By Tom Condardo
There's no doubt there have been some glorious days in the 57 year history of Lynnfield High football. Saturday's championship win, the third in a row and fourth in six years under head coach Neal Weidman, certainly makes the case that this recent past belongs in the Pioneer Pantheon.
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| Lynnfield Pioneers League Champions 2012-2013-2014 |
I asked Weidman how he would compare the championships, acknowledging that it's like trying to compare your kids.
"They're all very different," he responded. "It's tough to tell because the opponents you play are different. But each team has different type of kids."
He was also asked about the continuing growth and improvement of the program year to year.
"We really don't think about things like that," he said. "Each year is different. Each game is different and we just keep plugging along."
He did comment on the importance of continuing the winning habit.
"When you win the new class coming in sees what it's like to win it," Weidman explained. "That trickles down to them and makes them want to have a great junior and senior year and to win another league championship. If you have real big gaps in between then they don't get a chance to see that."
Weidman also gave a shout out to his coaching staff.
"They work hard," he said. "And they care a lot. They want to be part of it. They take it personally because they put a lot of hard work into it. When things don't go well it hurts them as much as it hurts everyone else."
The measure of how far the program has come is the fact that both the players and the coaches acknowledge that it's quite an accomplishment to win the league title, but it's only one step toward a bigger goal. With a playoff spot now assured, the Pioneers are looking to take that next step.
Dominating Defense
The offense keeps racking up the points, but don't forget the defense which has become nearly impenetrable. They notched their second straight shutout against HW. The last score against the Pioneers came in the latter stages of the blowout against Manchester Essex. The first defense has now gone 12 quarters without giving up a touchdown. They haven't been scored on since the fourth quarter of the Amesbury game. They have given up only two touchdowns all year.
The 20 points through six games is the fewest since the 1962 team that gave up only 12 through their first half dozen games. That team had the best defense in LHS history having allowed only 3.6 points per game. This year's squad is allowing an average of 3.3 points per game.
"They are playing well," Weidman acknowledged. "They continue to do it. It's about lining up right and tackling and being aggressive. As we move forward, it's going to get harder and harder. Each team you play is going to get more first downs and the game is going to get shorter, there are going to be fewer possessions for the offense. That's when the close games occur."
Fantasy Update
You did well again if you had the Pioneer defense on your fantasy team. They did even better than last weeks' 20 points. Ten for the shutout, 6 for 3 interceptions, 2 for the fumble recovery and 4 for 4 sacks gave them 22 for the week.
Moving Day
In an effort to deal with the Pioneer size advantage, General head coach Andrew Morency moved his big tight end Nolan Wilson to tackle. I knew something was up when I watched H-W warm up and I noticed this big #75 in the line. I looked at the roster and it listed #75 at 5'7" 165 and I knew that was wrong. Then I noticed that there was no #85 on the field. That is the listed number for the 6'5" 250 General captain.
"I think they had to," Weidman said. "They might have been down a guy. I didn't see #78 (James Craig, 6'1" 220) out there.
I asked him if the move paid off for H-W.
"With their offense from the tight end position to the tackle position is just one guy down. It's very similar scheme wise. He was good. But it did give them one less big, tall guy to throw the ball up to. Although I will say that #16 (C. J. Cooper) and #35 (Kyle Craig) are real good athletes and that got them on the field more offensively."
#letsrethinkthis
You have to admire the enthusiasm of the General chain gang who came attired in kilts with faces painted like Scottish warriors. Not exactly sure what that has to do with "Generals" but whatevs. They were upbeat for most of the game cheering on the H-W players from the Lynnfield sideline and working the refs the best they could.
You have to wonder how they felt though in the waning minutes of the game with the blowout 35-0 score. But give them credit. They hung in to the end.
A Tale of Two QB's
You can't blame quarterback Danny Sullivan if the ball got dirty at all during the game. None of his eight passes hit the ground. Seven were caught by Pioneers and one was picked off by General Jimmy Baras, the quarterback's first interception of the year against 11 TD's.
For the day, Sullivan finished 7 for 8 for 189 yards and three TDs. His passer rating was 114.6.
Life wasn't quite the same on the other side of the field. General quarterback Thomas Rostad, who was running for his life most of the afternoon, had a rough go of it. He was 5 for 16 for 81 yards and three picks. He was sacked four times and ran nine times for 27 yards and was popped nearly every time. He was briefly knocked out of the game in the second half, but fortunately was able to return. To his credit he hung in there all day and finished the game.
Lee High
Kevin Lee had another solid all around game. He picked off an interception and had a sack and was in on most of the action from his linebacker spot.
Take a Knee
Jon Knee had a stellar day as well, catching two TD passes and having a third called back. He also had a pick.
Handy Cam
Cam Rondeau picked off his second interception of the year, the 12th of his career. He also ran for a TD and caught a TD pass and accounted for 144 yards of offense.
Penalty Phase
The Pioneers were flagged six times for 45 penalty yards. The Generals managed to play the entire game without a penalty being called on them. However that could change. Cam DeGeorge is being dusted for prints as we speak.
Whistling in the Dark
And finally, speaking of referees, we'll end with the case of the fumble that wasn't. On the third play of the second half, Rostand threw a backward pass to Baras who went to his knees to catch it but the ball hit the ground. Clearly it was a fumble and Lee alertly jumped on it for an apparent Pioneer recovery.
However, chaos among the officials ensued. Apparently one of them whistled the play dead when Baras knees hit the ground incorrectly call it an incomplete pass. No problem. It happens. So incomplete pass and second down right? Wrong. The play was inexplicably expunged and the Generals got a complete do-over. The play had no effect on the game since it was 28-0 at the time. Lee got his revenge by sacking Rostad on the next play and Rondeau would pick him off two plays later leading to the Pioneers' final score.
That's it for now. Check back later in the week for my look around the league and the all important division rankings.
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