Visits Wayland on Friday night
Published in the September 12, 2018 edition
By JAMES CRANNEY
NEWBURYPORT — A crisp September night fell under the lights of James T. Stehlin Field last Friday as the Lynnfield Pioneers opened the season against the Clippers of Newburyport. No more walkthroughs, no more scouting, and no more scrimmages; it was finally time to put the pads on and play some real football.
Opening games are always a bit tricky. Having new faces on the field combined with some nerves and rust, anything can happen.
Perhaps that may have led to the Pioneer struggles out of the gate. On the second play from scrimmage, Lynnfield quarterback Brett Cohee threw an interception on a busted up screen pass to Newburyport linebacker Trevor Foley. The very next play quarterback Thomas Murphy connected with Jack Lane in the end zone to put the Clippers up to an early 6-0 lead.
THE CAPTAINS will lead the Pioneers into the 2018 season. Pictured from left to right is Hunter Allain, Cole Moretti, Leo Quinn and Jaret Simpson. (Kerrianne Allain Photo)
Lynnfield’s offensive struggles continued with another first play turnover, fumbling the ball near midfield. Newburyport drove the ball down the field and capped their second drive off with a 25-yard touchdown pass to Charles Cahalane. However, the Pioneer defense stood strong on the two point conversion denying the Clippers running back access to the end zone, a theme that would continue later in the game.
Following a Pioneer three-and-out and leading 12-0, the Clippers marched down the field once again and looked to put another touchdown on the board. This time Lynnfield’s defense dug their heels in, refusing to let the opposition cross the goal line. On 2nd and goal from just inside the five yard line, a swarm of Pioneer defenders engulfed Clippers running back Thomas Greene for a one-yard loss. Lynnfield’s defense came up big again on 3rd and goal pressuring Murphy to throw an errant incomplete pass. The Pioneer bend but don’t break defense forced Newburyport to settle for only a field goal extending their lead to 15.
On the next possession, the Pioneers offense finally broke through on the series’ very first play. Cohee dropped back to pass and found junior wide out Clayton Marengi who turned on the afterburners following the catch for a 66-yard touchdown. After a successful PAT from Blake Peters, Lynnfield only trailed 15-7 with 3:43 left to go in the first half.
“That was huge,” stated first-year Lynnfield head coach Pat Lamusta. “It was huge for the kids to say to themselves, ‘Hey, that’s a successful play, we can make it happen and do it more than once.’”
After seizing some momentum, the stingy Pioneer defense had one more big play in them before halftime. Newburyport had driven the ball down to Lynnfield’s 6 yard line, and only had time for one more play. Clippers’ coach Ben Smolski kept his kicker on the sideline and elected to go for the touchdown. A decision he may have regretted when he saw Lynnfield linebacker Justin Ndansi barreling down the line sending his quarterback to the turf.
JUNIOR Clayton Marengi (11) catches his second touchdown of the day from senior quarterback Brett Cohee against Newburyport on Friday night. (Kerrianne Allain Photo)
When asked how his team turned the tide following the slow start, coach Lamusta claimed, “The defense playing fast and flying to the football. The defense kept us in the game and I was really impressed with their resilience.”
The Pioneers defense continued to shine on the opening drive of the second half. On the second play of the series, the Clippers quarterback failed to pitch the ball to his running back resulting in a loose ball on the ground. That’s when junior defensive back Aidan McCormack jumped on the bouncing pigskin giving Lynnfield the ball at the Clippers 35 yard line. Although the Pioneers could not capitalize with a touchdown, they did manage to give Newburyport the ball back on the shadow of their own end zone. From there, Lynnfield’s defense continued to shut down the Clippers offense forcing a quick three-and-out.
Proceeding a short punt the Pioneers took the ball back at the Newburyport 27. Resulting from some great blocking up front, the drive started off with three big runs from senior captain Jaret Simpson. The Pioneers were now knocking at the door. After an illegal procedure penalty, Lynnfield was faced with a massive 3rd-and-11 at the Newburyport 17 yard line. Cohee dropped back and zipped an 11-yard pass to sophomore Jack Ford who put his head down to secure the first down. On the next play, Cohee found Marengi in the end zone for his second touchdown of the game. In an attempt to tie the game, Lynnfield went for the two point conversion, where Simpson was met at the line of scrimmage by a mob of Newburyport defenders.
With just under seven minutes to go in the 4th quarter, Newburyport now led only 15-13. The Clippers tried to have one more long offensive drive to seal the deal, but once again the Pioneer defense would come up big. On a 3rd-and-long around midfield, Murphy threw a pass which turned into a tip drill landing in the arms of Lynnfield’s John Lee who ran it back to the Newburyport 32.
Lynnfield now had a chance to put the game away on offense. On a critical 3rd-and-7, Cohee found Ford for a 17 yard pickup to move the chains. However, Newburyport’s defense stood their ground and forced a 4th-and-11 from their 13 yard line. Blake Peter’s 29-yard field goal just missed to the right giving the Clippers the ball back with 1:06 left on the clock. Another stellar defensive series gave Lynnfield the ball back with 49 seconds in the game. In a last-ditch effort, Cohee threw a pass down field which was picked off by the Clippers giving Newburyport a 15-13 victory.
It was a tough opening loss for Lynnfield, but not without some positive takeaways in defeat. Despite being down on the scoreboard throughout the game, the Pioneers never got down on themselves and continued to battle. With an entire season ahead of his team, coach Lamusta’s message to his players was simple.
“We have to be back to work tomorrow, that’s it,” said Lamusta. “You’re going to be down a little bit but we can’t hang our heads, this is a long season.”
