by Tom Condardo
"Life on the road, boys. Life on the road."
That was a lesson I learned many years ago as a rookie Lynnfield Little League coach. Our 10 year old travel team was playing one of our first intercity games in Lynn. Inexplicably, all the close calls seemed to go the other way. The result: a close loss.
"Life on the road, boys. Life on the road."
The message: don't leave it close enough for bad breaks or bad call to cost you a game. Also, stuff happens. Especially on the road.
The Pioneers experienced "life on the road" Saturday night in Peabody in a tough 22-15 loss to a very good Danvers team. Although many of the breaks and calls didn't go the Lynnfield way, that wasn't the reason they lost. The Falcons are a deep, experienced team with 19 seniors and a bushel load of starters returning from last year's playoff team. The Pioneers had them on the ropes but just couldn't put them away.
To his credit, Lynnfield head coach Neal Weidman didn't go there when it came to the many "interesting" calls and events of the game. Unlike some Patriot hatin' NFL coaches, Weidman is not in the excuse business. He wants his team to take whatever experiences come their way and to learn from them. That's why he's one of the best high school coaches in the area.
He also understands that this year's edition of the Pioneers are still very much in that learning mode.
"The compete level was fine," Weidman told me after the game. "You still have to remember that a lot of those guys, although they got a lot of playing time last year, haven't played in a game like this. We have one returning offensive starter and three returning defensive starters so most of these kids that were out there (Saturday night) haven't had to play in that kind of game. That's the type of experience they need to get. They need to learn from it and get better. Hopefully that will be the case."
He mentioned senior quarter Jake McHugh who went 10 for 19 for 119 yards and two TD's.
"He has been great," Weidman said. "That kid never played football until 10th grade. He didn't even play as a freshman. He's a big, strong, athletic kid who hasn't been in any of those situations either. So it's great for him."
That said, Weidman was clearly upset with his team for the number of penalties (6 for 60 yards) and the timing of those flags - "awful" - he said. He kept coming back to the penalties in the post game talk, mentioning them five times.
"We have to fix the mistakes and the penalties," he said. "You can't back up that way. We had a few negative plays and some pass protection issues but in the running game we didn't have any major negative plays. You can't commit that many penalties and keep anything going. In a 33-6 game it doesn't sink in but they hurt a lot more in a close game like this. We just have to be less sloppy with penalties."
The Pioneers wrap up their non-league schedule 1-1 and now get set to defend their Baker League title and try to pick up an unprecedented fourth straight league championship.
"Going into that game after a game like this hopefully gets you ready," Weidman said. "You have to lick your wounds a little bit and get going again on Monday.
Curiouser and Curiouser
"What a funny watch! It tells the day of the month, and doesn't tell what o'clock it is!" - Alice in Wonderland.
No one would argue that the mysterious extra second put on the clock by the officials - dare I say Clockgate? - that led to the backbreaking Hail Mary TD at the end of the first half was the turning point in the game.
The Falcons had made a series of first half mistakes - fumbled punt recovered by Esaie Philantrope, interception by Evan Battaglia to end another drive, and a couple of penalties that short circuited an impressive opening drive - and the Pioneers pounced to open a 15-0 lead.
After the Pioneers scored their second TD with 1:06 left in the half, the Falcons didn't pack it in and mounted a drive that appeared to stall at their own 46 on a sack of Danvers quarterback Dean Borders by captain Spencer Balian. That left 22 seconds on the clock. But Danvers converted a fourth down fake punt and completed another pass to move to the 33 yard line with five seconds showing on the clock. Captain CJ Finn, Dan Bronshvayg, and Alex Soden then broke up a Borders pass intended for Matt Andreas and that was apparently that for the first half as the scoreboard clock read all zeroes.
But wait, there's more. The officials ruled there was one more second on the clock. Weidman wanted an explanation since he was told before the game that the scoreboard clock would be official. The referee told him they could "adjust" the clock and said that two of the officials saw one second left as the incomplete pass play ended.
With the phantom one second back on the clock, Danvers capitalized with a TD pass from Borders to Mike Nestor in the end zone, despite being surrounded by Pioneers.
Interesting math. Putting a timer on the incompletion play showed it clearly took six and a half seconds to run. Five minus 6.5 equals negative 1.5 equals end of the half. So the only way the officials could have seen a second remaining was if they were watching the scoreboard as the ball was in the air.
According to Daily Item reporter Justin Barrasso, he asked Danvers head coach Sean Theriault how that play could have happened in five seconds. He told Barrasso they "caught a break there." You think?
However that said, allowing a last second TD pass turned out to be the real issue and will be something the Pioneers will work on to prevent in the future.
False start
Weidman knew the Pioneers needed to blunt the Falcons' momentum of the Hail Mary when they opened the second half with the ball. So did senior Evan Battaglia. He gathered the kick return team around him before the third quarter kickoff and explained exactly what they needed to do in spirited detail. I won't give you the exact quotes since I know his mom is reading, but the PG version goes something like: "You gentlemen know exactly what you have to do. Execute your blocks and we'll take if from there."
Battaglia did his part, taking the kick at his own 15, sprinting to his left and returning it all the way to the Lynnfield 48. Unfortunately, the Pioneers couldn't take advantage and picked up only three yards before punting.
"(Danvers) was obviously fired up after (the TD pass)," said Weidman, who said he told the team they needed a good first drive to take back momentum. "We got a good return, but then nothing after that."
No answer for Nestor
Another reason for the Pioneer defeat was their inability to handle Falcon receiver Mike Nestor. He hauled in nine passes for 106 yards and seemed to make a big play every time Danvers needed it.
"It was the same play every time," Weidman explained. "We just didn't cover it well."
Conversion problem
Another key to the Falcon victory was their success on third and fourth down. They were 6 for 13 on third, and 2 for 3 on fourth for an 8/16 conversion rate (50%). The Pioneers were 2 for 10 on third down and 1 for 2 on fourth for a total of 3/12 (25%).
Field of (Dashed) Dreams
This was the second loss in a row for the Pioneers at Donaldson Field. The fell to Bishop Fenwick 14-7 in 2012 the last time they played there. Of course after that loss, the Pioneers reeled off eight straight wins to get to the Super Bowl. No one would object to a repeat of that performance.
Low points
The 15 points for the Pioneers was the lowest they've scored in the regular season since a 14-7 win over North Reading in 2012.
A-one and a-two
Everyone knows by now that Dan Bronshvayg is the most prolific placekicker in Pioneer history. But's he's creeping up in the two point conversion category as well. His pass to captain CJ Finn Saturday night was his fourth career two point pass. He threw two last season (Newburyport and Saugus) and one in 2013 (Watertown).
He has a ways to go to get in the record books though. Steve Mucica holds the school record firing 10 two pointers from 1960-62. Bronshvayg does have the most since 1991 when Chris Sutera threw five from 1989-91.
On further review
Just for the record, when Danvers' Quintin Holland downed the punt on the one inch line, he was standing on the goal line. That makes it a touchback. Again, not the reason the Pioneers lost, but it certainly didn't help.
Lessons Learned
Finally, the bitter taste from the loss will fade but the lessons learned from playing a tough opponent will likely take root and last. The Pioneers now know what it takes to stay with a quality opponent for four quarters and what can happen when you make mistakes and provide opportunities to a good team. That is a ton more valuable that beating up an overmatched opponent by five touchdowns and is a crucial for their development if they hope to make the playoffs and succeed there.
That's it for now. Check back Tuesday night when I'll take a look at other Baker division action.
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