To say the 2011 Lynnfield Pioneers face a number of challenges is an understatement.
Topping the list would be replacing 15 seniors including a pair of two-time All-League players (quarterback Gino Cohee and LB/WR A. J. Roberto), the 2010 CAL Small Player of the Year (Roberto), three other 2010 All League performers (RB/LB Jeff Gannon, K/WR Steve Ullian, DB Rick Berardino) and two All League Honorable Mention winners (Lineman Craig Cataldo and DB Tim Shannon). They also have to replace the Pioneers' best placekicker ever (Ullian 6 FG's and 75 PAT's) and four other starters (DB Wes Sullivan, lineman Nick Burtman, WR Pete Foustoukas and lineman John Bossi).
The Pioneers also have to replace defensive coordinator Greg Haberland who has moved on to North Shore this season.
And they have to live up to the standard set by arguably the best two year performance in the history of the school that saw the Pioneers post the most wins in a two year span (19) including a league championship in 2009.
Add one more challenge to the pile.
A killer schedule.
Good bye Division 4A Cathedral and Chelsea. Hello powerhouses St. Mary's of Lynn and Pentucket. The Pioneers will play in the Division 3A Tier Four of the newly formed CAL/NEC. They face three teams from the CAL/NEC's Tier Three (Pentucket, Amesbury and Newburyport) and one from the league's Tier Two (Danvers). They also face two private schools from the always tough Catholic Central Large (Bishop Fenwick and St. Mary's) just moving down to Division 4 this year.
Clearly their non league slate is their toughest since playing a nearly full Cape Ann League Schedule in 2007.
"We'll be battle tested," said Pioneer head coach Neal Weidman. "We'll have a tough non league schedule."
Was the shift to a tougher schedule intentional or just a product of circumstance?
"A little bit of both," Weidman said. "Last year the schedule didn't quite fall into place the way we thought it would."
The Pioneers bulldozed through their first six games last season - five non league and a league game against Georgetown. They were never tested as they steamrolled to a 6-0 record, outscoring the group 222-45 and posting three shutouts.
"Parts of the schedule didn't really help us out going into the later league schedule," Weidman admitted. "We didn't realize it was going to work out that way."
The soft early schedule for the Pioneers was a stark contrast to that of their top CAL Small rivals Newburyport and Hamilton Wenham. The Clippers went 3-4 but lost to CAL Large powers Masco, Wilmington and North Andover. They then upset the Pioneers enroute to reeling off four straight league wins to finish 7-4.
The Generals were 3-2 in the first half of their season but beat Pentucket and Triton and lost to Wilmington. They then won five straight league games including the 16-15 last second win over the Pioneers to clinch the league title.
The Pioneers will be looking to benefit from stiffer competition in the non-league portion of their 2011 season.
Lynnfield open with three straight home games, but there will be no easing into the season.
The past two years the focus has been on the two big league games with Amesbury and Newburyport at the start of the league schedule sometime in mid October. In 2009 the Pioneers won both enroute to the CAL Small crown. Last season, the Pioneers had a stirring comeback win over the Indians but stumbled against the Clippers in their first loss of the year that ultimately crippled their hopes for a repeat.
They'll not be waiting for the leaf-peeping season to face that pair this year.
The Pioneers will host those two rivals right out of the gate but this season they will be non league games. That probably won't have much of an affect on the intensity of the contests against the two teams the Pioneers have faced for nearly 40 years.
"They're teams we've always played and they've always had good teams," said Weidman. "We'll be starting off the season against Newburyport which is going to be very good and follow them up with Amesbury like we have the past few years which is a tough back to back."
The Pioneers will then play their third straight home game against Bishop Fenwick.
"They lost some players but so did we so I expect that to be a pretty good matchup," said Weidman.
Are three straight home games an advantage for the Pioneers?
"It really depends," said Weidman. "With the number of seniors we lost the last two years you never know how things will shake out. My guess is that it's going to take some time for some of our kids to get used to playing at varsity speed against varsity competition which is a good thing about having non league games before your league games. I'm hoping that by the time we get to our league schedule we're going to be a much improved team from the first week of the year.
"That's the important thing," Weidman continued. "It's great to win - obviously you want to win all of your games - for a lot of reasons including momentum and confidence, but it's also important to make sure you're playing your best when you get to your league games."
In Week Four, the Pioneers hit the road for their first away game of the year under the lights at Manning Field against St. Mary's.
