Lynnfield gridders keep the machine rolling

LYNNFIELD – The game started slowly but ended with a bang in Lynnfield’s 40-0 drubbing of Cathedral at Lynnfield Middle School on Saturday.Cathedral0Lynnfield40 The Pioneers started with a tepid offense, but finished with a flourish with Michael Thomas’ 98-yard touchdown run with less than a minute left.For Lynnfield (4-0), captain Gino Cohee threw for two touchdowns and 171 yards on seven completions. Captain Jeff Gannon rushed for 49 yards and two TDs. Also scoring was Rick Berardino who returned a punt 34 yards for a touchdown in the first half and did most of the leg work on a 57 yard touchdown reception in the second.Lynnfield scored on its opening possession, with Gannon’s taking it in from 23 yards out. From there, the Pioneers bogged down, losing possession twice on interceptions and also seeing a 10 play drive stall at the Cathedral 10.After the Pioneers defense forced Cathedral into a punt with just over a minute remaining in the half, Lynnfield put together its best drive, using a mixture of passing and running out of a trips formation to move 48 yards in seven plays. Cohee’s first touchdown pass, to captain AJ Roberto from six yards out, capped the drive and gave Lynnfield a 20-0 lead heading in to the break.”We didn’t execute well in the first half at all,” Pioneer coach Neil Wiedman said. “We got the second touchdown on the punt return. (The drive before the half) was the first time that we showed any sense of urgency. We were up against the clock and we needed that. It gave us something to motivate our offense. They were not super sharp to start the game.”The drive also gave Lynnfield a kick-start as the starting offense then scored on their its two possessions of the second half, each time on one play. The first was Cohee to Berardino on a screen play where Berardino took advantage of two good blocks and bolted down the sidelines for the score. The second play was a result of a Cathedral fumble on a punt. The fumble led to a Lynnfield possession on the 10-yard line. One play was all Gannon needed.”Special team- wise we gave ourselves good field position,” said Weidman. “It was an advantage that we have over (Cathedral).”The Lynnfield defense played contained Cathedral’s speed to the outside and thrived against the Panther passing attack. The Pioneers recorded three interceptions, two by Matt Kelly in the second half. Tyler Palumbo came up with a pick in the first half.Lynnfield preserved the shutout when, after Cathedral had moved the ball down to the one, the Pioneers held the line.