The Pioneer Gridblog Report Week 5

by Tom Condardo

Manchester-Essex Leftovers, Around the CAL Baker, D5 Playoff Race Update, Ipswich Preview

Manchester-Essex Leftovers
After his defense had given up 202 total yards rushing in its previous two games, Pioneer head coach Neal Weidman could be forgiven for being angry as he watched Manchester-Essex rip through the Pioneers for 160 yards in the first half. Only he wasn't.

"I wasn't necessarily upset about the way the game was going because it's probably what we deserved a little bit," the coach told me after the game. "After four games maybe they thought that they could start doing things in a different way and not doing what got them to this week."

Was the sleepy first half and semi-scare the Hornets threw at them a wake up call for the Pioneers?

"I would hope so," Weidman replied. "We'll find out next week. We definitely played better in the second half."

Not that the Hornets, now 2-3 on the season, didn't have something to do with the shocking first two quarters.

"They definitely have some talent," Weidman said. "They're thin obviously. They don't have a lot of numbers and that hurts them in the end but the kids that start are good looking players."

Running backs Jake Athanas and Robbie Sarmanian certainly shined in those first two quarters. Athanas rolled for 81 yards and Sarmanian scampered for 65 yards and a touchdown.

"You have to give them credit," Weidman went on. "They played harder than we did and played better than we did and they took it to us.

The Hornets could have made this one a lot more interesting if not for a key sequence late in the second quarter. Leading 7-6, M/E appeared to be heading for another score as they marched from their own 20 deep into Lynnfield territory. But the Pioneer defense came alive once the Hornets got into the red zone.

They held Sarmanian to a two yard gain, broke up a pass on second down, threw Athanas for a yard loss on third down, and broke up a pass on fourth down to force a turnover on downs with 1:16 left.

The Pioneers made the Hornets pay and took control of the game on the next play when quarterback Matt Mortellite faded back and threw a perfect pass that travelled 43 yards in the air into the waiting arms of captain Nick Kinnon who was streaking down the left sideline. He never broke stride and cruised into the end zone to give the visiting Pioneers a 12-7 lead. That play doused the flames of the fired up Hornets ending any thoughts of an upset.

"They shouldn't have been down 12-7 at the half," Weidman said of the home team. "We got the big play. Obviously the fourth down stop was huge. They outplayed us in the first half and we were still winning. That's a good thing for us but we certainly didn't deserve it."

The Pioneers came out with a much different attitude in the second half, scoring on three straight possessions and limiting the Hornets to six plays on their two third quarter possessions. When I mentioned that the first team defense didn't allow a first down in the second half, Weidman wasn't impressed.

"They allowed a lot of them in the first half," he said. "They kicked our butt in the first half."

Something tells me film review this week featured more of the first half than the second half.

Three's a Charm (Part 1)
Mortellite tossed four TD's in the game, tying a record he set and then matched last year. He torched Manchester Essex to set the record last year in a 47-14 win and then repeated the four bagger in a 34-14 victory against Greater Lawrence. The four this week gives him nine on the year. His NFL passer rating is now 148.8.

Three's a Charm (Part 2)
Opposing quarterbacks may want to start trying someone other than Jason Ndansi when looking for an opening in the Pioneer secondary. The senior picked off his third interception of the year early in the second quarter against M/E. Ndansi got some help from junior Hunter Allain who roared in untouched from his right linebacker spot to T-bone Hornet quarterback Cosmo Pallazola just as he threw. Ndansi's three picks is half the total for the Pioneers on the year.

The Pioneer secondary continues to be air tight. They held Pallazola to a 1 for 7 night for nine yards and the interception. For the season, opposing quarterbacks are 16 for 57 (28%) for 97 yards, 1 touchdown, and six interceptions. That works out to a Passer Rating of 5.84.

Long Distance Calling
The Pioneers have scored 25 touchdowns so far this season and 13 been for 20+ yards, 6 passing and 7 rushing.

Well Coached
Interesting tidbit on the next to last play of the game. With time running down and the game essentially over, junior quarterback Brett Cohee took the snap, faked a handoff to the running back and when the outside linebacker bit on the fake, Cohee tossed a perfect bubble screen to Aidan McCormack who scampered for a 26 yard gain. Perfect read and perfect execution.

Except it wasn't what Weidman wanted. As soon as Cohee made the read, the coach knew what his quarterback was going to do and he started yelling "No, no!" But is was too late.

"Obviously I did not want him to throw the bubble in that situation but he did as he was coached so I couldn't yell at him," Weidman said. "His run game reads are really good. He's smart, he pays attention, he does all those things. He did it correctly like he typically does."