"St. Mary's is good. They were 10-1 last year and didn't lose anyone," said Weidman. "They have two backs that fly and they are very aggressive. They are going to be very tough."
The Pioneers are on the road again in Week Five when they travel to Danvers for a Thursday night game against the Falcons.
"They are a bigger school but we've beaten them the last two years," said Weidman. "Two years ago up there it was a great game. They lost a lot of seniors that year. Last year wasn't quite as close a game but they'll be a good team and this year we lost a lot of seniors."
The Pioneers return home for their final non league game against traditional CAL Large power Pentucket. With the realignment, the Sachems are moving down two divisions and have to be considered the prohibitive favorite in the CAL/NEC Tier Three.
"The first six weeks are going to be real tough heading into our first league game against Ipswich," Weidman said.
The Pioneers will take on the Tigers in another Friday night game and despite losing a ton of seniors, Ipswich could surprise.
"They have a good young group coming in including the coach's son and there's a lot of them," said Weidman."They're going to be an up and coming team that you're going to have to watch out for."
The Pioneers return to Lynnfield to take on the defending and final CAL Small Champion Hamilton Wenham. They will be looking to avenge last year's heartbreaking one point, last second loss to the Generals.
It's back on the road the following week to take on Georgetown in a Saturday afternoon game. The Royals will be playing under a new coach with the departure of Matt Bouchard from the sidelines.
"It's always tough the first year for a coach," Weidman said. "If you're putting in a new offense and defense there's a learning curve there. But they return their quarterback which is always key. And he's a good player. He didn't play against us last year."
Then it's back to Pioneer Field for the final home game of the season against new league member Manchester-Essex.
The season wraps up with the 54th traditional rivalry game against North Reading.
Early reviews seem to point to H-W and the Hornets as preseason favorites in the new league so the holiday game could have huge post season consequences for either or both teams. For a complete early look at the new CAL/NEC Tier Four league, check out my February post.
Having a tough non league schedule does not necessarily mean a team's season is doomed, even if they struggle early.
In 2008, Newburyport started the year 0-5 but then beat the Pioneers 24-14 in their first league game. That was the start of a five game winning streak that lifted the Clippers to 5-5 and had them playing for the league title on Thanksgiving Day. They lost to Amesbury but finished with a 5-1 league mark.
Last year, Beverly started 0-5 in the non-league portion of their schedule, but ran off five straight to capture the NEC Small crown. The Panthers then beat Scituate 41-14 in the Division 2A playoff and then outlasted Somerset 28-20 to win the Super Bowl.
For all the dates and details, here is the link to the Pioneers' 2011 schedule.
That's it for now. Check back on June 3 for my next post.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Sheehan's First Year a "Learning Experience"
When Baltimore Oriole president and general manager Andy MacPhail was asked recently about the challenges of trying to compete in the tough American League East, he responded, "Don't look at the height of the mountain. Just climb."
That could well describe the philosophy of Triton Viking head coach Pat Sheehan during his trying first year as a head football coach.
Sheehan, a Lynnfield native and former Pioneer captain as well as offensive coordinator of the Pioneers' 2009 championship team, struggled through an apocalypticly difficult first year leading the Triton program. It just wasn't that the Vikes battled through a winless season. It was the incredible way the season unfolded for Sheehan and his charges.
The Vikings faced a tough schedule with seven of their opponents finishing the season with a winning record. Of Triton's 11 losses, seven came by a TOTAL of 30 points. That's an average margin of defeat of 4.3 points. In five of the losses, the Vikes were tied or ahead going into the final quarter. They lost two in the final minute of play (one with 10 seconds left) and one in four overtimes. As I told Pat, if a fiction writer penned that type of epic scenario, no one would buy it.
"It was unbelievable to tell you the truth," Sheehan said. "Each week was the same old story. It was one thing or another. You think you have it. We were tied. We were up. We were driving. Then came a costly turnover or just a fluke thing."
Sheehan noted some sage advice he received from longtime Austin Prep head coach Bill Maradei following the Cougars win over the Vikes in the FOURTH overtime.
"He said 'coach you can't go out there and win and you can't go out there and tell your kids you're going to win. You just have to go out there and play as hard as you can and let the chips fall where they may,'" Sheehan remembers. "he said 'those are hard loses and those are going to pay off in the long run.' I believe that and I hope they do."
So how would Sheehan describe his first season?
