by Tom Condardo
There are two kinds of big plays in football: the ones that go for huge chunks of yardage and those that come at important times in the game. The Pioneers featured both in another impressive playoff win Friday night. And make no mistake, despite the apparent blow out score, there were several key points in the game where the Pioneers needed to make a big play and they came through nearly every time.
There were several other big - as in important - plays in this one.
We can begin with one late in the first half. Leading 7-0, the Pioneers were pinned on their own 20, facing a 3rd and 10 into a stiff wind. Failure to convert there likely gives Swampscott the ball back in good field position with an opportunity to drive in for the tying score. Instead, Sullivan rifled one 40 yards in the air through the wind into the arms of a streaking Knee. Knee was brought down at the 27 and the Pioneers didn't score on the drive, but the play got Lynnfield out of the hole and flipped field position.
Another big play occured early in the second period when Rondeau picked off Devin Conroy at midfield and ran it back to the Big Blue 19. Sullivan scored four plays later to give the Pioneers some breathing room at 14-0.
A couple of minutes later, the Pioneers faced a third and six from midfield and Sullivan responded by throwing another strike to Rondeau for the 49 yard TD to put the Pioneers up by three TD's.
Starting the second half up 28-0 you would think there were no more key plays to be had, but that's not the case. The Zombie Big Blue, refusing to die, rolled right down the field to open the second half to get on the board at 28-7. The Pioneers went three and out and Swampscott went on the march again.
They obviously figured something out and were finding holes in the Pioneer defense. They quickly moved to the Pioneer 19 and the Lynnfield crowd definitely got a little fidgety.
"They did a few different things in the second half," said Pioneer head coach Neal Weidman. "They were attacking different areas and did a good job with that. They were also trying to come out quick and take advantage of the wind in that third period."
Then came a series of big plays by the Pioneers that prevented this one from turning into a ball game.
On second and three, Cam DeGeorge blew up an inside handoff by tackling both running back Mike Faia and quarterback Conroy (who actually had the ball) for a three yard loss. On third and six, a heavy pass rush - led by DeGeorge - forced an incomplete pass. On fourth and six, DeGeorge came up big again by hauling down Conroy after a two yard gain short of the first down.
"Cam has played great all year," said Weidman. "He's been a good player for us for three years."
The Pioneers took over and four plays later Sullivan hit Knee with a 65 yarder to put this out of reach. The sequence was a 14 point swing and turned what could have been a 28-14 game into a 35-7 rout.
If you classify third and fourth down plays as "big," the Pioneers clearly won that battle. The Big Blue was 1 for 13 on third down and 3 for 6 on fourth down for a combined 4 for 19 or 21% success. The Pioneers were 5 for 10 on third down and 0 for 1 on fourth down for a 5/11 success rate or 45% conversion. That was a key factor in the game.
Passing Fancy
I talked last week about how the Pioneers were gaining about 35% of their yardage in the passing game. And although the opening drive featured a nine play Jake Rourke-fest on the ground, the Pioneers ended up gaining 221 of their 322 yards (69%) through the air. That reason was the Pioneers' "we'll take what you give us" approach.
"That first drive we had some success with the run," said Weidman. "So I think they decided they wanted to stop that so once they did that we got some favorable matchup in the passing game."
You might say that. Sullivan ended up 7 for 12 for 221 net yards and three TD's. His NFL passer rating was 142.4. His season passer rating is now 145.7.
On the other side of the ball, Swampscott wasn't shy about going to the air. Conroy threw on 38 of 60 Big Blue offensive plays, connecting on 18 of them for 209 yards and a TD. He also had the one interception. His passer rating for the game was 62.3.
Unfamiliar Territory
Writers covering a team for the first time can sometimes make statements that really don't make sense to those who know the teams well. You always have to be careful making judgements based on statistics or on one viewing of a team.
Mike Grenier, the long time, outstanding reporter for the Salem News kind of fell into one of those traps in his writeup of the Lynnfield/Swampscott game. He obviously did his research and found that the Pioneers were primarily a running team. However, not being familiar with the Pioneers, he really didn't have a full sense of what the Lynnfield offense has done all year. That led to these statements in his game story.
"The Pioneers dictated every aspect of the game, showing off a crushing ground game in the first quarter and then, surprisingly, whipping the Big Blue through the air at key junctures the rest of the way."
"Surprisingly"?
And this:
"Senior Dan Sullivan has proven to be a very capable quarterback for Lynnfield, but did anybody really expect him to throw a 49 yard scoring pass to Cam Rondeau in the second quarter, then follow it up with a 57 yard TD pass to Jon Knee before the half ended?"
Well I guess anyone who has seen Sullivan complete 53 of 77 passes for 1279 yards and 17 touchdowns might have expected it. Or anyone who has seen seven of those TD's go for 35+ yards might realize that he has thrown TD bombs in six of their first eight games. So long distance TD passes are an integral part of this Pioneer offense.
I realize you can't know everything about every team in the area, especially when you have never seen a team play. But in this case, what Sullivan and the Pioneer passing game accomplished was no surprise.
Opening Statement
The early score has become a staple for this Pioneer team. They have now scored the first time they touched the ball in seven of their nine games. And they have done it in almost every way possible.
- Newburyport: 27 yard Dan Bronshvayg field goal on opening drive
- Manchester/Essex: 81 yard opening kickoff return by Rondeau
- Georgetown: 45 yard punt return by Knee
- Hamilton-Wenham: 29 yard pass from Sullivan to Knee on opening drive
- Ipswich: 74 yard pass from Sullivan to Knee on opening drive
- Saugus: 9 yard run by Rourke on opening drive
- Swampscott: 9 yard run by Rourke on opening drive
Top of the Heap
This Pioneer team is placing itself among the best LHS teams in history. Here are some measures of their success so far.
- The 297 point differential of this year's team (330-33) is second only to the 1960 team that posted a 346 point differential. No one else is even close. the 2010 team is third best at +232, then comes 2013 at +209 and the 1961 team at +208
- The 33 points allowed through nine games is second best to the 1962 team which allowed 32 in their nine game season. The two squads' 3.6 ppg allowed is nearly two points per game stingier than the next best performance, the 1985 team at 5.2 points per game.
- They have now scored 30 or more points in eight straight games. That is the only time it's been done in the history of the school. The 2013 team did it in seven straight games.
- They are only the second team to win their first nine games. The only other LHS team to do it was the undefeated 1960 team who finished 9-0.
First Timers
Swampscott became the 43rd different opponent the Pioneers have played since the beginning of the program in 1958. Their record in first games against new opponents is 25-17-1. Since Lynnfield has never met Winthrop, the Vikings will become opponent number 44 next week.
That's it for now.
Check back later in the week for my preview of the Championship Game.
No comments:
Post a Comment