town as of Friday night.

And what a homecoming it promises to be. An overflow crowd is expected to pack brand new LHS Stadium to root on the Pioneers against the visiting Georgetown Royals. An extended halftime celebration will recognize all the dedicated individuals who made this state of the art complex possible.

Although it will be the first ever varsity football game played at Lynnfield High School, it won't be the first night game ever played in town. That occurred, ironically, exactly 11 years ago on October 10, 2003 when temporary lights were installed at the Middle School for a game against Newburyport.

The game was originally scheduled for Saturday afternoon, but most of the Pioneers were scheduled to take the SAT test that lasted until noon. The previous year, Lynnfield was on the road on SAT day and were whitewashed by Hamilton-Wenham 13-0.

"We got there late," explained head coach Bill Adams in a Villager article. "We didn't finish our warmups. There was a traffic jam. We got there thirty-five minutes before game time."

That prompted Adams to seek a night game for SAT weekend the following year. Superintendent of Schools Richard Palermo and the School Committee granted permission to play the game Friday night citing the best compromise both academically and athletically. Palermo and Adams both said the students tend to rush their tests before a game and the players are generally flat after the test.

The game was scheduled for 6:30, a half hour earlier than most Friday night games, so that the lights could be turned off as soon as possible. Several abutters of the field were not pleased with the decision but were willing to accept one game as long as it didn't lead to a permanent Friday night schedule. Police Chief Paul Romano also approved the game and promised increased police coverage around the Middle School and Town Hall.

The cost of the lights was $1,200 paid for mostly by an anonymous donor with help from the Lynnfield Athletic Association.

The game was eventful in more ways than one. The Pioneers lit up the Clippers 26-8 to snap an 11 game losing streak against Newburyport. Lynnfield got touchdowns from Lou Navarro (six yard run), Andy Poor (8 yard pass from Navarro), Jamie Solomon (1 yard run), and Nick Poti (43 yard run), and a pair of PAT's from Solomon. The defense was immense holding the Clippers to 76 yards rushing and minus-2 yards net passing.

"We wrote history tonight," Adams told me after the game. "It was a nice night for us."

Adams told the School Committee he hoped to play more Friday night games in the future should SAT schedule conflicts occur. Obviously that never happened. The Pioneers have played 61 home games since then, none of them under the lights.

That changes tomorrow night when the Pioneers will once again light up the sky for a varsity football game.

Royal Welcome
The Pioneers come into the game undefeated all time at night at home (1-0), and they'll be looking to extend that streak against a scrappy Georgetown team.

Georgetown, like Manchester-Essex a Division 5 team, has only 24 sophomores-seniors on their roster. They have weapons in quarterback Cooper Martens, running backs Nick DePasquale and Zach Curtin, tight end Nick Calvani, receiver Jimmy Sherman, and wing back Ryan Sherman. Ben Prescott and tackle Jacob Meyers key the Royal defense.

Georgetown defeated the Hornets 14-13 two weeks ago on a gutsy last second call by new coach Justin Spurr to go for a two point conversion with five seconds left in the game. The Royals hoped to put together a two game winning streak last week but ran into a fired up Ipswich team came out on the wrong end of a 41-14 score.

Game time at LHS Stadium is 7:00 pm.