"I would definitely describe it as a learning experience," said the young coach who had barely turned 28 when he began his first training camp last August. "I'm a young head coach but I don't know if there is anything that can prepare anyone to be a head coach. I tried to take on as many responsibilities with (Pioneer head coach) Neal (Weidman). I asked for the responsibilities and he trusted me with them but it doesn't compare because now you are in charge of everything.
"It was fairly overwhelming at first," he continued. "I started to get the hang of it midway through the season with the administrative and communication piece of it dealing with the players, coaches, parents and administrators."
Sheehan said dealing with the non football aspects of things was the biggest difference in making the jump from assistant coach to head man.
"At Lynnfield, all I thought about was offense and the defense we were playing that week. In the position I'm in now, I was thinking about offense and defense and special teams and the opponent and the freshmen team and the JV team and the students' grades and the parents and the pasta parties. It was overwhelming at first. Once we really got into the season, after camp and after all the paperwork was in it became a lot more like I was accustomed to. It became more about football, going out to practice ever day and trying to get better."
Despite the frustrations of the trying season, Sheehan never lost his composure and put out a positive spin every week.
"By nature I'm a positive person," Sheehan explained. "I take that probably from my father. As far as being cool, I've always been more cerebral as a player and a coach. I wasn't necessarily into the big 'rah,rah' and banging helmets and things like that. I see football as a tough physical game but as Vince Lombardi said the game is 80% mental and 20% physical and I truly believe that. I think it's a very mental game and you have to have your wits about you at all times through the ups and downs. I try to approach it in a very business like manner."
Sheehan is looking forward to putting last year behind him and getting on to the 2011 season. The merger of the Cape Ann League and the Northeast Conference moves Triton from the tough CAL Large into a much more competitive CAL/NEC Tier Three with Pentucket, Saugus, Winthrop, Newburyport and Amesbury. The Vikings will no longer have CAL Large behemoths like North Andover and Masco standing in the way of their title hopes.
"We're really excited," Sheehan said about the upcoming season. "We had a difficult schedule last year. The realignment really suits us. We're going to miss having the league games against Masco, North Andover and Wilmington because they present challenges that are exciting and I'm always up for a challenge.. Having said that, I'm also excited about the new challenges. I think there's a little bit more parity and the games will be very competitive. We lost to Amesbury by a point and to Newburyport by two points. Pentucket was a great game. It was 21-21 in the fourth quarter. And Saugus and Winthrop will pose new challenges.
"We have a really committed junior class who are going to be seniors. We're working really hard in the weight room. The kids are starting to buy into it. This is the first full offseason where we can start to implement our programs."
Sheehan also has a couple of standout skill players returning in quarterback Blaise Whitman and running back Derek Paquette. The pair heads a list of 16 returning seniors.
"Blaise has a year with the offense under his belt and understanding it. I think Paquette is going to be the best back or one of the top backs in the league. We have some receivers and offensive linemen coming back. We are losing a lot of our defense but we're excited about the guys we have coming back and the commitment they've shown this offseason."
In another local connection, one of Sheehan's assistants is Mike Geary, another former Pioneer captain and assistant coach. He made the move north last year and will be back for another season with the Vikings.
"He'll be with me," Sheehan said. "I told him he's not allowed to leave until we win a Super Bowl."
Speaking of the postseason, in an interesting twist, Triton's league will be in Division 3A, which is the same as the Pioneer's CAL/NEC 4. At some point in the future, should both the Vikings and Pioneers win their leagues, they would face each other in the post season semi final playoff.
"That would be epic, wouldn't it?," Sheehan said. "I talk to Neal three or four times a week. We're still very close. I think that would be quite a story."
Although that matchup may not happen this year, look for Sheehan's Vikings to be must improved this season. Clearly the young coach has paid his dues, and here's hoping for a more successful second year for Pat and the Vikings.
That's it for now. Check back on May 6th when we'll take a look at the Pioneer's 2011 schedule.
That could well describe the philosophy of Triton Viking head coach Pat Sheehan during his trying first year as a head football coach.
The Vikings faced a tough schedule with seven of their opponents finishing the season with a winning record. Of Triton's 11 losses, seven came by a TOTAL of 30 points. That's an average margin of defeat of 4.3 points. In five of the losses, the Vikes were tied or ahead going into the final quarter. They lost two in the final minute of play (one with 10 seconds left) and one in four overtimes. As I told Pat, if a fiction writer penned that type of epic scenario, no one would buy it.
"It was unbelievable to tell you the truth," Sheehan said. "Each week was the same old story. It was one thing or another. You think you have it. We were tied. We were up. We were driving. Then came a costly turnover or just a fluke thing."
