by Tom Condardo
You never know how things are going to go on Senior Night with all the pregame hoopla. But instead of being a distraction, the going away party for the graduating seniors turned out to be a boon. The junior parents who organized the event did a tremendous job, decorating the home half of the Pioneer Stadium field with blue and gold balloons and even creating a triumphant archway of balloons where the honorees and their parents could be mobbed by a horde of paparazzi capturing the digital moment for posterity.
"You do worry about the distractions and as a coach you worry about how they'll come out and play but it's still important," he continued.
The coach has good recent for trepidation since he still carries the scars from the debacle on Senior Day 2011 at the Middle School Field against the same Manchester-Essex team. The Pioneers came out after the ceremonies and played a forgettable game, never pulling it together, committing three turnovers which led to a frustrating 7-6 loss. The Pioneers had six three and outs and made it into M/E territory only twice. It was the Hornets' first league win that year.
It was the exact opposite Friday night when the Pioneers came out fired up and rolled to their third straight win to put them in position to take their fifth straight league title if they can beat Hamilton-Wenham in two weeks.
The 47 points the Pioneers scored was a massive release for the offense who had scored only 67 total points coming into the game. In previous games, they haven't been able to capitalize on good field position but Friday night they cashed in on every opportunity, scoring the first seven times they had the ball.
And the offense needed to click in this one because despite what the final score says, M/E was definitely a threat even with only 22 players suited up for the game. They showed what they could do on their first drive when they methodically drove down the field to take a 7-0 lead. The big offensive line was opening up holes for Robbie Sarmanian, Charlie Otterbein, Jake Athanas, and Bobby Beardsley.
"We were concerned about them watching film," Weidman told me after the game. "I told our kids, 'Look, they're good. They don't have a lot of guys but the guys that play are good. We have to weather the storm early and then hopefully we can wear them down.' They are just some depth short. They have some good players and they run their offense really well."
The Pioneer defense adjusted and kept them out of the end zone until the JV teams were playing, but the Hornets never quit.
"We didn't make any major adjustments," Weidman said of slowing down the Hornet attack after that first drive. "Just some technique things. We were going under their blocks and they do a real good job with their down blocks. Instead of ripping through over the top of the blocks we were going under the blocks and by the time you get under, the back is gone."
"They're a pretty good offense," Weidman concluded. "They're good up front and they have some athletes to carry the ball."
Magic Matt
It was a big night for junior quarterback Matt Mortellite who completed 11 of 14 passes for 170 yards and four TD passes. His NFL passer rating was 156.8, which is just shy of a perfect rating of 158.3. He also accomplished something pretty special in the game but I'm only going to tease you as to what it was. To find out, you're going to have to pick up the Villager later in the week and check out my game story.
The young quarterback also has the benefit of a solid offensive line of captain Mike Stellato, Nick Condardo, Ken Babine, Zack Huynh, and Harry Collins who gives him enough time to get off his throws and a terrific corps of receivers who can catch the ball and knows what to do when they get it.
Captain Louis Ellis (257 yards, 3 TD's), captain Kyle Hawes (111 yards, 2 TD's), and Nick Kinnon (175 yards, 2 TD's) have been reliable targets who can make the tough catch and are threats to break the long one every time they get their hands on the ball.
On the year, Mortellite is 58 for 90 (64.4%) for 727 yards and 9 touchdowns and has been improving every week.
Third Time's a Charm
Interesting sequence at the end of the half when the Pioneers got into the end zone three times before actually getting credit for the touchdown. With a second and goal from the 11, Mortellite completed a bubble screen to Hawes who was immediately hit by an M/E defender. The ball popped into the end zone where Contardo fell on it for an apparent Lynnfield score. Unfortunately the rule is a team can't recover it's own advanced fumble so the ball went back to the point of the fumble at the five yard line.
So this time Mortellite found Kinnon in the left corner of the end zone for the score. Nope. Pass interference on the Pioneers. Second and goal from the 20.
This time Mortellite threw a beautiful teardrop pass to Ellis in the left side of the end zone. Another flag but this one was pass interference on M/E which was declined and the Pioneers finally had their six points.
Running Rack Roulette
The Pioneers have started to get some solid production from the running game thanks to the Murphy boys - Anthony and Tyler (no relation). Anthony has become a bruising runner - a pocket version in the style of Kyle McGah/Jake Rourke. He has 226 yards, a touchdown, and is averaging 6.3 yards per carry. Tyler has come on in recent weeks and picked up 81 yards and a TD against M/E. He also caught a pass for a second score. And in perfect symmetry, both were good for 23 yards.
The running game has been productive, averaging 6.6 yards per carry with 8 touchdown. That's pretty amazing especially considering the turmoil the position has gone through.
The Pioneers started the season with only Anthony Murphy and Andrew DePalma having any varsity experience and DePalma was lost when he suffered a season-ending concussion in the third scrimmage. I'll let Weidman take the story from there.
"After Depalma's injury, we had to move Tyler Murphy from receiver to running back. It took him a couple of weeks which is to be expected since he had never played there. He's starting to pick it up really well and making good cuts and he plays hard.
"We have to be careful about using Anthony (Murphy) too much because he plays the whole game on defense. We needed to have some second options. Nathan Drislane was a running back but we shifted him to offensive line then we made him a fullback/tight end/defensive lineman a couple of weeks ago. Then Tyler (Murphy) dislocated his knee in practice and he couldn't play against Amesbury so we shifted Justin Ysalguez to running back as well. It's been a work in progress."
You think?
Freshman Five
Ninth grade placekicker Liam Fabbri booted five PAT's against M/E and is gaining confidence week by week. This was the first game he has picked up five of them. He is now 10 for 13 on the season.
Speaking of kickers, following the Hornet's final TD Friday night they trotted out female kicker sophomore Anna Zerilli, who promptly booted it through for the successful PAT.
Five Spot
The win was the fifth straight for the Pioneers over Manchester-Essex having outscored the Hornets 210-34 over the stretch. Lynnfield is 6-3 all time against M/E.
That's it for now. Check back Tuesday night when I'll take a look around the CAL Baker and review the D3A playoff race.
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