Newburyport Game Preview: Full Speed Ahead

by Tom Condardo

"They grow up so fast, don't they?"

Typical parental quote when talking about their kids of any age. Pioneer head coach Neal Weidman wishes he could make it so on Friday night when his peach-fuzzed band of Pioneers take the field in Newburyport for the 2016 season opener.

The Pioneers are young. How young? Very. Thirteen of the 20 players Weidman has identified as the players who will likely see the most action are juniors. And nearly all of them will be seeing significant varsity action for the first time under the lights at refurbished World War Memorial Stadium.

Not exactly dipping the toe in the water. This is a big toss into the deep end.

For the first time in many years, the Pioneers will not enjoy their usual advantages: size and experience. Much of both graduated over the last few years so this young group will have to make up for it with hard work, enthusiasm, and smart football.

They have shown the willingness to do that in their brief pre-season activity. They held their own against a much larger Masco squad and outscored Salem in a performance that Weidman labelled "lackluster." They were shut out by Division 2A Melrose but made significant strides against the top-ranked Red Raiders, playing them evenly for stretches of the game-like scrimmage.

The key will be how they perform under the bright lights in Newburyport.

Time to get this show on the road.

New Look Clippers
The Pioneers will be facing a familiar foe Friday night. Very familiar, in fact, since it's basically the same team they defeated 33-6 last season. The Clippers graduated only four seniors from that team that went 3-7 and features 16 seniors on this year's team.

There are two significant subtractions from last year's squad. Head coach Ed Gaudiano, who patrolled the Clipper sideline for the last 28 seasons has retired, replaced by New Jersey native Mike Levine. Levine played at Williams College and for the past nine years has been coaching in Texas. He promises to bring some fire and enthusiasm to the Clipper program and he has some of the horses to begin that process this year.

Levine will be missing one key piece, however, as last year's leading rusher Quinn Stott has transferred to Governor's. Stott is an explosive runner and was capable of breaking it every time he touched the ball. He will be missed, but the Clippers certainly have some other playmakers that will have to pick up the load this year.

They are led by senior captains Rob Shay (quarterback), Nick Toolan (fullback and linebacker), Brian Toolan (offensive line and linebacker), and Ryan Tamayoshi (offensive line and linebacker). They also feature experienced seniors on the offensive and defensive lines, linebacker, receiver and running back.

They don't have enormous size, but in the typical Newburyport tradition, they are fast and athletic. The linebacking corps of the Toolans and Tamayoshi are particularly active and will likely pose problems for the Pioneer offense.

The Clippers feature a speedy defensive backfield which will help negate the Pioneer's biggest strength - its speed.

In their final scrimmage, Newburyport contained the Watertown team that ousted the Pioneers from the playoffs and return many of the same players.

Shay returns for his second year running the Clipper offense that features a little bit different look this year. They line up in the spread with two running backs and can throw the ball as well as run some variations of the option with it. Shay is shifty and will share the offensive load with running back Ronnie Mwai, Donte Harmon, and Myles Maloof.

The Heat is On
It could come down to a conditioning battle tomorrow night as temperatures are forecast to be hovering in the mid eighties at kickoff. It's been a hot summer so both teams should be used to it, but the team that's in better shape will have a significant advantage, especially in the final quarter.

Unfriendly Confines
It's no secret that the Clippers have been the thorniest of all Pioneer opponents. Lynnfield has won only 11 of the 43 match ups between the schools, and three of those wins have come in the last three years. Things have been particularly tough in Newburyport where the Pioneers snapped a 13 game losing streak that stretched back to 1986 with a 32-0 win two years ago. They've won only four games in Newburyport since the series began in 1973.

Opening Acts
The Pioneers have won three straight opening day games and are 6-2 in openers in the Weidman era (2008-present). The only two losses? Um...7-6 in 2012 and 27-14 in 2011 - both to the Clippers.

Opportunity Knocks
Since the CAL will not be crowning champions until Thanksgiving Day, there are no automatic playoff berths for CAL teams. The only way for the Pioneers to earn a spot is to finish in the top eight in their 12 team Division 3A. I'll be doing a primer soon explaining how the point values are determined, but suffice to say the more points you earn, the better.

With the realignment of teams this past offseason, the Pioneers have an opportunity to capitalize early in their schedule. You earn points for your wins, 10 for beating teams in your own division and 12 for wins against teams in higher division.

Lynnfield's first three games are all 12 point opportunities since Newburyport and Amesbury (third opponent) are one division up in D3, and Danvers (second opponent) is in D2A. However all three teams are much improved and will be formidable opponents. Winning any of those three will position the Pioneers nicely in the playoff race.

