Friday night?s Lynnfield-Swampscott Division 4 North semifinal game will probably generate the most discussion around here, so why not begin now?
What makes this game ? that will be played at 7 p.m. at the new Lynnfield High field ? so intriguing is that these are two teams that do not know each other well.
They rarely ? if ever ? play each other. Swampscott has been a part of the Northeastern Conference forever while Lynnfield has been part of the Cape Ann League for just as long.
Because they?re in the same division, it?s safe to assume that the student populations in the two schools are comparable. And that may well be. But when you examine the opponents Swampscott has had to beat to get this far, it?s just as safe to say this is one time when you can truly throw the records, and the statistics, out the window.
Lynnfield is 8-0 and has pretty much put the hammer down on every opponent it has faced, including last week?s 42-6 blowout over Saugus ? a team that looked pretty formidable coming into that game.
Swampscott is only 4-4. And you?d probably think, based on that record, that this game should be no contest. But you?d be wrong.
One of those losses was to Marblehead, a team that, like Lynnfield, has rolled through its schedule unscathed. Another was to Winthrop ? also 8-0. Still another was to St. Mary?s, a team that, while it has struggled more than it has in recent years, still brings a competitive team to the table. Its fourth loss was to Triton ? the team that?ll play Winthrop Friday night at Miller Field.
Lynnfield hasn?t played any of those teams. But it?s more important to see which teams Swampscott beat, because they?re all Northeastern Conference/Large teams, and all of them play a division up from the Big Blue. And Lynn English ? one of those teams ? is in Division 2.
This is in no way meant to demean Lynnfield, which has had as impressive a season as we?ve seen. It?s more to suggest that this game might be a lot closer than people think it?ll be, if they base it on records alone, and that the Big Blue will have the experience of having come back four straight times to salvage victories.
This could be anybody?s ballgame.
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Whoever escapes with the Division 1 North championship will definitely have earned it. And that?s doubly true if it?s St. John?s Prep.
The Eagles will have a rematch Saturday (2) against Central Catholic, a team they defeated in Week 2. Central?s Chuck Adamopoulos stood in the pouring rain Saturday scouting the Prep-Chelmsford game. He left at the half, saying he?d seen all he needed to see. One of his observations was that both Eagles? lines looked better than they did in September, when his team played them. He also said that Chelmsford had given his team a heck of a game earlier this fall, and the Eagles were toying with them Saturday.
Even Prep coach Brian St. Pierre, who is about as laconic as predecessor Jim O?Leary was effusive, was generous in praising his defense for having played so well against Chelmsford.
If the Eagles win ? and don?t forget that Central is the defending state champion and that the Raiders aren?t going to give that title up easily ? they face the winner of the Peabody-Everett game Friday night (7). If it?s Everett, look out! The Eagles always play Everett early, before they?ve had a chance to find out what they?re all about. Now, they know. That could be one of those games for the ages.
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Last year, Lynn Tech had to truck all the way to Framingham on a Saturday morning to pay Marian in a non-playoff setting ? something that struck everyone as simply ridiculous.
This year, some of the matchups are equally silly. Why, for example, should Classical have to go all the way to Waltham to play in an also-ran game while Salem has to Belmont?
Yes, they?ve played before. But even so, let them play again so that either the Witches or Rams get a decent gate. And doesn?t it make more sense to have Waltham play Belmont, since they?re similarly right next to ea
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