Published in the July 26, 2017 edition
SENIOR Matt Mortellite fires a pass in the Under Armour 7v7 Northeast Challenge Tournament held on Saturday Bishop Fenwick High School. He tossed 14 TDs in four games. (Kerrianne Allain Photo)
By TOM CONDARDO
PEABODY — There’s an old cliché in football that says you didn’t lose the game, you just ran out of time.
The cliché turned into reality for the Lynnfield Pioneers on July 22 at Bishop Fenwick High School in the Under Armour 7v7 Northeast Challenge Tournament, as they lost their first round playoff game three yards away from a tying touchdown.
Trailing Lynn English 20-14, the Pioneers had moved to the Bulldogs’ three-yard line when the horn blew, ending the contest and Lynnfield’s run in the tournament.
There was some confusion at the end as many felt the horn, which only one of the referees heard, was blown prematurely. Pioneer head coach Neal Weidman, taking in the tournament as a fan, didn’t feel there was any real controversy.
“All the games had been on the same horn all day, but there was some confusion about who made the playoffs on the other field,” Weidman said. “That slowed them down, so they put a second horn on that field. That ended up just causing some confusion. It wasn’t a huge deal.”
The Pioneers had the misfortune of drawing Lynn English in the first round of the playoffs. The Bulldogs went on to make the tournament final, losing to champion Billerica 14-12.
Overall, Weidman was pleased with the Pioneers’ performance in the 40-team tournament. Lynnfield rolled through pool play, winning four straight to win their division. They played well on both sides of the ball, outscoring their opponents 94-38 in the four games.
The Pioneers began the day with a 27-13 win over Winthrop, a team they will be playing for real in the fourth week of the upcoming season. They followed that up with wins against Burlington (22-6), Beverly (20-6) and Lowell (25-13).
Senior quarterback Matt Mortellite had an outstanding day, firing 14 touchdown passes. Captain Nick Kinnon and senior Jay Ndansi each had six TD receptions. Junior Brett Cohee started in the contest against Lowell, and threw a pair of touchdown passes.
“It was a good day,” said Weidman. “We competed well, did some good things and got some good experience.”
The Pioneers had a strong day defensively as well despite the absence of senior defensive backs Peter Look and Tyler Murphy.
“We had to play some young guys at defensive back and in 7 on 7, defensive backs are pretty important,” said Weidman. “(Captain Cooper) Marengi played well with a number of interceptions. Jay (Ndansi) was really good at corner. Kinnon played corner and safety and had a couple of picks. Some of the juniors, like Leo Quinn, Hunter Allain, Sal Marotta, Jeff Floramo, had to play some and did a good job.”
Weidman sees a good deal of value in playing in this type of tournament.
“The most valuable thing is the competition,” he said. “You also get to work on your passing game and pass defense. Those are the most important things. Obviously, it’s not actual football, but there are some things that are good about it.”
This Saturday and Sunday the Pioneers will have their last major activity before preseason practices begin when they host a Spread Offense Team Camp, along with teams from Reading, Melrose, Billerica and Triton, at Pioneer Stadium.
“We have a couple of things left and you just hope that when you show up for the first day you can hit the ground running,” said Weidman. “We have a lot more seniors and upperclassmen than we had last year so hopefully that will help us get moving right from the start.”
The first preseason football practice is Friday, August 18.
