Lynnfield football team gets off to a good start

SOMERVILLE – The Neal Weidman era is off to a rousing start.The Lynnfield High football team only mustered three wins last season, but the Pioneers came out flying in a 28-6 win over Matignon Friday at Dilboy Field in Somerville, giving Weidman his first “W” as a head coach.”It feels good,” Weidman said. “I feel relieved. I thought 7 o’clock was never going to get here. I’m happy for the kids getting off to a good start. It’s nice for them to have some success after their hard work.”Lynnfield didn’t waste any time getting down to business. The Pioneers scored on their first two trips down the field and they did it with precision. The opening drive started at their own 29 and took five plays, culminating with a 26-yard touchdown run by sophomore Gino Cohee, who led the team in rushing with 100 yards on 11 carries. Senior Ben Salisbury also had a couple of big runs to get the Pioneers in striking distance, the killer one being a 19-yard dash that set Cohee up from the 26.The Pioneers started their second drive with great field position after the Matignon punter fumbled the ball and tried unsuccessfully to run it out. He got as far as the 21-yard line 21-yard line and three plays later, junior Chris Grassi punched it in from the four. Steve Ullian, who was 4-for-4 on extra points, delivered and Lynnfield was out to a quick 14-0 lead – and it was still the first quarter.Matignon put together its best drive of the night late in the first quarter. The Warriors started at their own 18 and with a boost from a 15-yard Lynnfield penalty, they quickly made their way up the field. Senior running back Cameron Ortiz, who was Matignon’s leading rusher with 82 yards on 11 carried, nearly took one in from 56-yards out, but had to settle for a 38-yard pickup when Lynnfield Dante Padovani caught up with him just in time to push him out of bounds at the 18.The defensive effort bought the Pioneers a second chance, but Matignon still managed to score when quarterback Tom Tracy scampered in from four yards out on a keeper. The rush failed, but the Warriors had cut the deficit to 14-6.It looked like the Pioneers would hit the lockerroom up by eight, but they got the ball back at their own 33 with just over a minute remaining and made the most of not much time. Quarterback Grassi marched his team down field, with an 11-yard run by Salisbury and a 11-yard pass to Cohee chewing up a nice chunk of real estate. Grassi got the ball to the Matignon 20 with a 13-yard run, but a five-yard penalty put Lynnfield back on the 25. Grassi, who was 6-11 for 89 yards passing, found junior Tyler Surette with a beauty of a pass that Surette scooped up at the three just before it hit the ground. His knee hit he ground or he would have been in for the touchdown. Lynnfield had 1.6 seconds to get off a play before the half and everything worked just like in the movies. Salisbury ran it in from the three and Ullian hit the extra point for a 21-6 lead.Lynnfield (255 yards rushing on 30 carries) scored once more in the second half when Grassi ran in his second of the night from the 11.”In the first quarter we controlled the tempo,” Weidman said. “In the second quarter, unfortunately, they controlled the tempo. They kept our offense off the field.”Weidman was happy with his team’s defensive effort.”Holding them to six points was good,” he said. “Defensively (going in) we were a little concerned, with the size and their smashmouth offense.”Matignon had 146 yards rushing on 37 carries and Tracy was 0-3 passing.Lynnfield (1-0) plays Hamilton-Wenham next week.