Lynnfield suffers its first loss in Newburyport

NEWBURYPORT – The Cape Ann League Small championship is now a free-for-all after Newburyport derailed defending champion Lynnfield’s bid for an undefeated season with a decisive 24-7 dismantling of the Pioneers Friday night at World War Memorial Stadium.Lynnfield, Newburyport and Amesbury (a 28-20 winner last night against Ipswich) now sit tied at the top of the league. Once-beaten Hamilton-Wenham can make it a four-way deadlock with a win against Georgetown today.Lynnfield7Newburyport24 The Clippers (3-1; 4-4), the only CAL Small club to play all of the league’s Large schools, were in control on both sides of the ball. Lynnfield (2-1; 7-1) couldn’t handle the Clippers’ behemoth twin tackles Tim Lawler, a 6-5, 280-pound senior, and Tyler Souther, a 6-2, 270-pound sophomore or a balanced offense powered by Dean Cataldo (12 carries, 133 yards) and Tyler Martin (14-82).A single Lynnfield play, quarterback Gino Cohee’s 70-yard scoring hook-up with Peter Foustoukos in the third quarter that brought the Pioneers back to 14-7, accounted for all but 40 yards of their total offense. The Pioneers punted six times as Newburyport piled up huge edges in plays (54-33), rushing yardage (225-22), total offense (323-110) and first downs (14-3).”We haven’t punted six times all year. We got outplayed right from the start. We never got in a rhythm either offensively or defensively. We had a really hard time running the ball and we had a bunch of incomplete passes early and didn’t make them pay on defense. They really made us one dimensional,” said Lynnfield coach Neal Weidman.Three plays after turning the ball over on downs at the Lynnfield four on its first possession, Newburyport’s Brett Fontaine returned the first of his two interceptions 14 yards to the Lynnfield 11, leading to Tyler Cusack’s three-yard scoring run. Jonathon Wright’s PAT made it 7-0 in the final minute of the first quarter. The Pioneers managed just 25 second-quarter yards and it stayed that way at intermission.Newburyport opened the second half with an 11-play, 83-yard scoring drive that consumed 6:15. Mixing power with finesse, the Clippers capped the march on 4th-and-6 with a perfectly-executed draw play that caught the Pioneers in a blitz and resulted in Cusack’s 14-yard scoring run. Wright’s PAT made it 14-0.The Pioneers’ lone lightning bolt occurred on the first play after the ensuing kickoff when Cohee connected with Foustoukos for that 70-yarder. Steve Ullian’s PAT made it 14-7 and gave the Pioneers hope with 3:21 left in the third period. The Clippers refused to buckle, sealing the deal with Wright’s 27-yard field goal with 2:00 to play and Cataldo’s 33-yard rumble with 34 seconds left.”Our kids played hard. All we can do now is take care of what we can take care of,” said veteran Newburyport coach Ed Gaudiano, now in his 23rd season.”We can either let this affect us and ruin our season, or we can move forward. Everyone’s still alive now,” Weidman concluded