The Pioneer Grid Blog Report - Week 4

Winthrop Leftovers, Around the CAL Baker, D5 Update, Manchester-Essex Preview

by Tom Condardo 

Winthrop Leftovers
Watching the Pioneers methodically dismantle the Vikings last Friday night might cause you to ask why Lynnfield was playing such an overmatched opponent. Chalk it up to the ebbs and flows of the strength of high school football teams.

Captain Anthony Murphy cruises
in from the three for the touchdown

First, you need to understand that there is a difference between a "team" and a "program." Winthrop has always been a strong "program." This year, they just happen to have a poor "team" and that is largely a function of their age.

They have 38 players on their roster and nearly half of them are freshmen. And head coach Sean Driscoll must dress - and use - some of these ninth graders. They also only have a dozen junior and seniors combined. So when they play a senior-laden team like the Pioneers, they are at a serious disadvantage.

But they are always a tough, scrappy team. They play in the tough Northeast Conference and despite their small numbers, they have always been able to compete. They have 4 Super Bowl appearances on their resume (1981, 1983, 1992, 2006) and have won three of them. In 2014, they were undefeated heading into the D4 North title game against the Pioneers.

"There's no crystal ball," head coach Neal Weidman said when asked about the scheduling. "Winthrop is a program that is typically good with tough kids who was open the same week we were.

John Lee scoots burst into 

the end zone for his first 

varsity score

They've always done well. In 2014 they were the top seed and I went and watched them play a number of times and they smoked a whole bunch of Northeast Conference teams that year. I knew they were going to be one of the teams to beat that year."

I asked the coach if they could get anything positive out of game like this other than being able to empty his bench and get some kids valuable experience.

"No," he responded. "They're just too young. You feel for them. Coach (Sean) Driscoll is a good guy and it's just one of those years. They'll remember this year and it will be better for them in the future."

Does Weidman feel he has to guard against overconfidence as a result of this game? Does his team have to be reminded that Winthrop just isn't in their class this year?

"They know that," he responded. "We try to schedule games so you improve before the end of the season."

Weidman will look to practices to gain the edge it is difficult to get in a mismatch game.

"We can control practices," he said. "That's where we can improve. We're going to have to do some of that this week."

Rush Hour
The Pioneers didn't waste much time scoring Friday night. Their six touchdown drives in the first half took 13, 68, 9, 67, 46, and 54 seconds. That's one touchdown every 42 seconds or a point every six seconds.

Point Total
The 47 points were the most for the Pioneers since beating Manchester-Essex 47-14 last year. It's the 14th time in school history they've scored 47 or more points and 32nd time they've tallied more than 40. The most points Lynnfield has scored in a game was in 1961 when the Pioneers beat Bedford 63-0.

Air Force Update
Winthrop's Jack Adamson was 2 for 9 for 9 yards and an interception passing Friday night, bringing the opposing quarterback passer rating to 7.64. Matt Mortellite was 3 for 3 for 91 yards and a touchdown giving him a passer rating of 150.00.

Climbing the chart
Captain Nick Kinnon's two touchdowns gives him 134 career points and vaults him into the top ten in Pioneer career scoring. Last week's performance lifted him past Andy Nekoroski (1979-81) who has 126, and Jake Rourke (2013-14) at 130. Frank Berardino (1958-61) is Lynnfield's all time scoring leader with 262 career points.

Triple Threat
For the second week in a row, the Pioneers were able to use all three of their varsity quarterbacks.

Brett Cohee scampers in for the first
of his two touchdown runs

Mortellite took a seat once the lead ballooned to 33-6 in the second quarter. Junior Brett Cohee took over and continued the onslaught carrying twice for 14 yard and 85 yard touchdowns. He also completed a pass for 9 yards. Despite limited playing time, Cohee is now the team's third leading rusher with 145 yards on 8 carries, a nifty 18.1 per carry average.

Sophomore Clayton Marengi, younger brother of captain Cooper, came on in the fourth quarter and picked up 21 yards on three carries. He actually had 32 yards on one carry but lost 11 yards on a couple of kneel downs to end the game.

Homecooking
The Pioneers head out on the road this week for the first time in nearly a year and they've been spoiled by how many home games they've played. Eight of their last 11 games have been played at Pioneer Stadium. Five of their first seven games will be played at home and if they stay in the top four in D5, they will have at least one more home playoff game.

Of course they'll be paying the price next year when they start the season with road trips to Newburyport, Wayland, Amesbury and Winthrop.

Wardrobe Change
Fans arriving at Pioneer Stadium Friday night may have been jarred to see the Pioneers wearing white pants instead of their traditional all navy blue look. I spoke to Kinnon and captain Harry Collins for the reasons behind the change and they told me it was at their request.

"We just wanted to change things up with the four straight home games," said Kinnon.

They said it took the captains two weeks to convince Weidman to let them make the change.

Around the CAL Baker
While the Pioneers were playing their non-league game, the rest of the CAL Baker was in action. Hamilton Wenham continued to impress with a 42-12 blasting of winless Amesbury.

