Around the CAL Baker: Week 4

By Tom Condardo

And then there were two. The Pioneers and the Hornets of Manchester-Essex stand alone atop the CAL Baker with identical records - 2-0 in the league, 3-1 overall. After their showdown in Manchester Friday night, one will have undisputed possession of first and an inside track to the title.

We'll take a look at the two non-Lynnfield Baker games and review the Division Three North Playoff race, but first a look at the updated Baker standings.



The Hornets earned their piece of first place with a 16-12 win over Hamilton-Wenham, their second straight Baker win. Man-Essex appeared to be rolling to an easy win after touchdowns by quarterback Charlie Otterbein (one yard sneak) in the second quarter and Chris Carr (9 yard run) in the third. A General punt snap that went out of the endzone gave the Hornets a 16-0 lead early in the fourth and Man-Essex was firmly in control

Then the Generals happened. H-W scored with 2:43 left in the game but quarterback CJ Cooper fumbled and came up short on the two point try to keep the score at 16-6. The Hornets took over, moved to midfield and strangely went for it on fourth down. The Generals held and then moved down the field. Cooper hit Cameron Pech three times to get to the one yard line with 49 seconds to play. Cooper punched it in to make it 16-12 and a two point pass attempt was incomplete to account for the final score.

H-W hosts Georgetown on Saturday in a battle of two winless squads.

Amesbury got off the schneid with a dominating win over Georgetown last week for their first win. The Indians scored on their first three possession to take the drama out of this one early. The Amesbury defense stifled Georgetown, holding them to 20 yards in the first half.

The Indians get a visit from Ipswich on Friday night in a matchup of two 1-3 teams.

Division Four North Playoff



Things got a little tighter in the division playoff race as five of the top eight teams from last week went down to defeat. Stoneham, Watertown, Triton, Arlington Catholic, and Swampscott (by forfeit) all lost which shook up the standings a bit.

Despite the loss, Stoneham retained the first seed largely on the strength of their schedule. They play in the Middlesex Freedom division, with four of the six teams being in Division Three. That gives them 12 points per win so even though they only have three wins, they still have 36 own points only four less than current number two seed Pentucket who has four wins against D4 teams which are only wortht 10 points each. Stoneham also has 20 opponent points, the most in the division.

North Reading moved into the three seed with their win over D3 Masco which was good for 12 points. They also earned 12 points the previous week with a win over D3 Somerville. Their 44 own points are the most in the division. The weak play of their opponents is what is keeping the Hornets out of first. The combined record of their four defeated opponents is 2-14 giving them only six opponent points.

It's a battle of the unbeatens in West Newbury Saturday when Pentucket and North Reading clash for first place in the CAL Kinney and a major leg up in the D4 standings. The winner of this one will get 22 points, 10 for the win and 12 for the four wins of the loser. That could vault the victor into the top seed depending on what Stoneham does against winless Wakefield. That will be another 12 point win if the Spartans can drop the Warriors.

Watertown takes on 2-2 Burlington in a 18 point game for them.

There's a lot on the line in the Pioneers' matchup with 3-1 Manchester Essex. The win would be worth 19 points for the Pioneers and 21 points for the Hornets since Lynnfield is D4 and M/E is D5.

Triton takes on Newburyport this week and a Clipper win gives the Pioneers three more points.

You'll notice that my standings are slightly different to what you might see in the Globe or Herald. That's because I'm taking into account the automatic qualifier for first and second place. So Winthrop, which according to their rating should fall into 11th place actually vaults into an automatic bid at eight because they are currently in second place in the Northeastern South division. In that scenario, Saugus would be bumped out despite having a higher rating because they are currently in third place in the Northeastern South.

Three more weeks to go so a lot can still happen.

That's it for now. Check back Thursday night for my Manchester-Essex preview.