by Tom Condardo
Well here we go.
You couldn't ask for a better matchup. The Herald has Lynnfield ranked 13th and Winthrop comes in at 18. The Globe has the Pioneers ranked 20th in eastern mass.
As you read in my Villager preview this week, the championship game ironically features the two smallest schools in the division. The Pioneers at a 9-12 male enrollment of 305 is 15th out of the 16 teams in the division in terms of size. The Vikings at 241 are dead last. These two have thrived where the other larger schools in the division like Bedford (398), Triton (384), Pentucket (383), and Watertown (380) have fallen by the wayside.
These two teams are evenly matched in many ways. I'll get into some of the x's and o's in a bit, but first I wanted to compare the teams in terms of some intangibles in the hope of providing some insight into the contest.
Venue
The Pioneers played their first four games on the road this season before returning to their plush new stadium for four of their last five games. They have won five straight road games and 11 of their last 12 contests away from Lynnfield.
During that stretch they have won at Hamilton Wenham, Pentucket, Newburyport (finally), none of which are easy places to play. But suffice to say, they haven't seen anything like they will be facing when they trot onto the frozen natural grass at Miller Field Friday night.
I've never had the pleasure of covering a game there, but several folks have told me that it is one of the most difficult places for a visiting team to go into and win. Start with no visiting locker room near the field - think Middle School field - which is a huge factor considering what the conditions will be like Friday (more on that later) and a boisterous home crowd and you get the picture.
The Pioneers have shown a tough mindset all season and they will need to dig deep again to overcome the odds and hostile atmosphere they'll face at Miller Field in the championship game.
Advantage: Winthrop
Weather
The conditions were brutal last week in Winthrop and hurt the Triton spread offense (basically the same offense run by the Pioneers). Winds were howling and by now you've heard the tales of punts going up into the wind and coming back further back from where they were kicked.
Current game time forecast in Winthrop is for clear skies and a temperature of 38 degrees. The wind should only be around 10 mph, which is a far cry from what it was last week. Considering that the field basically juts into Boston Harbor, the game time temperature will feel like 32. By the end of the game it's expected to be a balmy 36 feeling like 28.
Both teams are predominantly run teams, but each has a solid passing game as well so whatever the weather, it will affect both teams.
Advantage: Even
Experience:
This will be the first Viking playoff appearance in a while. The current senior class was part of teams that went 6-5, 6-5, and 5-6 the past three years before breaking out big time this season. They are led by talented group of 17 seniors. They have to rely on that leadership since there are only six juniors on the squad.
The Pioneers are on an unprecedented run of success, compiling a 32-11 mark since 2011 including three straight league championships. In terms of big games, it's tough to match the Pioneers' experience. Since 2012, the seniors on this Lynnfield squad have played six playoff games including a Super Bowl appearance at Gillette. You can almost add in the 2012 Thanksgiving Day game against North Reading since in those pre playoff days, only the league champ got in and that game was for all the marbles. The Pioneers record in those seven games is 5-2.
Advantage: Lynnfield
Schedule
By now everyone has heard the bleatings over the Pioneers "weak" schedule, and although they could only play the games that were scheduled, building up a +297 point differential against anyone is impressive. That said, Lynnfield beat nine opponents with a combined record of 26-53. Only one team - Saugus - has a winning record.
The record of Winthrop's nine victims is not that much better at 36-45 and only three of them have winning records, but there is one big difference. Where Lynnfield played seven schools from D4 and two D5, Winthrop has beaten a team from D1 (Peabody), D2 (Lynn Classical), three from D3, and four from D4.
In games against common opponents, the Vikings beat Saugus 44-41 and the Pioneers defeated the Sachems 42-7. Winthrop beat Swampscott 28-13 and the Pioneers routed the Big Blue 35-7. The Vikings beat Hamilton-Wenham 26-6 and Lynnfield shut out the Generals 35-0.
Advantage: Winthrop
Depth
The Vikings rely heavily on their senior class. Of the 41 players listed, 18 are freshmen and sophomores. As a result, six players go both ways for Winthrop.
The Pioneers' 49 man roster consists of 19 seniors, 17 juniors, and 13 sophomores. Lynnfield is able to rotate in fresh, experienced bodies throughout a game, something their opponents with smaller rosters haven't been able to do.
Advantage: Lynnfield
Coaching
You only have to go back to my opening to figure this one out. With the two smallest schools in the division making it to the championship game, you know both Pioneer head coach Neal Weidman and Winthrop head coach Sean Driscoll and their staffs have done a tremendous job. The Pioneers' performance since Weidman took over in 2008 is truly impressive: 54-23, four championships, seven playoff games and a Super Bowl appearance.
