Lynnfield saw openings and took them

LYNNFIELD – Every successful offense is predicated on first identifying and then taking full advantage of what the opposing defense is willing to give it. From North Reading’s perspective, Lynnfield’s junior running back surely Kyle McGah took more than his share Thursday morning.At one point, one of McGah’s teammates observed “he’s a beast today” while watching McGah tear into the Hornets like a junkyard dog unleashed. And indeed he was as he burrowed, blasted and bounced his way to 112 yards and a touchdown in a bruising performance, playing “Smash” to quarterback Mike Karavetsos’s “Dash” as the pair accounted for 267 yards rushing and both TDs.Perhaps the play that best exemplifies McGah’s running style was his 10-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter. Seemingly stopped for no gain by North Reading’s human wall, also knows as 6-2, 270-pound defensive tackle John Fortes, McGah spun left out of the pile and blew through a pair of would-be tacklers at the 3-yard line for the score.”It’s just something I’m able to do – and I couldn’t have done it without my offensive line. We have some great linemen,” said the 5-9, 205-pound McGah, who racked up the vast majority of his yards after first contact and didn’t have a single negative yardage play and was stopped for no gain only twice.”Kyle’s got that really low center of gravity. The offensive line was outstanding but a lot of that was on him,” coach Neil Weidman said.And that line, anchored by its senior captains Andrew Kibarian and Dwight DeGeorge, was indeed magnificent. McGah’s first five carries of the game produced 66 yards, four first downs and a touchdown. For the day, the Pioneers averaged 6.2 yards per rushing attempt.The Pioneers head into the post-season on a seven-game roll, the turning point coming after a 14-7 September loss to Bishop Fenwick that left them 1-2.”We realized we had something great to achieve and the Bishop Fenwick game was an awakening,” said McGah.”The players wanted to perform better and they did through their leadership and their hard work. This all came from them,” Weidman said of the Pioneers’ championship charge.Reflecting on his second league title in his fourth season, Weidman said: “I’ve really been blessed. We’ve had very, very good players and great assistant coaches. When we’ve lost assistants, I’ve been able to replace them with great assistants. That’s not always easy to do.” ? seven sets of brothers suited up for the Pioneers ? North Reading running Carl Lipani concluded his stellar career 22 TDs this fall, giving him 46 over the past two years ? Lynnfield student Katie Morelli delivered a stirring rendition of the National Anthem ? Fans lined up two deep behind ropes around the field and a large throng watched from the hill behind the north end zone.