Cathedral Leftovers

Random ramblings while drying out from Saturday's monsoon...

The Hurrier I Go, The Behinder I Get
In addition to their struggles on the field, Cathedral had a bit of a problem with the time/space continuum on Saturday. With game time approaching at the Middle School and the Pioneers warming up, there was only one thing missing...an opponent. Coach Pat Sheehan headed back to the High School rightly assuming that the Panthers' bus had cruised down Main Street right past the game venue. They made it back to the MS about 20 minutes before 1 pm and the game started a few minutes late so they would have a chance to warm up.

They also struggled with time management at halftime, keeping the Pioneers and the referees waiting for an extra ten minutes while they made their way back from the Middle School after the break.

Points Are Piling Up
The Pioneers are averaging 26.8 points per game. While it will be difficult to keep up that pace with the tough schedule ahead of them, it's worth pointing out that their current ppg average is third best in school history.

The amazing 1960 team averaged 45.6 points per game enroute to a perfect 9-0 season. That included wins of 60-0 over Wayland, 60-0 over Ashland and 60-6 over Lynn Trade. They also scored 50 points against Dracut, Bedford and Westford Academy. The FEWEST points they scored that year was 22 which happened twice. The next season, the 1961 team averaged 29.3 ppg in a 7-2 season.

The Defense Isn't Resting
While a lot of focus has been on the Pioneer's prolific offense, we better start paying attention to Greg Haberland's defense. Before the season, head coach Neal Weidman felt the D would be good, and it has been that and more. In four games, the Pioneers have only allowed 49 points, the fewest through four games since 2003 when they allowed 48.

But as good as those numbers are, they do not tell the whole story. Of the 49 points allowed, 7 came on an interception return in the waning minutes of a blowout (Matignon), 7 came on a kickoff return (Wilmington), 14 came against the second team defense when the game was out of reach (Georgetown, Cathedral) and 14 resulted from short field drives of 33 and 35 yards set up by fumbles (Wilmington). For those of you math-challenged, that leaves a grand total of 7 points that were scored on a "conventional" drive. That was a 60 yard march on Wilmington's final score in their 28-7 win. Very impressive indeed.

Youth is Being Served
Even though the Pioneers have over 20 upper classmen on the roster, several underclassmen are getting significant playing time and performing well. Freshman Andrew Kibarian stepped in when Evan Panzero was injured at Wilmington and has recovered two fumbles, notched a sack and made a bunch of tackles on the D-line. Sophomore Jonathan Roberto has seen a lot of reps on the offensive line and been effective. And don't forget Freddy Shove who despite being a regular since last year is still only a sophomore.


Absolutely Useless Factoids
Of the 506 games played in LHS history, Saturday's matchup with Cathedral was only the second one played against a school beginning with the letter "C." The other was a non league game against Chelsea in 1999.

Cathedral was also the fourth Catholic school the Pioneers have played in their 52 year history. The others are Matignon, St. Mary's of Lynn (1991) and St. Mary's of Brookline (1961).

That's it for now. We'll take a look around the league on Tuesday.

Send comments and feedback to tcondardo@gmail.com.

Taking Care of Business

There certainly wasn't much drama, but that's okay. Today was a day to go out and get the job done. The Pioneers certainly did that.

Today's 34-8 pasting of Cathedral is a measure of how far the Pioneers have come. Not so much in the result as clearly the struggling Panthers were no match for the Pioneers, but in the overall way they handled the game.

They came in facing an opponent they were clearly superior to and grabbed them by the throat and never let go. No letting them hang around and start thinking upset. Knock them down quickly and keep them down. That is what good teams do and the Pioneers are continuing to look like a good team.

You can read all the details in my game story in the Villager on Wednesday, but suffice to say that this one was over quickly. No fuss, no muss. And you didn't see a lot of whoopin' and hollerin' on the sideline. The Pioneers have matured to the point that they knew that this was a team they should beat and they went out and beat them. Convincingly. No carrying on. Just doing their job.

Another positive was the fact that the younger players were able to get another couple of quarters of varsity experience. Don't underestimate how important that is to the continued growth of the program. For the third time in four weeks, the back ups were able to show the coaches, and themselves, what they could do against first teamers. That is much more important than playing the other team's second stringers. That experience will pay huge dividends later in the year should injuries strike and most importantly next year.

Kudos to the Pioneer crowd that showed up in dreadful conditions to cheer the team on. The Pioneer cheerleaders also stuck it out to offer full support despite the rain. Nice job.

Good win. Book it. Let's move on. Next week a stiffer challenge in Danvers. Check back later for more on the Cathedral game, news from around the league and a closer look at Danvers.

For any feedback, I can be reached at tcondardo@gmail.com