HAMILTON ― It’s hard to win a football game when you’re playing most of the game with your back against your own end zone, and the Lynnfield football team found that out the hard way Saturday afternoon in a 35-8 loss to Hamilton-Wenham in a Cape Ann League matchup.
“The field position battle was heavily in Hamilton-Wenham’s favor, and they were able to take advantage of that all day,” said Lynnfield coach Pat Lamusta. “We made some mistakes on special teams and we just can’t do that. We need to work on that phase of the game so we’re not playing from behind the eight ball on every drive.”
While the offensive side of the ball didn’t have many highlights for Lynnfield, the Pioneers’ defense saw some strong play from Nick Marcinowski (seven tackles, one tackle for loss) and Spencer Riley (seven tackles).
After a slow start to the game with both teams exchanging punts, Hamilton-Wenham got itself into a great field position after pinning Lynnfield deep in its own zone. When the Generals took over on the Pioneers’ 25-yard line, it only took a few plays for running back Chris Domoracki to break free for a 10-yard touchdown to put Hamilton-Wenham on top 7-0.
The next Lynnfield offensive drive was much of the same, with the Pioneers pinned deep at their own five-yard line. A three-and-out forced another punt, and Hamilton-Wenham once again took over at Lynnfield’s 25. And once again, it only took Hamilton-Wenham a few plays to find the end zone ― with Domoracki once again punching it in from a few yards out.
On the ensuing possession for Lynnfield, quarterback Nick Razzaboni attempted a screen pass but it was cut off by Generals defensive back Zenas Zhao, who grabbed the interception and took it back all the way for a touchdown to make it 21-0.
Things didn’t get any better for Lynnfield from there, as the Pioneers had a Hamilton-Wenham punt bounce off a player and get recovered by the Generals. Then, Hamilton-Wenham quarterback John Ertel connected with receiver Markus Nordin ― who made a highlight-reel catch ― for a 42-yard touchdown to put the Generals ahead 28-0.
And even when the Pioneers were able to punch it deep into Hamilton-Wenham territory ― like in the final seconds of the first half when they got inside the five-yard line ― things didn’t go right. Lynnfield had a second-and-goal from the one-yard line with 15 seconds left, and Hamilton-Wenham stuffed the Pioneers on three straight plays to bring the 28-0 lead into halftime.
Domoracki added his third rushing touchdown of the day for the Generals midway through the third quarter to round out the scoring for Hamilton-Wenham.
It took all the way until the final two minutes of play for Lynnfield to get on the scoreboard, with receiver Brian Ellis making a leaping touchdown catch from quarterback David Tracy with 1:29 remaining to make it a 35-8 game.
Lynnfield (2-2) returns home Friday (6:30) for its Senior Night game against Pentucket.
“This senior class has had a unique career, and they hold a really special place in my heart because they’re the first group of incoming freshmen I had as a head coach here,” said Lamusta. “It’s a great group of players and a great group of men, and it will be really special to celebrate them on Friday.”
