Pioneers blaze their trail to Division 4 state semifinal

WINTHROP ? All season the Lynnfield football team has made big play after big play. On a frigid Friday night at Miller Field, the Pioneers were at it again in the Division 4 North final.The Pioneers used three critical plays to turn the tide as they bested No. 1-seeded Winthrop, 35-14, to earn a date with Holliston in Friday’s Division 4 EMass final.The three-touchdown difference does not truly indicate how close the game between the 10-0 Pioneers and the now 9-1 Vikings was. Winthrop moved the ball better than any team had against Lynnfield all season as running back Reise Turransky finished with 224 yards on 29 carries. But the Pioneers defense stepped up when it was needed.?We knew coming in here that it was going to be a close game,” Lynnfield coach Neal Weidman said. “We got a couple of big plays when we needed it.”It was a relatively calm first half until Lynnfield’s Drew McCarthy scored with 1:51 left to give his team a 14-0 lead after a 2-point conversion pass to Jon Knee. It would be the beginning of a frantic final moments of the half.The Vikings Dylan Driscoll returned the kick to the Lynnfield 44, giving Winthrop a short field with 1:40 to go. His 14-yard pass to Zach Deeb got the Vikings within striking distance. Turransky carried twice to move the ball to the one as the clock ticked under 30 seconds.Jake Chuidina powered in on second-and-goal to give Winthrop what looked to be a big boost heading into the break, trailing just 14-6. But there were still 29 seconds left for the high-powered Lynnfield offense.A good kick return moved the ball out to the Pioneers 44. McCarthy gained 17 on the first play before Danny Sullivan hit Knee for 11 yards to the Winthrop 28. Another 17-yard dash by McCarthy had the ball at the 12 with seven seconds left.Winthrop appeared to have dodged a bullet when Sean Gillis sacked Sullivan for a nine-yard loss with three seconds left. Lynnfield called timeout and decided to take a final shot into the end zone instead going for a field goal.The move proved to be one of genius as Cam Rondeau outjumped two defenders and pulled in Sullivan’s prayer at the gun to send Lynnfield into the break with a 21-6 lead. Winthrop coach Sean Driscoll knew that was a major turning point in his team’s fortunes. “That one really hurt,” Driscoll said. “It was probably my fault. We should have run a little more time off before we scored. But against their defense you need to score because you don’t know how many chances you’re going to get.”Lynnfield got the ball to start the second half, but Deeb turned things around for Winthrop when he picked off Sullivan at the Vikings 10. Winthrop’s ground game then went on the march, driving nearly the length of the field in 10 plays.Turransky capped the drive with a 38-yard touchdown run that saw him juke two defenders before racing down the right sideline to cut the lead to 21-14 with 2:41 left in the third.The Viking defense stood tall and forced a Lynnfield punt but the kick bounced off the leg of a Winthrop cover man and the Pioneers recovered at the Vikings 22.Lynnfield converted the big break in just six plays as Sullivan scored from a yard out on the first play of the fourth quarter to make it 28-14.?That muff was a big break,” Weidman said. “And we were able to capitalize and make it a two-score game. That was huge.”Winthrop wasn’t done, though, as Turransky and Chuidina helped march the Vikings down field. Driscoll kept the drive going with a 31-yard completion to Jon Gonzalez that put the ball on the Lynnfield five.That’s when the Pioneers defense came up huge. It held Winthrop to four yards on three plays, bringing up fourth-and-goal inside the one.Driscoll tried to sneak in but the play was blown up and he fumbled. Rondeau picked up the loose ball and went 99 yards the other way to put the title away for the Pioneers.?They are a very good football team,” Driscoll said of Lynnfield. “They are big up front and they forced us into mistakes.”