Saugus, Lynnfield gridders ready to rumble

Good things come to those who wait.At least the Saugus High football team hopes that’s the case when it plays Lynnfield Saturday in the Division 4 playoffs at Lynnfield High. Game time is 6 p.m.To say the Sachems have been waiting awhile to test the postseason waters might be an understatement. Saugus hasn’t made the playoffs since the inception of the high school Super Bowl in 1972 and prior to that, their last postseason appearance would have been in 1950 and 1951 when they won the Exchange Bowl.”It’s been outrageous,” Saugus coach Mike Broderick said of the craziness that erupted last weekend when — thanks to their independent schedule — the Sachems were on tenterhooks waiting to see if they’d qualify. “The kids have been on an emotional rollercoaster.”Now that they’re there, the Sachems (5-2) have the tall task of coming up with a plan to penetrate a Lynnfield (7-0, 5-0 Cape Ann League) defense that brings new meaning to the word stingy. The undefeated Pioneers have outscored the opposition 253-20 with four shutouts. No one has scored more than seven points against Lynnfield this season.Despite the numbers, Lynnfield coach Neal Weidman isn’t counting any chickens just yet. Although Lynnfield defeated Saugus once last year, Weidman said it was a good game and expects Saugus to be very tough this year.”We expect them to be good. At this point in the season everyone is good,” Weidman said. “They’re really good at running their offense and defensively, they do a really good job trying to take away what you’re good at … the kids are physical and they’re big … real big.”Lynnfield will come at the Sachems with an assortment of weapons. Quarterback Dan Sullivan is 37-54 passing for 948 yards and 12 touchdowns. He’s only thrown one interception and four of his touchdown passes were 75 yards or longer.Cam Rondeau and Jon Knee are two of his favorite targets. Rondeau has 16 catches for 486 yards and five touchdowns and Knee has 13 receptions for 315 yards and five touchdowns. Jake Rourke with 511 yards rushing and Drew McCarthy with 425 on only 38 carries also pose a challenge. They have nine and five touchdowns, respectively.”We have to play our game,” Broderick said. “We have to run the football. That’s what we kind of pride ourselves on. We try to control the tempo of the game.”The Sachems have some pretty potent weapons of their own beginning with quarterback Justin Winn, who has 20-plus touchdowns and more than 1,000 yards rushing. Dan Cacciola is right behind him with “16-17″ touchdowns and just under 1,000 yards rushing, Broderick said.Broderick said the key this year has been the offensive line, which features plenty of experience, a good grasp of the system and the ability to adjust on the fly.”They’re very competitive. And then you have Justin Winn making good reads. He’s one of the best we’ve had,” Broderick said.Broderick said it’s been a great season beginning with a “crazy game” in Winthrop in 90-plus degree heat that Saugus lost, 44-41, after leading, 35-14, late in the third quarter. They went on to win some big games and lose one to English.”We’ve been tested. We’ve failed a couple of times and we’ve been successful, “Broderick said.Broderick is in his 12th year as head coach.