The coach made a point of pulling Cohee aside after the game to tell him he absolutely did the right thing. The play was called back on a holding call so no harm, no foul.

Cohee took a knew to end the game.

Around the CAL Baker
It'll be a battle for first place this Friday night in Ipswich as the Tigers moved to 2-0 in Baker League play with a 42-21 win over Amesbury. The Tigers were clinging to a 21-14 halftime lead but made it 28-14 early in the third and pulled away with a pair of Pick Six interceptions.

That was the only other Baker League action last week. In addition to the Lynnfield/Ipswich clash, Manchester-Essex will take on undefeated Hamilton-Wenham.

The Standings
Lynnfield 2-0 (5-0 overall)
Ipswich 2-0 (3-2)
Hamilton-Wenham 1-0 (5-0)
Man-Essex 0-2 (2-3)
Amesbury 0-3 (0-5)

D5 Update
The Pioneers win combined with the Swampscott loss to Lynn English puts the two teams in a dead heat for the top seed in the division. The Big Blue has an easier final two week schedule facing one win Revere and winless Saugus but that also limits their opponent point potential.

The Pioneers have a tougher schedule with Ipswich (3-2) and undefeated Hamilton-Wenham upcoming but it also gives them the opportunity to pile up some serious opponent points should they manage to get past their two CAL Baker foes.

There are a couple of important swing games for Lynnfield this week. Triton plays Amesbury and a win for the Vikes gives Swampscott three points while an Amesbury win would give three to Lynnfield. Winthrop plays Saugus in a battle of winless team. A win by Winthrop gives both leaders three points, but a Saugus win gives Swampscott an opportunity for three points next week when they face the Sachems. Wins by Newburyport over Pentucket and Wayland over Concord-Carlisle would give the Pioneers six more opponent points.

Somerville beat Beverly to get to 3-2 and move into third place in the division, 14.2 points behind the leaders. Watertown lost to Wilmington but still held on to the fourth and final home playoff spot, 16.2 points behind. Weston, Newburyport, Triton, and Bedford round out the eight playoff slots.

If the playoffs started this weekend, the Pioneers would be playing either Triton or Bedford.

Week 5 Playoff Rankings
1. Lynnfield 5-0; 14.00 (70 points)
2. Swampscott 4-1; 14.00 (70 points)
3. Somerville 3-2; 11.16 (55.8 points)
4. Watertown 3-2; 10.76 (53.8 points)
5. Weston 3-1; 10.72 (43.6 points)
6. Newburyport 2-2; 10.45 (41.8 points)
7. Triton 1-4; 6.92 (34.6 points)
8. Bedford 1-4; 5.60 (18 points)
9. Saugus 0-5; 4.68 (23.4 points)
10. Pentucket 1-4; 4.08 (20.4 points)
11. Amesbury 0-5; 3.80 (19 points)

Ipswich Preview
Talk to any high school football coach and they will tell you that high school football is a senior game. Pioneer head coach Neal Weidman has made that point several times and the team's success this year can in a large part be attributed to a nearly all senior lineup Lynnfield puts on the field on both sides of the ball.

If it's true that your twelfth graders are key to winning, the Pioneers better be alert on Friday night when they travel to Ipswich. The Tigers have 17 seniors and will leverage that experience to try and spring the upset over the Pioneers.

The Tigers blanked winless Essex Tech 14-0 to open the season then fell to Newburyport 10-7. Ipswich fell to Triton 35-21 but has bounced back with wins over Manchester-Essex 22-13 on a big fourth quarter comeback and last week rode a big second half to rout winless Amesbury 42-21.

At 2-0 in the Baker, the Tigers are tied with the Pioneers for first place and at 3-2 overall are clinging to the final playoff spot in Division 6. There is a lot at stake for the Tigers and you can expect them to come out roaring Friday night.

"We'll have our hands full," Weidman said. "The are going to be tough.

Offensively, the Tigers have jumped into the Wayback Machine and installed an old school veer offense with two backs behind the quarterback and two tight ends. It is a run oriented attack that looks to take advantage of a solid, aggressive offensive line. Four of five starters return from last season.

The Tigers have been opportunists on defense. In the past two weeks they have scored three defensive touchdowns. Their defensive line is experienced but they have three first year starters at linebacker so look for the Pioneers to exploit the middle of the field.

The Pioneers have dominated the series in the last decade, winning ten straight by an aggregate score of 268-42. That includes four shutouts and five games in which the Tigers managed only one touchdown.

Game time in Ipswich is 7 pm.