Amesbury Leftovers, Around the CAL Baker, D5 Update, Winthrop Preview
by Tom Condardo
Amesbury Leftovers
The Flash. Quicksilver. The Roadrunner.
So did you catch the Pioneers' game Friday night? Even if you were there you might have missed it.
Lynnfield's speed was on full display and the Amesbury Indians were the unfortunate victims. The Pioneers were dashing circles around the poor visitors scoring from every point on the field and wasting no time doing in.
When asked about the impressive first half execution, head coach Neal Weidman responded,
"Yes we did well. I think it was our speed."
You think?
"We were definitely a faster team then they were but that's our strong point this year," Weidman said. "Some year's you're big and some years you're fast."
Color the 2017 Pioneers fast.
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| Captain Nick Kinnon rips a Matt Mortellite pass away from Amesbury's Patrick Birmingham enroute to a 74 yard TD |
"In that first half four or five guys with speed made the plays," Weidman said.
And Amesbury just couldn't keep up.
Second Team Action
One of the key benefits of having the game locked up early was the ability to get some of the second teamers into the game. Weidman has done this through the years and it pays off by getting some valuable experience for varsity players who may not see much regular action.
Usually with a big lead, the Weidman will send out his first team for a series or two and then send in the backups. On Friday, Weidman wasted no time and sent his second team offense out to start the third quarter.
"I wanted them to get some meaningful time," he said. "Those kids are all a play away from being in the game so I wanted them to get that time where they're varsity players. The second offense did a nice job on that first series. We picked up a couple of first downs and kept the clock moving."
Backup quarterback Brett Cohee displayed some speed (there's that word again) and shiftiness picking up 53 yards on 11 carries against Amesbury's first defense.
Not-so-special Teams
From the "Picking Nits" department, the only downside on the night was in the kickoff return department. Amesbury had five opportunities and made the most of them. They had returns of 19, 30, 16, 25, and 30 yards for an average of 24 yards per return.
"They have a really good scheme," Weidman explained. "I like it a lot. They decide ahead of time and have their middle guy lead the way. It's a sideline return and you can tell which way they're going by seeing where the middle guy goes. But they do a good job of blocking everyone down. One time we got caught where they were returning left and our kicker called it right because he kicked that way. So one of our guys went around his block and then all the blocking was going that way so we created a giant gap. Plus they executed it well."
Air Defense Force update
The Pioneer Air Defense Force was tight again holding Indian quarterback Blake Bennett to 3 for 7 for 18 yards and an interception. For the season, opposing quarterbacks are 13 for 41 for 79 yards, no touchdowns, and 3 interceptions. That's an NFL passer rating of 6.05.
For comparison, Mortellite is 23 for 37 for 546 yards, 4 touchdowns and no interceptions. That's an NFL passer rating of 151.5. A perfect rating is 158.3.
Shutout City
The Pioneers have now posted shutouts in two of their first three games. They haven't done that to start the season since 1974 when they opened with a 20-13 win over Wayland then shut out North Andover 7-0 and Triton 26-0. Those would be their only two shutouts of the year but they would go on to post a 8-2 record. More on the 1974 season in a minute.
The two shutouts this year are the 100th and 101st in the history of the program. North Reading has been the most frequent victim, coming up with a goose egg against the Pioneers 13 times. Amesbury ranks second having been blanked 8 times.
Data Points
Captain Cooper Marengi's third PAT against Amesbury was the 600th in the history of the program. Of those, 276 or 46% have come in the last ten years under Weidman.
The win was the tenth straight over Amesbury and lifts Lynnfield's overall mark against the Indians to 30-15-1.
Overtime Flashback Redux
A tip of the helmet to a couple of eagle-eyed readers who noted a pair of overtime games I missed in last week's report.
Tom Waisnor, Voice of the Pioneers, reminded me of the exciting overtime contest against Hamilton-Wenham in 2011 at the old Middle School field. I'm claiming that the traumatic nature of the game forced me to block it from my memory.
The Pioneers were poised to knock off the defending champion Generals, leading 14-6 into the last minute of play. Elliot Burr capped a 64 yard General drive to cut the lead to 14-12 with 37 seconds left. He barreled in for the two to tie the game.
The Generals had the first possession of the overtime and Andrew Kibarian got things started by sacking all league quarterback Trevor Lyons at the 15. But Lyons connected for a pass to get it to the three on second down, Burr got it to the one on third, and Lyons knifed in for the score on fourth down. He repeated the play for the two point conversion to make it 22-14.
The Pioneers picked up one yard on first down on their possession, an incompletion on second and a completed pass from Mike Karavetsos to Alex Pascucci to the five on third down. But on fourth and goal from the five, Karavetsos' pass fell incomplete.
The loss was even more bitter because the Pioneers appeared to pad their lead twice in the second half. The first was a controversial call in the endzone on an apparent touchdown catch by the Pioneers' Nico Varano. He and H-W defensive back Pete Duval came down with the ball together and the call should have gone Lynnfield's way since the offense should retain possession on a simultaneous catch, but the official ruled it an interception.
