Lynnfield wins final tuneup before Thanksgiving showdown

MANCHESTER – One after another, the touchdowns rained upon their host, struck through air and on the ground. In their final tune-up before their Thanksgiving Day match-up, Lynnfield dominated Manchester Essex 47-13 at Manchester on Friday night.The Pioneers (7-2) looked crisp on offense and stout on defense as they prepare for their annual game against North Reading, this year with a league title on the line.Quarterback Michael Karavetsos led Lynnfield in the first half, completing seven of 10 passes for 141 yards and two touchdowns The stats do not tell the story, as Karavetsos was able to throw all over the Hornets, connecting on big passing plays.The first touchdown pass was a 35-connection with a streaking Matthew Kramich straight down the middle of the field. Later, in the second quarter, on a 4th-and-13, Karavetsos turned found Andrew Gallo on a corner post in the endzone.Bruising running back Kyle McGah was also in on the scoring parade, find the endzone from one and five yards out. McGah wrapped up his evening midway through the third quarter, sitting on an even 100 yards rushing.Additionally, Tyler Palumbo made the most of his one rush on the evening, a two-yard dive for a touchdown. Palumbo’s touchdown was set up by Karavetsos and Kramich again connecting on a big play down the middle of the field, this time for 45 yards.As both teams walked off the field for halftime, Lynnfield owned a 34-6 lead, and had scored touchdowns on their first possessions of the game.”We wanted to come out and play well,” said Lynnfield coach Neal Weidman. “We know that they have some good players on their team, they always come out prepared and play with a lot of pride. We played pretty well tonight.”In the second half, Lynnfield focused more on running the ball, eating up the clock, and escaping Manchester with a full roster of healthy players.Still, Adam Buchanan and Daniel Sullivan were able to whittle out scored from the four Lynnfield possessions of the second half. Buchanan put the finishing touches on a 10-play drive, the longest for the Pioneers on the evening, with a one-yard touchdown run. Later, in the fourth, with the sophomore Sullivan doing a solid job in the backup role, scored on a 19-yard scamper to the right that was mostly designed to only net Lynnfield a first down, but instead extended their lead to 47-13.