Cohee, Ullian helped lead the way

LYNNFIELD – If you’re looking for examples that defined the heads-up nature of the Lynnfield football team this season, one good place to start would be the performance of two seniors: kicker Steve Ullian and quarterback Gino Cohee.Start with the play made by Ullian on, of all things, a punt.It came with 4:08 remaining before halftime of Lynnfield’s Thanksgiving Day game with North Reading at Lynnfield Middle School’s Pioneer Field. Lynnfield led just 7-6 at the time and needed a win to finish 9-2 for the season. The Pioneers lined up in punt formation on fourth-and-11 from the Hornets’ 45.Then, it looked like misfortune when the snap sailed past Ullian toward Lynnfield territory. The senior co-captain, who is listed at 5-6, 150, did not flinch. He ran after it, caught up to it, and booted the ball toward the North Reading end of the field. It bounced favorably for the Pioneers and Ullian’s teammates Peter Foustoukos and Dan Ashwell took care of downing the ball on the Hornets’ 13-yard line.Asked what was going through his mind on the play, Ullian said, “Getting off (a kick). Not being tackled for a loss.””Steve Ullian’s play on the punt team was great,” his coach, Neal Weidman, said. “It was a very athletic play ? The punt is a big play for field position.”Ullian also made his mark by being on the mark in terms of PATs. He kicked three in the game – on three attempts – to finish his career with a school-record 75. His 34 PATs this season are also a school single-season mark.”I think I do a good job, and that the team appreciates it,” said Ullian, who has been kicking since his freshman year.Ullian’s first PAT gave Lynnfield the lead for good (7-6) in its eventual 21-6 win over North Reading. Appropriately enough, the player who engineered the touchdown drive was another record-setting senior, Cohee. The 6-1, 185-pound co-captain found fellow co-captain A.J. Roberto for a 46-yard scoring strike to open the second quarter. It came on a third-and-7 play to cap the Pioneers’ first drive of the game.”(Cohee) had a great career,” Weidman said. “He threw a lot of touchdown passes. We scored quite a few points and he had a lot to do with that.”Cohee would add two more touchdown tosses in the game – one to Rick Berardino, who finished second in single-season touchdown catches in school history, and one to senior co-captain Jeff Gannon. Cohee also found Ullian for a 44-yard pass that helped extend a drive.”Gino Cohee is very difficult (to defend),” North Reading coach Jeff Wall said. “He has a good line ? a good arm and good vision.”Asked about his mindset after North Reading had taken an early 6-0 lead, Cohee was succinct.”It was our last game,” he said. “We should win it.”Fittingly, two players in their last hurrah – Cohee and Ullian – helped Lynnfield do just that.