Amesbury Game Preview: Rising Tribe

by Tom Condardo

The Pioneers open their Baker League schedule Friday night when they host Amesbury. Lynnfield has had their way with the Indians lately, winning seven straight games since 2009 - including a playoff win in 2012. That run of dominance may hide the fact that other than a few recent tough years, Amesbury has produced some strong teams over the past decade.

Since the Cape Ann League split into two divisions, the Indians have posted a 31-21 league record including titles in 2007, 2008, and 2012. They captured a Super Bowl in 2008 going 12-1 overall and were prevented from making another trip to Gillette in 2012 when the Pioneers knocked them off 35-14. That was the second time Lynnfield beat the Indians that year, coming from behind to win the regular season game 31-28 in Amesbury.

Longtime Amesbury coach Thom Connors retired following the 2013 season and Glen Gearin struggled through a 3-8 campaign last year going 2-3 in the Baker Division but finishing 3-3 after an 0-5 start. They are bigger and more experienced this season, returning 17 seniors. Don't let the 0-2 record coming in fool you. They lost a tight 31-28 contest to Pat Sheehan's young Triton team then battled Pentucket evenly for the first half before the Sachems pulled away for a 28-0 win.

Senior captain Nick Fortuna centers a big offensive line that sets the tone for the Indian Wing T offense. The misdirection based attack features a heavy dose of bruising fullback Sam Stockwood. The senior rolled for 102 yards and a long TD run against Triton and is load coming out of the backfield. Another key weapon is big tight end Dan Welch who is a mismatch for most defensive backs.

There is a question as to who will be at quarterback. Senior Adam Incontri was at the controls against
the Vikings and showed the ability to both throw and run the ball moving the offense well against the Triton defense. However junior Garrett Collins was under center for the Pentucket game and the offense wasn't nearly as effective getting shut out and managing only 100 yards of offense. Barring an injury, expect to see Incontri at quarterback Friday night.

The Indians run a 5-2 defense but will likely move into a 3-4 against the Pioneers' spread offense. Linebackers Brandon Doucette, Cam Dodier, and Nolan Gouin set the tone.

Sheehan's take
I asked Sheehan for his take on the matchup and here's what he had to say.

"Amesbury is better and older than last year," he told me. "We're really small this year so everyone else looks big, but I was pretty impressed with their overall size. Their O line was big and I loved (Fortuna) at center. Good feet and a tough kid.

"The running backs are good too," he continued. "Stockwood made a 50 yard TD against us that was as impressive a run that I've seen. He has power, vision, speed, and a little wiggle all rolled into one. Incontri is tough and can throw it and will get better each week.

"Probably their best player is the tight end Welch. He is a hoop player and has size, speed, footwork and hands. (Lynnfield) coach (John) O'Brien's D better know where he is because Amesbury is patient and will lull you to sleep with their power run game, go to Welch on a tight end pop or some vertical pass and he will make you pay. He made us pay twice.

"Offensively you need to make a decision," Sheehan said. "They will have seven men in the box whether you have six or all 11. So you can spread them out and chuck it around or bring in the tight ends and fullback and try to pound it. But they're tough to run on in four wide receiver sets."

My thanks to Pat for putting that together since he's been a little busy. He celebrated the birth of his daughter Emilia Rose Sheehan this past week. So welcome to the newest Viking fan and congrats to Pat.

Looking to rebound
The Pioneers will be looking to bounce back from a tough loss to a solid Danvers team last Saturday night. Head coach Neal Weidman said he would be working on cleaning up the penalty bug that has bit the Pioneers the first two weeks of the seasons. In their first two games, the Pioneers have been flagged 11 times for 110 yards.

The Pioneers are 6-0 following a loss since 2012 and Weidman is 15-9 overall in games following a defeat. Six of those losses came in his first year in 2008 when Lynnfield lost seven straight games. Since 2009, the Pioneers longest losing streak is three games, which came in 2011 when they lost to Manchester-Essex and North Reading to end the season and opened the 2012 with a loss at Newburyport. They lost more than one in a row only one other time in that span falling to St. Mary's and Danvers in back to back games in 2011.

Familiar Foe
This will be the 44th meeting between the schools, the third most of any Lynnfield opponent. The Pioneers and Indians have met every year since 1973 and faced off twice in 2012. The top two Pioneer foes in number of meetings are North Reading (57 games) who they've faced every year since the program's inception, and Ipswich who they've played 46 times.

Game time at Pioneer stadium is 7 pm.

That's it for now, check back Sunday for my Leftovers post.