Early in the fourth, a 22 yard Karavetsos TD run was called back on a holding call.
Lynnfield built the lead on touchdowns by Kyle McGah and Tyler Palumbo. Palumbo's score came after ripping the ball from Burr and returning it 37 yards for the score. Alex Roper booted both PAT's.
And speaking of 1974, Glenn Listernick (LHS '74), wrote to tell me that the first ever Lynnfield overtime game came in that 1974 season against...wait for it...Hamilton Wenham.
The two teams battled to a scoreless tie and the Generals scored first in the overtime but missed the PAT. Glenn Dolbeare scored the tying touchdown on the Pioneers' possession and Alan Harrington banged through the extra point for the 7-6 win.
So for those keeping score at home, the Pioneers have played five overtime games and three of them have come against Hamilton- Wenham. And I think that brings us to date. Unless I missed another.
Thanks to Tom and Glenn for keeping me honest.
Around the CAL Baker
The Pioneer win over Amesbury was the only league action last week but all the other teams will begin CAL Baker play this weekend. Hamilton-Wenham (3-0) travels to Amesbury (0-3) while Manchester Essex (2-1) heads to Ipswich (1-2). Both games are on Friday night.
It's a bit early to handicap the race, but just as an fyi, the Pioneers and Generals wrap up the CAL Baker season in Lynnfield on October 20. Get your tickets early.
D5 Update
The Pioneers' win combined with Watertown's loss to Melrose vaulted Lynnfield into the top spot in the division. Swampscott remains undefeated and jumped into second place with a 48-6 beating of Winthrop. The Pioneers lead the Big Blue by a slim two points, .67 in the ratings, the difference being the two points Lynnfield earned by beating D4 Wayland. Watertown is lurking in third place and surprising Weston holds down the last home field playoff spot.
However, Swampscott and Watertown have big risk/reward schedules in the final four weeks. The Big Blue have two 12 point games against teams in a higher division when they play Lynn English (currently 3-0) and Revere (currently 0-3).
The Raiders have the biggest opportunity to cash in since they are in the Middlesex League and play 3 of their final four games against D4 teams - all 12 point games. They will play Burlington (0-3) this week than follow up with Wilmington (3-0), Stoneham (3-0) only a ten point game, and Wakefield (1-2). If they get on any type of winning streak they will be piling up more points than anyone in the division.
All of the Pioneers' final four games are against teams in the same or lower division which are worth only 10 points. If the playoffs started this week, the Pioneers would be hosting Pentucket in game one.
Week 3 Playoff Ratings
1. Lynnfield 3-0; 12.67 (38 points)
2. Swampscott 3-0; 12.00 (36 points)
3. Watertown 2-1; 10.53 (32 points)
4. Weston 2-1; 9.00 (27 points)
5. Triton 1-2; 6.53 (20 points)
6. Somerville 1-2; 6.40 (19 points)
7. Newburyport 1-2; 6.13 (18 points)
8. Pentucket 1-2; 4.00 (12 points)
9. Bedford 0-3; 2.60 (8 points)
10. Saugus 0-3; 2.40 (7 points)
11. Amesbury 0-3; 2.33 (7 points)
Winthrop Preview
The Pioneers will play their fourth home game in a row Friday night when they host the winless Winthrop Vikings (0-3).
When we last saw the Vikes in the 2014 D4 North Championship game, Cam Rondeau was pilfering the football from a pile of Pioneers and Vikings as Winthrop was trying to score from the Lynnfield half yard line. Cam DeGeorge blew up a quarterback sneak and Rondeau picked up the loose ball and raced 99 yards the other way for a Lynnfield touchdown.
Instead of of being up only 28-21, the Pioneers led 35-14 and effectively sealed the win and earned them a trip to Lowell to face Holliston in the D4 state semi-final.
That was the first time Winthrop and Lynnfield met in football and they haven't played since.
This will be a very different Viking team that comes to town from the battled tested, veteran Winthrop team that came into that 2014 game undefeated. The Pioneers will face the baby-faced Vikes this week. Head Coach Sean Driscoll has been saying this is the youngest team he has ever had in Winthrop.
They will bring a 34 man roster, but with only 7 seniors and 7 juniors. Half the team (17) are freshmen. The bulk of the playing time goes to the juniors and seniors and ten of them play both ways. The only relief comes from two freshmen who play regularly. The Vikes played six freshmen in a 31-0 loss to Danvers in their opening game.
Medford beat them 28-6 in week two and last week they fell to undefeated Swampscott 48-6. That score is a bit misleading since they scrappy Vikings trailed only 7-0 for most of the first half. A late Big Blue touchdown made it 14-0 at the break and the Vikings ran out of gas in the second half on a hot afternoon, giving up 34 points in the final two quarters.
Jake Adamson is the quarterback and his favorite receiver is junior Matt Love. The lead running back is Feedle Small - probably the best name I have ever heard.
The defense is led by linebackers Brett Sheehan, A.J. Massa, and Tyler Chuidina.
Game time at Pioneer Stadium is 7 pm.
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