LYNNFIELD — The Pioneers’ defense was once again the key, as the Lynnfield football team stayed unbeaten with a 13-7 win over Cape Ann League rival Pentucket Friday at Pioneer Stadium.
Spencer Riley came up with the play of the game, a 15-yard interception return for a touchdown that broke a 7-7 tie and put Lynnfield over the top late in the fourth quarter.
“Spencer had a great game all day,” Lynnfield coach Pat Lamusta said. “He had a couple key tackles for losses, a sack and that play just topped it off. We just did what we do on defense. At times we bend, but that’s a group full of senior leaders. They really play as a unit.”
It didn’t always look like the Pioneers would have a defensive battle on their hands. The game started off picture perfect when quarterback Austin Sutera (8-of-15 passing for 145 yards with one touchdown and one interception) connected with Jack Ford (two catches, 72 yards, one touchdown) on a 55-yard score just a few plays into the game. Running back DJ Capachietti had a great game on the ground with 102 yards on eight carries.
After going ahead 7-0, the Pioneers’ offense hit a series of snags. A Pentucket sack and a rare drop by Ford resulted in back-to-back three-and-outs.
“I think we have some things to work on for sure,” Lamusta said. “We want to get Austin comfortable in the pocket and get our offensive line comfortable picking up any blitzs a team throws at them. From there we can get it to our great athletes.”
Pentucket’s offense didn’t gain much ground either until just before the half. The Sachems chipped away down the field and got some help by a pass interference call that negated a Bakari Mitchell interception. Pentucket quarterback Chase Dwight capped off the drive with a two-yard touchdown pass to William Sutton and the extra point tied things up with just 17 seconds remaining in the first half.
On Pentucket’s first drive of the second half, Ford scooped up a fumble and returned it 56 yards for what looked like a touchdown. However, a block in the back during the return erased the six points, and the Pioneers’ offense still couldn’t get anything going.
The Sachems gained some momentum on their next possession, eating up a big chunk of the clock and driving all the way to the Lynnfield 18-yard line.
But linebacker Nicolas Marcinowski came up with the big stop the Pioneers needed on fourth-and-one, tackling Dwight for a loss and stalling the Sachems’ best drive of the second half.
A few plays later, Capachietti broke loose on a 42-yard run to set up a first-and-goal for the Pioneers at the Pentucket eight-yard line. But Lynnfield couldn’t put the finishing touches on the drive, eventually turning the ball over on downs with less than five minutes to play.
That’s when Riley stepped in, jumping in front of a Dwight pass and taking it into the end zone untouched to put Lynnfield on top 13-7 (blocked extra point).
The Pioneers’ defense held off a last-ditch drive from Pentucket to tie things up, and Capachietti closed out the game with 44 yards rushing on Lynnfield’s final drive to seal the win.
“DJ is a north-south runner,” Lamusta said. “He’s a hardnose runner and always puts it in that third gear. You think he’s going to go down and then he pops back up. He’s relentless on both sides of the ball and on top of it he’s a vocal leader.”
Lynnfield (3-0) plays on the road at Manchester-Essex Saturday afternoon (1).
