LYNNFIELD — It may have been 20 years since the last time the Lynnfield and Wayland football teams last played each other, but last night at Pioneer Stadium, the wait was well worth it, especially for the Pioneers, who eked out an overtime thriller over the Warriors, 28-26.
Tied at 20-20, Lynnfield won the overtime coin toss but elected to defend. Wayland needed just two plays to put six on the board on an 8-yard run by Wellington Pereira. Per agreement of the head coaches, both teams had to go for two after a touchdown. Sean Devlin was hit on the numbers but dropped the ball on the conversion attempt.
Now it was Lynnfield’s turn. Matt Mortellite hit Anthony Murphy for a 3-yard pickup to the get to the 7, but Mortellite’s next two attempts were incomplete. Mortellite dropped back to pass on the next play, looking for Nick Kinnon in the left corner of the end zone, but Kinnon was held by Warriors’ defensive back Duncan Stephenson, giving the Pioneers new life with a a first-and-goal at the 1. Pioneers’ Anthony Murphy was stuffed on his first attempt, but made good on the second to pull the Pioneers into a 26-26 tie.
With Kinnon in motion right, Mortellite, rolling to his left, pitched to Murphy on the left, who willed his way into the end zone.
“That was a front side read by Matt,” said Lynnfield coach Neal Weidman. “The play is for Kinnon to go in motion right. If nobody runs with him, then the play is to him, but if they do, then it’s up to Matt to make the play on the other side, and that’s what he did.”
The game was a roller coaster ride for both teams, with Lynnfield dominating the scoreboard in the first half with a 20-6 lead despite being out-possessed by nearly 10 minutes. The second half, however, was a different story for Wayland, which grinded it out with two clock-eating drives on its first two possessions to pull into a 20-20 tie on a 1-yard plunge by Pereira with about two minutes to play.
The final two minutes of regulation were nerve-wracking. Peter Look returned the ensuing kickoff to the Pioneers’ 32, but the offense stalled, leaving the Pioneers facing a fourth-and-13 from its own 30 with 1:17 left. Weidman went to his bag of tricks and called a fake punt, but the pass from Salvatore Marotta intended for John Lee was incomplete, giving the Warriors a short field at the Pioneers’ 30. The Warriors drove to the 22, but, with fourth-and-2 and only 7.8 seconds left, Warriors’ quarterback Mason Bolivar spiked the ball, to send the game into overtime.
Wayland took an early 6-0 lead after driving 72 yards in 12 plays. After that, it was all Lynnfield taking a 20-6 lead.
On its first possession, Lynnfield went 85 yards in eight plays, the final a 1-yard plunge into the end zone by Murphy. Cooper Marengi added the point after to make it 7-6.
Wayland’s next drive was cut short in just nine seconds on a Jason Ndansi interception. Tyler Murphy capped the 72-yard, 5-play drive with a touchdown to make it 13-6. After Wayland turned the ball over on downs at its 35, on its next possession, Mortellite found Look on a touchdown pass from 44 yards out.
Lynnfield hosts Amesbury next Friday night.
“They’re a much improved team and played Norwell real tough in a loss last week, and last year Norwell was the real deal, so we have some work to do,” said Weidman.