by Tom Condardo
Figures lie. Opportunities knock. Looks can be deceiving.
The 14 point turnaround at the mid point of the final quarter was the deciding sequence and dropped a huge exclamation point on a Pioneer win that featured five big takeaways by the defense. This game was everything it was billed to be - hard hitting, fast (more on that later), and exciting. Two undefeated, well coached teams battling it out. It came down to the defense, and once again the Pioneer D came up big when it had to. As Sean Brennan wrote in the Boston Herald on Saturday, this game was proof that defenses still win championships.
The Pioneer defense will have to step it up further when they take on the flammable Holliston offense this Saturday, but we'll worry about that one later in the week. Today, let's wrap up the championship win.
Crowd Control
For those wondering about the flurry of motion penalties against the Pioneers early in the second quarter, rumor has it there may have been a reason other than a jittery offensive line. There's no hard evidence, but there was some discussion with the officials regarding a potential Danny Sullivan impersonator on the field - one not necessarily wearing a white jersey. Again no proof, but once the officials were alerted, Lynnfield was only flagged for illegal motion once more the rest of the way.
Holding the Line
Speaking of the offensive line, head coach Neal Weidman singled out that unit for their performance.
"The offensive line played really well," he said. "I was really happy how we were able to run the ball up the middle, especially in the first half."
Kudos to the men in the trenches: David Adams, Cam DeGeorge, Steven White, Brandon Troisi, Al Maclachlan, and tight end Drew Balestrieri.
The Stand
Since this was the key series in the game, I thought I'd spend a few minutes breaking down the big goal line stand in the fourth period. As you all know by know, Winthrop converted a fourth and six with a long bomb from Dylan Driscoll to Jon Gonzalez, getting them a first and goal at the Pioneer five yard line. Let's pick it up from there.
1st and goal from the five: Driscoll takes a direct snap and sprints to the left on a sweep. Chad Martin fights off two blocks to stand him up and hold him to a two yard gain.
2nd and goal from the three: Driscoll hands off to the dangerous Reise Turransky who heads for the right side. Eddie McIntosh - well schooled by assistant coach Gino Fodera - tunnels under and rolls up three Viking blockers giving Turransky no where to go. He's forced to stop dead in his tracks. Before he can get started again, Dan Bronshvayg comes in to finish the tackle stopping him for no gain.
3rd and goal from the three: The Vikings try the left side with Gonzalez but Adams gets him in a bear hug before he reaches the goal line. Bronshvayg comes in to assist and brings him down at the one millimeter line. All I can say is it's a good thing there's no replay in high school football.
Fourth and goal from the four inch line: Cam DeGeorge jumps on the Viking center as the ball pops up over Driscoll's hand and falls to the ground. 21 players do a giant pig pile trying to either a) push Driscoll into the end zone or b) keep him from crossing the line. It's apparent the Pioneers have held, but no one seems to notice the ball is loose. But wait...over to the side, one lone defender peers into the pile.
Cam Rondeau, who was holding the edge in case Driscoll decided to pull and go right, peers into the 4000 pounds of high school football players and notices a lonely pigskin lying on the ground. He calmly reaches in, picks it up and hightails it in the other direction. No whistles.
The pile is still writhing at the goal line, unaware that the object of their attention is heading for the other end zone. Finally Jon Knee notices what's going on and heads out to accompany his fellow captain. Turransky and a few Vikings finally realizes what's happening and start to light out after Rondeau, but he's already cruising past midfield and heading to the Division Four North championship. Game, set, match: Pioneers
Rip Tide
Rondeau's fumble recovery for the touchdown was the first this year and the first since Ryan Battaglia's rip and run score against Stoneham in the playoffs last season. It was the 19th in school history, and nearly half of those have come in the Weidman era. There's a good reason for that. Weidman and his staff have focused on the rip tackle and the numbers bear out it's success.
Leg Up
As the previous sequence shows, Bronshvayg has proven to be more than just a pretty leg. The junior banged home three more PAT's to extend his single season record to 42. But he has become a key cog in the Pioneer defense. In addition to those two huge tackles, Bronshvayg also recovered two fumbles, including the muffed punt that led to a Pioneer score.
General Lee
While on the topic of unsung heroes, I want to point out a key contribution from senior Kevin Lee. He's been another key member of the Pioneer defense, so much so that his offensive snaps have been reduced. During the early going he was backing up give Jake Rourke but more of those carries have gone to junior Drew McCarthy. Much of that is because if his importance on the defensive side of the ball.
After Bronshvayg recovered the muffed punt Friday night, the Pioneer offense came right back on the field. Wanting to give Rourke and McCarthy a blow, Weidman sent out Lee at running back. On first and goal from the ten, he burst up the middle for a four yard gain. On second down, he blew through the line again, this time to the half yard line picking up a first down.
The quarter ended and the teams switched sides. When the offense came back out, Lee came out with it. On first and goal from the one, Lee led the blocking for Sullivan who squeezed into the end zone for the touchdown. It was a brief cameo, but a crucial one at that point in the game.
Blitzkrieg
The Pioneer defense had it's hands full dealing with the blitz-happy Vikings.
"They blitz a lot but there's no rhyme or reason to it so we just had to be solid across the board," Weidman explained. "They do a great job of mixing up their blitzes and their coverages. Coverages for them were a little harder to disguise because we just go so they have to get lined up quicker. But the blitzes still came fast and furious. There were four different guys in on defense and five in the other that could have come at any time. At times it could have been all of them."
Speed Racer
Weidman was also stunned by the speed of the game.
"They started out no huddle and the pace at the beginning of the game was fast," the coach said. "Not that they were just running plays fast, but that they were playing fast. And it was both teams. It was the fastest most physical first few drives I've seen. It was like a blur. Just the speed of the game - both teams were coming off the ball. There was a lot of explosion."
Rourke Climbing
Rourke's first quarter TD gives him 86 points for the year and puts him in a tie for 10th place for all time single season scoring with Charlie Meeker (1960), Jason Caggiano (1996), and Jamie Solomon (2003). His 124 career points vaults him into tenth place in career scoring.
Points 'R Us
You hear all the time that time of possession is critical in football. That may be true, but you couldn't tell it from the Pioneers number this year. So far this season, the Pioneers have had the ball for 179 minutes and 20 seconds of game time. Their opponents, on the other hand, have had it for 260 minutes and 40 seconds.
Doing the math, you come up with this startling fact: the Pioneers are averaging one point for every 29 seconds of game time. Their opponents are averaging one point for every five and a half minutes of game time. So it's not so much how much time you hold the ball, it's what you do with it when you have it.
That's it for now. Check back later in the week for my Holliston preview.
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