Lynnfield has easy time against Manchester-Essex

MANCHESTER – Whether the Lynnfield High football team has the cast in place to defend its Cape Ann League Small Division crown is a five-act drama remaining to be staged.Manchester6Lynnfield37 The Pioneers certainly looked the part Friday night, dismantling a young Manchester-Essex squad, 37-6. Lynnfield scored on five of its six first-half possessions, led 31-0 lead at the break and deflated the festive atmosphere surrounding the first game played in at Hyland Stadium.”It’s nice to get it started and get that first win out of the way,” said Lynnfield coach Neal Weidman. “We were more physical than I thought we would be, which was good. We need to be physical to be successful. They (Manchester-Essex) are a very young team and they were without their quarterback (Alex Carr, sprained ankle) but we still had to make plays. I’m happy with the effort for a first game.”Pioneers’ senior quarterback Gino Cohee was in the middle of everything. He contributed 63 yards and a touchdown on six carries and inflicted the most damage with his right arm, completing 13 of 17 passes for 222 yards and first-half touchdown strikes of 26 yards to senior running back Jeff Gannon (2 catches, 61 yards), 25 yards to senior wideout Rick Berardino (2 catches, 40 yards) and 13 yards to senior wideout A.J. Roberto (4 catches, 44 yards). Senior wideout Steve Ullian caught four passes for 71 yards and booted a 26-yard field goal.”We did some good things in the passing game. They were keeping eight in the box because they know we like to run the ball and we were able to take advantage. We certainly have some weapons to go to,” Weidman noted.The defense did its part as well, forcing four turnovers and limiting the Hornets to seven first downs. Manchester-Essex sophomore quarterback Cory Burnham did a credible job in place of Carr, (10-of-17, 116 yards, TD, interception) but had little in the way of support.”Four turnovers is encouraging. We’ve been emphasizing stripping the ball and being aggressive to the ball in the secondary and that showed tonight.” said Weidman.Lynnfield grabbed a 3-0 lead on Ullian’s 26-yard field goal with 6:38 left in the opening period. Late in the period, Cohee capped a four-play, 48-yard drive with a 13-yard dash around the right side and Ullian’s PAT made it 10-0.The aerial show dominated the second period with Cohee connecting with Gannon with 10:07 left in the half, Bearardino with 3:11 left in the half and Roberto just 16 seconds before intermission.Pioneers’ freshman Kyle McGah sprinted in from 34 yards, stretching the lead to 34-0 with 6:07 to play in the game. Manchester-Essex avoided the shutout on a 22-yard strike from Burnham to Calvin Cook on the game’s final play.Lynnfield kicks of its CAL Small schedule next Friday afternoon (3:45 p.m.) at home against Georgetown.