Sheehan noted some sage advice he received from longtime Austin Prep head coach Bill Maradei following the Cougars win over the Vikes in the FOURTH overtime.
"He said 'coach you can't go out there and win and you can't go out there and tell your kids you're going to win. You just have to go out there and play as hard as you can and let the chips fall where they may,'" Sheehan remembers. "he said 'those are hard loses and those are going to pay off in the long run.' I believe that and I hope they do."
So how would Sheehan describe his first season?
"I would definitely describe it as a learning experience," said the young coach who had barely turned 28 when he began his first training camp last August. "I'm a young head coach but I don't know if there is anything that can prepare anyone to be a head coach. I tried to take on as many responsibilities with (Pioneer head coach) Neal (Weidman). I asked for the responsibilities and he trusted me with them but it doesn't compare because now you are in charge of everything.
"It was fairly overwhelming at first," he continued. "I started to get the hang of it midway through the season with the administrative and communication piece of it dealing with the players, coaches, parents and administrators."
Sheehan said dealing with the non football aspects of things was the biggest difference in making the jump from assistant coach to head man.
"At Lynnfield, all I thought about was offense and the defense we were playing that week. In the position I'm in now, I was thinking about offense and defense and special teams and the opponent and the freshmen team and the JV team and the students' grades and the parents and the pasta parties. It was overwhelming at first. Once we really got into the season, after camp and after all the paperwork was in it became a lot more like I was accustomed to. It became more about football, going out to practice ever day and trying to get better."
Despite the frustrations of the trying season, Sheehan never lost his composure and put out a positive spin every week.
"By nature I'm a positive person," Sheehan explained. "I take that probably from my father. As far as being cool, I've always been more cerebral as a player and a coach. I wasn't necessarily into the big 'rah,rah' and banging helmets and things like that. I see football as a tough physical game but as Vince Lombardi said the game is 80% mental and 20% physical and I truly believe that. I think it's a very mental game and you have to have your wits about you at all times through the ups and downs. I try to approach it in a very business like manner."
Sheehan is looking forward to putting last year behind him and getting on to the 2011 season. The merger of the Cape Ann League and the Northeast Conference moves Triton from the tough CAL Large into a much more competitive CAL/NEC Tier Three with Pentucket, Saugus, Winthrop, Newburyport and Amesbury. The Vikings will no longer have CAL Large behemoths like North Andover and Masco standing in the way of their title hopes.
"We're really excited," Sheehan said about the upcoming season. "We had a difficult schedule last year. The realignment really suits us. We're going to miss having the league games against Masco, North Andover and Wilmington because they present challenges that are exciting and I'm always up for a challenge.. Having said that, I'm also excited about the new challenges. I think there's a little bit more parity and the games will be very competitive. We lost to Amesbury by a point and to Newburyport by two points. Pentucket was a great game. It was 21-21 in the fourth quarter. And Saugus and Winthrop will pose new challenges.
"We have a really committed junior class who are going to be seniors. We're working really hard in the weight room. The kids are starting to buy into it. This is the first full offseason where we can start to implement our programs."
Sheehan also has a couple of standout skill players returning in quarterback Blaise Whitman and running back Derek Paquette. The pair heads a list of 16 returning seniors.
"Blaise has a year with the offense under his belt and understanding it. I think Paquette is going to be the best back or one of the top backs in the league. We have some receivers and offensive linemen coming back. We are losing a lot of our defense but we're excited about the guys we have coming back and the commitment they've shown this offseason."
In another local connection, one of Sheehan's assistants is Mike Geary, another former Pioneer captain and assistant coach. He made the move north last year and will be back for another season with the Vikings.
"He'll be with me," Sheehan said. "I told him he's not allowed to leave until we win a Super Bowl."
Speaking of the postseason, in an interesting twist, Triton's league will be in Division 3A, which is the same as the Pioneer's CAL/NEC 4. At some point in the future, should both the Vikings and Pioneers win their leagues, they would face each other in the post season semi final playoff.
"That would be epic, wouldn't it?," Sheehan said. "I talk to Neal three or four times a week. We're still very close. I think that would be quite a story."
Although that matchup may not happen this year, look for Sheehan's Vikings to be must improved this season. Clearly the young coach has paid his dues, and here's hoping for a more successful second year for Pat and the Vikings.
That's it for now. Check back on May 6th when we'll take a look at the Pioneer's 2011 schedule.
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