Lynnfield pulls off miraculous victory with last-second touchdown
Published October 23, 2019
By JAMES CRANNEY
IPSWICH — It’s a shame most cable providers stopped offering ESPN Classic, because if you were flipping through the channels the other night you might have caught this one.
Last Friday afternoon, the 4-1 Lynnfield Pioneers went on the road to do battle with the 2-3 Tigers of Ipswich. After coming up three yards short in last year’s heart breaking loss to Ipswich, the Pioneers looked to return the favor.
In four out of the five games Lynnfield has played thus far, the offense has found the end zone on its very first possession. That trend would continue on this day as the Pioneers opened up with a 17-play, 69-yard touchdown drive draining nearly eight minutes from the clock.
BAKARI MITCHELL reels in a 30-yard game-winning touchdown reception from Clayton Marengi with 19 seconds left to give the Pioneers a thrilling 28-22 comeback victory over Ipswich on the road Friday. (Kerrianne Allain Photo)
The swirling winds had yet to subside from the bomb cyclone wreaking havoc on the state this week, but would be no issue for the Pioneer passing game. Senior captain quarterback Clayton Marengi (20-27, 265 yards, 4 touchdowns) marched the troops down the field distributing the ball to a multitude of Lynnfield receivers including junior Nicholas Boustris (4 catches, 55 yards), senior captain John Lee (3 catches, 40 yards), and leading receiver Jack Ford (9 catches, 130 yards, 2 touchdowns).
When faced with a 4th-and-goal from the Ipswich 12-yard line, Marengi rolled to his left and lofted a high pass to the corner of the end zone. In double coverage, Ford was the recipient waiting for the floating ball before he slipped. That would be no problem for the junior receiver who still found a way to haul in the pass on his back. A booming Spencer Riley extra point would give Lynnfield the early 7-0 lead.
The Tigers put together a nice drive of their own on the following possession with its tenacious triple option offense. Ipswich worked their way down the field averaging 4-5 yards per carry and quickly found themselves in Pioneer territory. However, on a 4th-and-4 from the Lynnfield 27-yard line, the Pioneer defense would not budge. Tigers’ senior quarterback Cam James kept the ball himself but he was stopped in his tracks by linebackers DJ Capachietti and Nikolas Marotta.
Pictured celebrating with Mitchell (8) are Jack Ford (85), Marengi (11), Liam Farrell (65) John Lee (10) and Nick Boustris (1). (Kerrianne Allain Photo)
With under five minutes remaining in the second quarter, the Lynnfield defense would make another play. On the shadow of their own goal line, Ipswich got out of the hole when Cam James found some open field in front of him. That was until DJ Capachietti, who finished the night with 21 tackles, punched the ball out of the quarterback’s arms where senior Colby Clattenburg was there to pounce on it.
From the Ipswich 21-yard line, it would only take four plays to extend the Pioneer lead. On 2nd-and-goal, Marengi fooled the defensive back with a pump fake leaving a wide open Jack Ford for a 5-yard touchdown pass and 14-0 lead going into halftime.
Despite trailing two touchdowns, the Tigers came out in the second half swinging. A 36-yard opening kickoff return set Ipswich up deep in Lynnfield territory. In four plays, the Tigers would be knocking on the door. From the 1-yard line junior running back Cole Terry punched it in to make it a one score game.
After stalling on offense, the Pioneers would give the ball back to Ipswich at their own 22 yard line with 5:35 remaining in the 3rd quarter. The Tigers delivered a patented Ipswich drive pounding the ball on the ground. However, after taking over eight minutes off the clock running the ball, the Tigers would turn to the air. On 2nd-and-15 inside Pioneer territory, James threw a jump ball to junior receiver Justin Bruhm who hauled it in for a 24-yard game-tying touchdown.
THE PIONEERS, including DJ Capachietti (5), Anthony Floramo (49) and Khad Connll (9) were flying around during Lynnfield’s win over Ipswich on Friday. (Kristine Marengi Photo)
Less than nine minutes remained in the 4th quarter when Lynnfield got the ball back, and they responded well.
To this point in the game, Ipswich’s rushing defense had done a phenomenal job slowing down senior captain running back Anthony Floramo. The Pioneers found a way to utilize the big back though, taking a page out of the old New England Patriots playbook, the screen pass. Floramo would pick up seven yards on the first screen pass, which may have not seemed like much, but it was a look the Tigers were not prepared for.
Marengi kept moving the ball downfield hitting Ford with pass after pass. On a 3rd-and-4 at the cusp of the Ipswich red zone, Marengi rolled to his right and found Ford again moving the chains keeping the drive alive. The Pioneers faced a critical 3rd-and-goal from the 11-yard line where they turned to the play that got the drive started, the screen. Marengi dumped it off to Floramo who barreled his way up the left side right over the goal line to give Lynnfield a 21-14 lead with over five minutes to go in the game.
Ipswich didn’t go down without a fight. The Tigers grinded their way down the field with its continual rushing attack. After breaking one free for 29 yards, Ipswich was inside the Pioneers 10-yard line with a chance to even the score. Less than a minute remained in the game when James sneaked it in for what appeared to be the game-tying touchdown. When Tigers’ head coach Kevin Fessette held up two fingers though, it was clear Ipswich was not looking for the tie. On the two point conversion, James called his number again and barely made it as he lunged over the white line for the 22-21 Tigers lead.
Jack Welch Stadium was in a frenzy and it looked as if the Pioneers would have their hearts ripped out once again by Ipswich.
The Pioneers got the ball back at their own 32-yard line with only 51 seconds and one timeout in their pocket. Marengi got the drive started by throwing a quick slant to Ford who darted out of bounds for the 9-yard pickup. Marengi went right back to Ford on the next play, heaving a bomb down the left side that almost connected for the winning score.
Facing a 3rd-and-short, Marengi found fellow captain John Lee for the quick 4-yard gain. Lee would be the target on the next play making a clutch catch in traffic to bring the ball to the Tigers’ 30 yard line. The Pioneers rushed to the line to quickly spike the ball stopping the clock with 26 seconds remaining in the game.
Lynnfield probably only needed another 10-20 yards for a game winning field goal, but that wouldn’t be necessary.
On the next play, with only 19 seconds left in the game, Marengi got a Tiger cornerback to bite on a pump fake before launching the ball to a wide open Bakari Mitchell for the game-winning 30-yard touchdown pass.
“It’s going to take a second for me to process this one,” claimed a speechless coach Pat Lamusta after the miraculous victory. “Today I feel like we got contributions from everyone, and in particular on that last drive…I knew it was going to be tough, I knew it was going to be down to the wire. It was a tough, fun, Cape Ann League matchup.
“It was a classic.”
