Lynnfield heading to playoffs with win over North Reading.

LYNNFIELD – Championship games are often defined by a single play.For Lynnfield (8-2, 5-0) it came midway through the third quarter of Thursday morning’s 14-7 win against North Reading (8-2, 4-1) with the CAL/NEC Tier 4 title and post-season playoff berth at stake before an overflow crowd of 3,000.With the score tied, 7-7, senior quarterback Mike Karavetsos (20 carries, 155 yards) executed the read option to perfection, as he found a seam in the North Reading defense and sprinted 64 yards to the Hornets’ 8-yard line. Three plays later he swept the right side from five yards for the winning score and Alex Roper’s PAT gave the Pioneers the 14-7 lead with 4:21 left in the quarter.The Lynnfield defense took care of the rest, sealing a Division 3A semifinal berth Tuesday night against CAL/NEC Tier 3 champion Amesbury in a rematch of the season’s second game won by the Pioneers, 31-27. The defense limited North Reading to 39 net second-half yards (142 total) and was at its best with the game on the line.Early in the fourth quarter Matt Kramich dropped Hornets’ senior standout Carl Lipani (29 carries, 102 yards) short of the sticks on fourth-and-five, turning the ball over on downs at the Lynnfield 30. The Hornets’ final bid ended with Cam Rondeau’s interception of Jackson Kellogg’s desperation pass at the Lynnfield 37 with 3:17 to play and the Pioneers proceeded to run out the clock.”I’ve been dreaming about this my whole life. The offensive line was tremendous and the whole team gave a great effort. They (North Reading) are a really tough team but we did a great job,” said Karavetsos.”Both teams wanted it badly and, when a game means this much, it becomes that much more physical. Our defense has been fantastic all year, the heart of the team and setting the tone for games. North Reading wants to control the ball and we needed to find a way to stop them because they just wear you down. The kid (Lipani) just runs so hard and is such a good player, so holding him the way we did is unbelievable,” Lynnfield coach Neal Weidman, savoring his second title in four years at the Pioneers’ helm.After turning the ball over on downs at the North Reading 21 on their first possession, the Pioneers asserted themselves on their second drive behind 5-9, 205-pound junior back Kyle McGah (21 carries, 112 yards). He produced first downs on three consecutive carries of 18, 11 and 17 yards, bringing the Pioneers to the North Reading 17-yard line. Then, on third-and-three, he bounced off a pile on the right side, spun left and blasted through two Hornets into the end zone with 46 seconds left in the first quarter. Roper’s PAT made it 7-0.North Reading countered with a trademark clock-gobbling drive of 59 yards that took 11 plays and 5:59 to execute. It featured the Hornets’ longest play of the day – a 15-yard run by C.J. McCarthy – and healthy dose of Lipani, who capped it with a two-run for the score. Mike DiSanto’s PAT tied it with 4:47 left in the half.A late Lynnfield threat, set up by a Karavetsos 23-yard scramble, died at the North Reading 26 and it remained tied at the break.After the teams exchanged punts to open the second half, the Pioneers grabbed the lead for good on a Karavetsos touchdown. The Pioneers’ Tyler Palumbo, Alexander Pascucci and Kramich contributed highlight reel plays on North Reading’s final two possessions and Rondeau effectively ended it with his interception.That left it to the offense to consume the final 3:17, which it did behind Karavetsos and McGah.