Driscoll may not have the gaudy numbers, but to keep a school the size of Winthrop competitive in a league dominated by larger schools is equally impressive. In reality, the Vikings should be in the Cape Ann League based on their size, although you probably couldn't drag them out of the Northeast Conference with the jaws of life.
Keep in mind that Winthrop's male enrollment of 241 is in the neighborhood of Manchester Essex (227) and Georgetown (210). The teams they face year after year have double, triple and quadruple the number of boys as the Vikings. Yet Winthrop remain competitive and some years - like this year - they have no trouble dispatching much larger schools like Peabody (925), Lynn Classical (685), and Revere (766).
Advantage Even
Bottom line? It's as even a matchup as you can get. The boys will just have to sort this one out on the field. For a comprehensive look at the game from someone who has seen both teams play, check out this preview article from Daily Item reporter Matt Roy.
Familiar Offense
Pioneer fans who travel to Winthrop will should recognize the Viking offense. It's a hybrid of sorts with elements of North Reading's single wing with lineman hoping left and right before the snap to overload the point of attack. However it has a passing component as well making it look more like the Wing T from Amesbury and Ipswich. The Pioneer defense has faced them all so it will just come down to execution.
Tale of the Tape
Here are a few comparison numbers between the teams
Point Differential
Lynnfield: 330-33 (+297)
Winthrop: 244-110 (+134)
Rushing
Lynnfield: 1982 yards, 27 TD's
Winthrop: 2000 yards, 24 TD's
Leading Rushers
Winthrop
Reise Turransky (#26) 111/694 5 TD's
Jake Chuidina (#30) 87/548 5 TD's
Dylan Driscoll (#10) 75/345 10 TD's
Jon Gonzalez (#21) 40/236 3 TD's
Lynnfield
Jake Rourke 113/723 13 TD's
Drew McCarthy 43/450 5 TD's
Danny Sullivan 48/348 3 TD's
Kevin Lee 17/114 2 TD's
Passing
Danny Sullivan, Lynnfield: 1285 yards, 17 TD's, 1 interception
Dylan Driscoll, Winthrop: 755 yards, 8 TD's, 5 interceptions
Leading Receivers
Winthrop
Zach Deeb (#18) 15/264 3 TD's
Jake Chuidina (#30) 9/200 3 TD's
Lynnfield
Cam Rondeau 20/573 7 TD's
Jon Knee 18/502 7 TD's
Coaches Corner
Finally, let's hear what my expert coaching panel has to say. I reached out to Joe Papagni, Saugus defensive coordinator and Lynnfield High lacrosse coach. He faced both teams so has a good perspective.
"Lynnfield has a combination of strength and athleticism needed to stop Winthrop's potent offense," Papagni said. "Additionally I think Lynnfield will capitalize on Winthrop's defense."
Triton head coach Pat Sheehan has a fresh view of the Vikings, having lost a tough 14-0 contest to them in the semi-finals last week. I asked him for his thoughts on the matchup.
"Winthrop is a scrappy bunch," Sheehan said. "They have found ways to win all year. They are just a good team. They haven't relied on one side of the ball or the other. Their defense has won them some games (Triton) and their offense has won them games (Saugus). Their special teams are solid and difficult to prepare for as they do a lot of different things in the kicking game.
"Offensively they run the double wing out of the gun," he continued. "Their base offense is super power where they pull a backside guard and tackle up the hole and kick out the edge of the defense with their fullback. They have a very effective counter off this. They have really opened up the offense this year with quarterback Dylan Driscoll. They run a lot of quarterback counters, jet sweeps, jet counters, and are dangerous with the deep ball. They run a lot of formations and shift/motion a lot which makes preparing for them defensively very important.
"Defensively they are the most aggressive 3-4 defense I've seen," he went on. "They blitz almost every play and play mostly a cover three over the top defense. They void underneath zones with the blitz, but they're able to get to the quarterback in a variety of ways. (Jeff Collignon #74) is a big, effective nose tackle and their defense is FAST. They can recover very quickly if they guess wrong on a blitz.
"I think Lynnfield'd double tight end formations will be a problem for Winthrop as their line twists and linebacker blitzes will lost some gap integrity with the eight gaps that a double TE formation presents."
Well I certainly can't get any more detailed than that. Dress warm and enjoy what should be one of the best games of the year.
The winner will take on the Division 4 South champ (Middlesborough or Holliston) for the right to play for a state championship at Gillette. The loser starts planning for the Thanksgiving Day rivalry game.
Game time at Miller Field is 7 pm.
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