The biggest news coming out of this game was the emergence of the General's running game. Their passing game with quarterback Billy Whelan and elite receivers Cam Peach and Jake Lanciani has been lethal, but against the Indians, sophomore running back Ian Coffey broke loose for 187 yards and three touchdowns in the first half. If the H-W attack can be effective both on the ground and in the air, they are going to be tough to handle.

Meanwhile, over in Ipswich, the Tigers stunned Manchester Essex with three touchdowns in the fourth quarter to take a 22-13 win. The Hornets led 13-6 with less than six minutes to play but Ipswich scored and made the two point conversion to give the Tigers a 14-13 lead. Ipswich then returned a M/E fumble for a score to seal the deal.

Ipswich travels to Amesbury this week and Hamilton-Wenham has a non-league game against Georgetown. 

The Standings
Lynnfield 1-0 (4-0 overall)
Ham-Wen 1-0 (4-0)
Ipswich 1-0 (2-2)
Man-Essex 0-1 (2-2)
Amesbury 0-2 (0-4)

D5 Update
Swampscott knocked the Pioneers out of the top spot with a win over previously undefeated Salem that earned them 19 points. They now have a 7 point lead on Lynnfield, thanks largely to opponents points. The Pioneers have 42 "own" points to 40 for the Big Blue, but Swampscott has 18 "opponent" points while Lynnfield has only 9, the second fewest in the division. Both Amesbury and Winthrop are winless, giving the Pioneers zero opponent points. Newburyport had a bye last week again depriving Lynnfield of any points. Wayland won again giving the Pioneers their only 3 opponent points for the week.

Weston snuck by Whittier 38-36 to stay at 3-1 only 2 points behind the Pioneers. Watertown beat D4 Burlington and hold on to the last home playoff spot, 3.2 points behind Lynnfield. Somerville, Newburyport, Triton, and Pentucket round out the eight playoff spots at this point.

Two games with huge implications for the Pioneers if they hope to earn the top seed in the division. Swampscott plays D4 Lynn English in a battle of unbeatens, and if the Big Blue can beat the Bulldogs, they will earn 24 points. Salem plays Winthrop likely giving Swampscott another 3 opponent points. The Big Blue finish up against winless Winthrop and Saugus so if they defeat Lynn English this week, it will be nearly impossible to catch them for the top spot.

Another game to consider is Newburyport vs. Triton. Swampscott has already beaten Pat Sheehan's Vikings and the Pioneers defeated Newburyport so the outcome of this one means a six point swing between Swampscott and Lynnfield. The Vikes would be heavy favorites in that one so it's probably three more points for Swampscott, and none for Lynnfield.

Watertown takes on D4 Wilmington who is 3-1 so a win there would be worth 21 points for the Raiders and give them a big boost in the ratings. Weston has a bye this week.

If the playoffs started this week, the second seeded Pioneers would host seventh seeded Triton.

Week 4 Playoff Ratings

1. Swampscott 4-0; 14.50 (58 points)
2. Lynnfield 4-0; 12.75 (51 points)
3. Weston 4-0; 12.25 (49 points)
4. Watertown 3-1; 11.95 (47.8 points)
5. Somerville 2-2; 9.60 (38.4 points)
6. Newburyport 1-2; 7.87 (23.6 points)
7. Triton 1-3; 6.80 (27.2 points)
8. Pentucket 1-3; 3.9 (15.6 points)
9. Saugus 0-4; 3.55 (14.2 points)
10. Amesbury 0-4; 3.25 (13 points)
11. Bedford 0-4; 3.15 (12.6 points)

BTW, if you're wondering about the fractions of points, teams get 1 point for every win by team that has beaten you, but you get 1.2 points for a win for team that has beaten you that is in a higher division.

Manchester-Essex Preview
The Pioneers hit the road to Manchester-by-the-Sea for their first road game of the year and their first since heading to Greater Lawrence last November 12. That's nearly a year between road games.

The Hornets are much improved from last year with two and three years starters at many key positions starting in the backfield. Robbie Sarmanian and Jake Athanas have been the workhorses for a couple of years and they will share the load in the running game. The Hornets lost last year's second leading rusher Dan Rodier to Governor's Academy. The other key hole is at quarterback where senior Cosmo Pallazola takes over for Charlie Otterbein who graduated.

M/E features a big, experienced interior line led by senior captains Andrew Hantzopoulos, Jackson Rice, and Charlie MacDowell. Four of the five linemen are returning starters.

Rice and Hantzopolous lead the linebacking corps to spearhead the defense.

The Hornets have had a see-saw season so far. They beat Northeast (2-2) in a 46-34 shootout to open the season and then were routed by Nantucket (4-0) 32-7. They bounced back with a 39-0 beating of winless Essex Tech then were nipped in the final minutes by Ipswich 22-13 last week.

The Pioneers won last year's meeting 47-14 with Matt Mortellite leading the way with a school-record four TD passes. The offense exploded for 524 yards of offense scoring 47 unanswered points after M/E marched down the field and scored on their first possession to take a 7-0 lead.

The Pioneers have beaten M/E five straight times by an aggregate score of 210-34. Overall they hold a 6-3 edge in the series.

Game time in Manchester-by-the-Sea is 7 pm.