Buckle Up, It's Go Time!

by Tom Condardo

Don't be fooled by the continued summer temperatures earlier this week. You may be able to get another dip or two in the pool, but come Friday night, football season returns.

The 2017 Lynnfield Pioneers kick off the season with the first of four straight home games to begin the year. Last season we were talking about the lack of experience the Pioneers would have to overcome as the blue and gold went into the season with a serious tinge of green.

They stumbled out of the blocks with losses to Newburyport and Danvers, but turned things around and reeled off four straight league wins to capture their fifth consecutive CAL championship. They cruised past Northeast and came up short against powerful St. Mary's who went on to play for the Division 3A state crown at Gillette. The Pioneers dispatched Greater Lawrence before losing a 21-20 heartbreaker to North Reading on Thanksgiving Day to end their year at 6-4.

Not bad for a "rebuilding" year.

This year is decidedly different as the Pioneers are dripping with experience on both sides of the ball. Of the 18 players that will either start or see significant action, 15 are seniors who started last year or received serious playing time. Given that level of seasoning, how important is it for the Pioneers to get off to a faster start than last year?

"It'll be important if we don't and we don't recover from it," said head coach Neal Weidman, who will be completing his first decade leading the Lynnfield program. "If we can get better every week, than I don't know how important it is.

"Last year after the first two games we started to steadily improve," he continued. "We went into our third game (against Amesbury) battered. We were reaching down deep into the depth chart. When we pulled that one out, then we started to get a little healthier and all of a sudden we started to play a lot better. If we can continue to improve and not shoot ourselves in the foot, then we'll be good. But obviously we'd love to get off to a good start."

For a full preview of the Pioneers, check out my article in the Villager.

Clippers sail into town
Getting the quick start will mean avenging last season's 32-12 opening night loss to the Clippers in Newburyport. No doubt the seniors won't forget the exuberant celebration by the Clippers who acted like they had just won the Super Bowl. They went on to have a 4-6 season and one year head coach Mike Levine resigned to return to Texas.

The Clippers will come in under new head coach, former defensive coordinator and former captain Ben Smolski, who becomes Newburyport's third coach in three season. Long time head man Ed Gaudiano stepped down following the 2015 season.

Smolski is promising to return the Clippers to begin a "new era" of Clipper football.

"I grew up a Clipper," he told Connor Whooley of the Newburyport Daily News. "The value of being a Clipper was instilled in me from my father from a young age and it's basically a dream come true."

The article goes on to say Newburyport players have noted an "added intensity" during preseason camp, something Smolski would like to carry into the season.

The Clippers come in with a small, but top heavy roster with 16 of the 34 players being seniors. They are led by three year starting captains Myles Maloof, Matt Donlan, and Connor Smith. Maloof caught six passes for 98 yards and a touchdown out of the backfield in last year's win over the Pioneers. Running back Donte Harmon who tallied a pair of TD's in the victory also returns.

The one place Newburyport doesn't have experience is at quarterback. Rob Shay, who torched the Pioneers with 101 yards passing and a TD and 76 yards rushing and a touchdown, has graduated. That leaves senior Owen Bradbury and junior Thomas Murphy battling for the starting job. Bradbury has started one game in his career and may have the inside track.

Newburyport has been the one killjoy in the otherwise stellar success of Lynnfield football under Weidman. In the nine seasons Weidman has coached the Pioneers, Lynnfield has played 12 teams three or more times. Against the 11 non-Newburyport team, the Pioneers sport an eye-popping 55-17 record (.764 winning percentage). In nine games against the Clippers? 4-5.

The Pioneers did win three consecutive games prior to last year's defeat but all time, they are 11-33 against Newburyport.

Division update
While it's still way too early to think about the postseason, it should be noted that for the third year in row, the Pioneers will be in a new division for playoff purposes. Two years ago they had the second smallest enrollment of any team in Division 4. Last year, they had the second highest enrollment in Division 3A. This year, they will once again be the smallest school in their newest division: D5.

They rejoin many of their CAL brethren including Newburyport, Triton, Pentucket, and Amesbury. Also in the 11 team division is Somerville, Bedford, Weston, Watertown, Swampscott, and Saugus. Eight of the 11 will make the playoffs.

Home sweet home
Against the visiting Clippers, the Pioneers will look to take advantage of the home field advantage they have enjoyed at new Pioneer Stadium. Since the new field opened in 2014, the Pioneers are 13-3 at home having only lost to Watertown in the 2015 playoffs and to Danvers and North Reading last year.