Teams combine for nearly 700 yards in offensive shootout
Published in the November 9, 2016 edition
PIONEER co-captain Louis Ellis (85) takes down Calvin Johnson (3) after a short gain in second quarter action of the D3A Round 2 playoffs. (Tom Condardo Photo)
By TOM CONDARDO
LYNN — Big, fast, physical, athletic and smart make for a tough football opponent and the undefeated, top-seeded St. Mary’s of Lynn checks every box.
The fourth–seeded Pioneers needed to play a perfect game to beat them and weren’t able to do it and as result suffered a 44–24 defeat in the D3A semi–finals Friday night at Lynn’s Manning Field.
COLLISION course. Lynnfield’s Anthony Murphy (white jersey) lowers his shoulder to gain a few extra yards against the Spartans’ Brendon Donahue (50) in Friday’s Round 2 MIAA playoff game. (Tom Condardo Photo)
The Pioneers fell behind 16–0 in the first half and closed the gap to 16–8, 30–16, and 36–24, but St. Mary’s answered every Pioneer surge with a score of their own to hold off the gutsy visitors.
The Spartans did all their damage on the ground, rushing for 366 yards – 246 from super back Calvin Johnson who scored five touchdowns and collected three two–point conversions. The Pioneers did as good a job as possible containing St. Mary’s explosive double wing offense, but they were burned by four big plays that accounted for 200 yards of the Spartans’ total yardage.
“Despite the score I actually thought we played quite well defensively,” said Pioneer head coach Neal Weidman. “They usually grind out drives four, five, and six yards at a time, but that didn’t happen. But they got the big plays that popped in the second half.”
The Pioneers (5-3) hung with the mighty Spartans (9-0) and forced them to play their starters throughout the entire game – something that hadn’t happened in their previous eight wins. If not for some offensive miscues, Lynnfield would have made the game even more interesting. The huge St. Mary’s defense stoned the Pioneers’ running game, forcing quarterback Matt Mortellite to go to the air.
The junior signal caller heaved it up 44 times, connecting on 26 of them for 245 yards, three touchdowns and three two–point conversions.
TYLER MURPHY (9) cuts back on a nine-yard gain in the third quarter of the MIAA D3A playoffs against undefeated St. Mary’s of Lynn in Friday’s 44-24 loss. (Tom Condardo Photo)
Nick Kinnon led the Pioneers’ receiving corps with 10 catches for 125 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Co-captain Louis Ellis had eight receptions for 65 yards while co-captain Kyle Hawes grabbed seven catches for 47 yards and a score.
The Pioneers had two scoring chances in the first half, but they were derailed by penalties both times. Trailing 8–0, the Pioneers drove to the St. Mary’s 40–yard line, but the march fizzled after a motion penalty and two batted down passes. On their next drive, now down 16–0, the Pioneers marched to the Spartan 10–yard line, but a holding penalty led to three incomplete passes and killed the drive.
Get on board in third
The Pioneers got to within a touchdown when they opened the third quarter with an 18–yard Mortellite to Kinnon touchdown pass and a conversion pass to Ellis. St. Mary’s answered two plays later when Johnson flew around the left end for a 57–yard TD run to make it 22–8. It stayed that way until both teams exploded in the final quarter.
The Pioneers had a golden opportunity to cut the lead to one score again when they recovered a Marcus Atkins fumble at the St. Mary’s 16. But on a third and 12, Atkins atoned big time by picking off a Mortellite pass in the flat and returning it to the Lynnfield 5-yard line. Johnson knifed in on the next play to make it 30–8.
Lynnfield answered again with 36–yard Mortellite–Kinnon hookup and a two–point conversion pass to Hawes. Two plays later St. Mary’s James Brumfield ripped off a 50–yard touchdown run to make it 36–16.
Team ties 1980 record
The Pioneers came back and cut the lead to 36–24 when Mortellite hit Hawes with a 15–yard scoring strike and found Kinnon for a two–point conversion pass.
It was the first time the Pioneers collected three two–point conversions in a single game since 1980 when Jim Dolbeare did it against Masconomet.
Hawes, Ellis and Kinnon each earned conversion to contribute to the record.
The Spartans put it away on the next play from scrimmage when Johnson picked up his fifth touchdown on a 57–yard jaunt.
“We moved the ball,” said Weidman. “Even in the first half when we didn’t score. Unfortunately we shot ourselves in the foot and then we didn’t execute a couple of plays in key situations in the second half. We could have scored one or two more times.”
St. Mary’s gives up most points to Pioneers
Lynnfield’s 24 points are the most scored against St. Mary’s all year and the 20–point spread is the closest any team has come to the Spartans this season, but Weidman didn’t want to hear about moral victories.
“It doesn’t feel any better when you give them a great game and lose,” the coach concluded. “But the kids played hard. The effort was there and we were pretty physical, which is all we could ask for.”
This week: Greater Lawrence
The Pioneers play their last game before Thanksgiving when they travel to Greater Lawrence this Saturday, Nov. 12. The Reggies (6-3) finished as the third seed in the D3A playoff race, one spot ahead of the Pioneers but were upset by Ipswich 21–14 in the first round. They bounced back last week with a 47–13 rout of Winthrop in a non–playoff game.
The Reggies lost to Northeast earlier in the year 36-20 but have impressive victories over two 7–2 teams, Shawsheen and Mystic Valley.
The Reggies run a spread offense similar to the Pioneers, but are primarily a running team. Ojany Belliard is their leading scorer with 130 points on 21 touchdowns. They have only four touchdowns via the pass.
Game time at Greater Lawrence Regional High School in West Andover is 10:30 a.m.
