LYNNFIELD — It was a tale of two halves for the Lynnfield High football team in the Pioneer’s season opener against Newburyport at Pioneer Stadium Friday. For the record, the Pioneers prevailed, 32-0, but it wasn’t pretty, particularly in a frustrating second half when the Pioneers shot themselves themselves in the foot with a total of eight penalties (85 yards).
The Pioneers were firing on all cylinders in the first half, jumping out to a 25-0 halftime lead on two rushing touchdowns from Anthony Murphy (2 yards each) and touchdowns passes from senior quarterback Matt Mortellite to Jason Ndansi (23 yards) and Nick Kinnon (49 yards), but the second half was an entirely different story.
Their troubles began on their first possession when Newburyport forced a three-and-out. The Pioneers would not score again until a little more than five minutes left in the game on a 39-yard run by senior Tyler Murphy to make it 32-0 with 5:05 to play.
“We tried to come out in the second half and punch one in right away, we were hoping to get one early in that third quarter to be able to get some guys in,” said Lynnfield head coach Neal Weidman. “But even though we had some penalties that hurt, credit to Newburyport as they competed in the second half and made us play four quarters. I would not expect anything else from them.”
Lynnfield won the coin toss but deferred. The Pioneers’ defense forced a punt, then received a gift when the Clippers punter accidentally downed the ball on the snap, giving the Pioneers first-and-goal at the Clippers’ 15-yard-line. Lynnfield needed just six plays to cash in on a 2-yard scamper by Anthony Murphy at the 6:16 mark of the first quarter.
The Pioneers bumped the lead to 13-0 at the 10:12 mark of the second quarter on a Mortellite to Ndansi 23-yard touchdown strike on a third-and 10.
After forcing the Clippers’ fourth punt in as many possessions, Lynnfield needed just three plays in a little over a minute to bump the lead to 19-0 on a 49-yard touchdown pass from Mortellite to a wide-open Kinnon with 7:33 left in the half.
Lynnfield wasn’t done yet. After forcing another punt, the Pioneers went on a clock-eating five minute drive in 11 plays, capped by another 2-yard plunge by Anthony Murphy to make it 25-0 with 1:06 to play.
In the second half, the defense kept the pedal to the metal. The unit forced a turnover on downs on the Clippers’ first possession, then made a defensive stand on the Clippers’ next possession.
Mortellite was 10-for-15 (2 touchdowns, interception), threw for 234 yards and rushed for 29 yards on eight carries. His favorite target was Kinnon, who had six catches good for 164 yards, while senior Peter Look caught two passes for 35 yards and Ndansi picked up 35 yards on two catches.
Anthony Murphy topped the rushing charts with 63 yards on 13 carries, while Tyler Murphy finished with 59 yards on nine carries.
“The first half was good, but the second half was not, it was more like the way we played them last year,” said Weidman. “We just got sloppy and it came in stretches. For four minutes we played well, then for the next six we had penalties, and so of. Those penalties put us behind the sticks on offense and definitely prolonged some of their drives. The defense came up with big stops when we had put us in bad positions, so that no doubt showed resilience.”
Next up for the 1-0 Pioneers in Wayland next Friday night at home.