LYNNFIELD — Coach Pat Lamusta should be happy with his squad’s effort in all three phases of the game as the Lynnfield football team defeated the Ipswich Tigers 33-0 on Friday evening.
The Tigers started the game off with a lengthy drive, which lasted more than eight minutes. The ball stayed on the ground with Henry Wright and David Lonergan receiving a heavy dose of carries. But the passing game did Ipswich in with Lynnfield sophomore Arthur Chiaradonna going on to snag an interception to give the Pioneers the ball with 3:45 left in the first quarter.
Lynnfield’s offense would make them pay as the Pioneers quickly made it a 7-0 game thanks to a 35-yard touchdown pass from junior Nick Razzaboni that was caught by Joey Cucciniello.
Friday night was another impressive game for the junior quarterback, who continued to show his ability to make magic happen with his arm. But it was junior James Sharkey who was the talk of the town after racking up 108 yards rushing and averaging 15 yards a carry; he also had a touchdown on the evening.
Lamusta described Sharkey as a runner whose feet don’t stop moving after the win.
“He’s a north/south guy,” the coach said. “He’s really a downhill runner so it was awesome to see him capitalize on those runs today.”
Ipswich would get the ball on its own 31 to start their second drive of the game with 2:32 left in the first quarter, but they wouldn’t have the ball long as the Tigers fumbled the ball on a reverse and the Pioneers Jack Phelps recovered the ball with less than a minute left in the quarter.
Lynnfield carried possession through the beginning of the second quarter and got all the way down to their opponent’s five-yard line. Unfortunately for the Pioneers, a fumbled snap killed their momentum and Lynnfield wound up turning the ball over on downs.
Luckily the Pioneer defense answered the call and caused Ipswich to go three and out with seven minutes left in the half.
Lynnfield made quick work of Ipswich’s defense, as a less than two-minute drive was capped off with Spencer Riley running 30 yards into the end zone with just over five minutes left in the second quarter. The Pioneers’ front seven brought the pressure to the Tiger’s offensive line in the following drive, forcing an intentional grounding in their opponent’s end zone; this caused a safety, giving Lynnfield a 16-0 lead. The half ended with the score line unchanged.
The Pioneers had a perfect start to the second half, with Sharkey scampering for a 54-yard touchdown run after Lynnfield recovered Ipswich’s on-side kick attempt to start the half. The Pioneers failed to convert the two-point conversion, giving them a 22-0 lead with 11 minutes left in the third quarter.
Lynnfield’s defense came through again, forcing yet another three and out from Ipswich that was capped by a sack from junior Steven Dreher with nine minutes left in the third quarter.
Lamusta said his defense had an awesome performance against Ipswich.
“It’s a fast defense,” he said. “We might not be the biggest, but we are very fortunate to have some fast, athletic guys on D and you were able to see that today.”
The Pioneers drove down to their opponent’s red zone, but were stopped by the Tigers’ defense, which forced them to kick a 22-yard field goal. The kick was good, courtesy of junior Kevin Connolly, who gave Lynnfield a 25-0 lead.
Ipswich sustained a long drive before turning the ball over with seven seconds left in the third quarter. It wouldn’t take long for the Pioneers to score once again on the ground, as junior Robert Marley broke off for a 63-yard rushing touchdown, which gave Lynnfield a 33-0 lead after a successful two-point conversion with 11 minutes left in the game.
Lynnfield is now 2-0 and plays Newburyport on the road next Friday (6:30).
