by Tom Condardo
Two down and three remaining in the 2016 Baker race. There was one other league game in addition to the Lynnfield/M-E contest and also a non league contest. I'll review those games and check out the tightening battle for playoff spots in
The Pioneer victory over the Hornets gives them a 2 1/2 game lead over M/E and Amesbury who only have two league games to play thus eliminating them from contention. Lynnfield, Hamilton-Wenham, and Ipswich are the only teams who can still take this year's league championship.
Ipswich stayed alive with a 28-20 over Amesbury, keeping them a game and a half behind the Pioneers. They have to win their final two games against Manchester Essex and Hamilton Wenham on Thanksgiving Day and hope H-W knocks off the Pioneers next week to force a three way tie and let the tiebreakers take over.
The Tigers took the lead with just over five minutes to play on a Ben Yanakakis to Tommy Herron 25 yard TD pass on fourth and 11. Ipswich then held off the Indians who had the ball in their own territory with five minutes to go in the game but shot themselves in the foot with penalties to end the threat.
The Tigers Charlie Gillis, bottled up by the Pioneers last week, got lose against Amesbury for 85 yards and three touchdowns. Amesbury hung with them on two touchdowns by Zach Levarity and one by Nolan Gouin.
Ipswich travels to M/E this week and needs a win to keep their title and playoff hopes alive. Amesbury visits Hamilton-Wenham in a league game.
Meanwhile, the Generals needed a Billy Whelan to Jake Lanciani TD pass with two minutes left to hold off the feisty Georgetown Royals 28-21. The Royals, playing a non-Baker schedule (which basically means they are not playing Lynnfield and Amesbury) came into the game 3-1 and led the Generals 21-14 at halftime. They had a first and goal on the H/W one yard line in the second quarter with a chance to go up 28-14 but fumbled it away. The Generals went on to score twice in the second half for the win.
The Generals air attack was humming as Whelan threw a pair of TD's and caught another. Andrew Riccio also had a TD. If the Generals can handle Amesbury this week, they will tie the Pioneers at 3-0 in the league heading into a virtual league championship game in two weeks.
Division 3A Power Rankings
Things are starting to get interesting with only two weeks left to settle playoff positioning.
Shawsheen and St. Mary's remain undefeated and atop the rankings with Stoneham right behind. Greater Lawrence moved up a notch into fourth place thanks to their win over Northeast, who fell to sixth. Hamilton Wenham picked up 19 points for their win over Georgetown which lifted them one spot into fifth. The Pioneer win over M/E kept them in seventh place with a slight lead over Ipswich who remained in eighth. If the playoffs started this week, the Pioneers would be traveling to Manning Field to take on powerhouse St. Mary's, something they would just as soon avoid.
Winthrop has an opportunity to move into playoff contention since they have two 12 point games to finish their regular season - both winnable games against Saugus and Swampscott.
Stoneham has two tough risk reward games left against 3-2 Melrose and 4-1 Watertown - both 12 point games against teams with a lot of wins. If they can beat either or both of those teams, they will challenge for the top spot. If they lose both, they could fall several notches in the rankings.
A couple of intra division games over the next few weeks will be huge in determining the final seeding. Greater Lawrence and Shawsheen play in two weeks as does Lynnfield and Hamilton Wenham. Both have large implications for who finishes in what position.
Even though they are not playing this weekend, the Pioneers are guaranteed three points since Ipswich plays Manchester Essex. They could pick up three more if Amesbury beats H/W and one more if Danvers defeats Beverly.
That's it for now. Check back next week for all the weekend results.
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