What is it that Herb Brooks said before the miracle win over the Russian hockey team in 1980?

"Great moments are born from great opportunity."

Game time in Newburyport is Friday night at 7 pm.

That's it for now. Check back Sunday night for my Leftovers post.

Pioneers Adjust to Downsizing

by Tom Condardo

For anyone who has followed the Pioneers for the past few years, looking at the team huddle before the Masco scrimmage was a bit jarring. Something was definitely different. And then it hit me: the tallest person in the gathering was head coach Neal Weidman. Not that the coach isn't big, but in recent seasons, you'd be hard pressed to find Weidman in the shadows of some of the enormous redwoods that regularly populated the Pioneer squad.

Every year when the Pioneers marched in to a visiting venue or when a team came to play at Pioneer Stadium, opposing coaches and fans would inevitably express some variation of the question "What are they putting in the water in Lynnfield?"

The size difference between the Pioneers and their opponents was usually that striking. For the past five years or so, Lynnfield has trotted out a line (and many linebackers) that averaged 6'2 or 6'3 and 220+ pounds and thanks to the DeGeorge boys (Cam and D.J.) they would also sprinkle in a few 6'5 250+ bodies. It was a clear advantage for the Pioneers and led to some of the most lopsided wins in LHS football history.

However, size intimidation won't be in the toolbox for the 2016 Pioneers. It is a return to a squad with sizes more normal for a Division 3-4 high school team. This will obviously present new challenges for Weidman and his staff in general and for line coach Gino Fodera in particular.

"It's a bit difficult without size but we have speed which is something you don't really have when you have a lot of size. Size makes it really hard to have a lot of speed," Fodera told me. "We'll hit the holes quicker. Moving people off the line of scrimmage is going to be the hard part. But these kids are tough and they worked hard in the weight room this off season. They showed their dedication when they came in the first day and we're going to just have to keep working."

Lack of experience of equal concern
But the lack of a size advantage is not Fodera's primary concern. It's the lack of experience in his linemen.

"It's a little different when you don't have the likes of Cam DeGeorge and Spencer Balian and kids that have experience," he said. "Besides (captain) Mike Stellato, there are no starters from last year on this year's offensive line. These are kids that literally played JV last year. We'll have a lot of juniors playing offensive line and they didn't get the kinds of looks they're getting now. Even in practice, I'd take the ones and twos (first and second team) and I'd strictly work with them. And these kids weren't even the ones and twos last year.

"So it's a whole different approach," Fodera continued. "Even practice is different. Getting used to the way I coach with these kids is something totally new - something they haven't seen before. We work really hard at practice. I think as the season progresses these guys are going to get better and better. The ultimate goal is obviously to be just one unit and work together in tandem and we'll see what happens. They're good kids and they want to work hard. They come every day and we'll continue to improve."

The Pioneers are also devoting more time to teaching this year.

"Coach Weidman is doing a great job this year with just slowing down the pace a little bit," Fodera explained. "In years past it's been go, go, go. Neal's really taken the time out to correct things right away. Instead of doing it on the fly he's actually taken a little bit of time to make sure everyone knows what they're doing which is great."

Uneven start
Fodera got his first look at his new charges in action against a big, experienced, talented Masco team this past Saturday.

"I would have to honestly say some things looked good and some things looked bad," he said to me after the scrimmage. "It's hard in a game scrimmage like this to see because there's so many things going on. After we watch the film we'll determine what was good and what was bad. We made a lot of mistakes but we did some good things as well.

The Pioneers made some changes in anticipation of the revamped line they would be featuring this year.

"This past summer coach Weidman changed up the pass protection a little bit," Fodera said. "And I though they picked that up pretty well within only seven practices so far. I think they did a good job with that. We're going to try and get some pressure off the quarterback. As you could tell, there was some pressure and some things we need to clean up."

The Pioneer offense did well against Masco, picking up 132 yards on the ground and 138 yards in the air and scored 42 points in 40 plays.

"Once we get down to the final 11 that are going to play the games, we'll figure out what best suits us," Fodera summed up. "It's really hard when you have the first string offensive line and maybe a fourth group running back. Once we get everything settled, things will come together."

The Pioneers will get to fine tune things even more in scrimmages against Salem on Tuesday, August 30 and Melrose on Friday, September 2, before their regular season opener against Newburyport on September 9. And although you can't coach size, the Pioneer staff will certainly make sure the squad is prepared. In football, that's what really matters.