Pioneers rolling into Lowell Saturday in state semifinal

When you look through the slate of state semifinal games in the MIAA football tournament, there aren’t many that are better than the one between North champion Lynnfield and South champion Holliston in the Division 4 EMass final on Saturday afternoon at 1:30 at Lowell’s Cawley Stadium.Both the Panthers and Pioneers have dominated all comers this season, scoring a combined 763 points en route to matching 10-0 records. An 11th win on Saturday will put them into the Division 4 Super Bowl at Gillette Stadium on Dec. 6.For Lynnfield, it would be their second trip to Foxboro in the last three seasons, after losing to Bishop Feehan in the Division 4 title game in 2012. Holliston is trying to return to Gillette for the first time since winning the 2010 Division 3A EMass Super Bowl over Cardinal Spellman.Both teams are coming off convincing wins in their sectional title games. Lynnfield went on the road to get past previously unbeaten Winthrop, 35-13, while Holliston pulled away in the second half to also win 35-13 against Middleboro.?They are a really good team,” Lynnfield coach Neal Weidman said. “They have a bunch of dynamic players and any team that you see at this time of year is going to be talented. They will be one of the best teams that we’ve seen all season.”Unlike Lynnfield, which breezed through the playoffs with convincing wins over Saugus and Swampscott before the win over the Vikings, the Panthers had to survive a big-time scare in the opening round against Scituate (28-22) before dominating Foxboro, 35-13, in the South semifinal.The Panthers have one of the best two-dimensional players in the state in quarterback Nick Athy, who has thrown for 1,439 yards and 16 touchdowns while also rushing for 1,301 yards and 25 touchdowns.?(Athy) is such a dynamic player,” Weidman said.It has not been just an aerial show for Holliston, however, as it possesses a dominant ground game that saw much of the yardage come out of its “war package,” the double-wing power-run formation.Running back Zach Elkinson is a multidimensional threat as he has rushed for 544 yards and seven touchdowns and caught 30 passes for 705 yards and eight touchdowns. Fellow backs Sam Ratcliffe, Matt McIsaac and Joe Bellomo also have scored three touchdowns as the Panthers have scored no fewer than 26 points in each of their 10 wins this season, averaging 39.8 points per game.Slowing down that high-flying attack will be the job of a Lynnfield defense that has allowed just 47 points total this season. Only Winthrop has gotten to double figures against a unit that’s allowed 1,870 total yards.On the other side of the ledger, the Lynnfield offense once again showed its versatility in the North final.Tailback Jake Rourke (132-838, 14 TD) rushed for more than 100 yards while quarterback Dan Sullivan completed 12 of 18 passes for 183 yards and a touchdown. For the season, the senior has thrown for 18 touchdowns while being picked off only twice. His favorite target against Winthrop was fellow senior Cam Rondeau, who caught eight balls for 115 yards and a Hail Mary touchdown to end the first half.Rondeau also turned in the defensive play of the game as his 99-yard fumble return in the fourth quarter put the game out of reach. The Pioneers forced three other fumbles and had a pick from Jon Knee as they increased their already gaudy turnover ratio to a +16.?We have a lot of seniors that are playing on both sides and that’s a big help at this time of year,” Weidman said. “If both teams play like they’re capable of, it should be a good game. We just have to limit our turnovers and mistakes.”The Pioneer defense could be without one of its big cogs, however, as linebacker David Adams likely will be a game-time decision after tweaking an injured knee in the second half of the win over Winthrop.