BYFIELD — The 13th ranked (Division 6) Lynnfield Pioneers football team made the trek up to Byfield to battle against the 17th ranked (Division 5) Triton Vikings and went home disappointed losing 20-14.
Even in the loss, Pioneers head coach Pat LaMusta was proud of his team.
“We had some plays where things weren’t going well and we jumped right back so I thought there was this perseverance factor today with the team,” he said.
Lynnfield took over possession after a Triton three and out and established the running game early. Senior captain Spencer Riley received the bulk of the carries with five touches for 32 yards, but Charlie Capachietti punched it home from three yards out to give the Pioneers a 7-0 lead with just over four minutes left in the first quarter.
The Vikings regained possession with 4:30 left in the quarter and found more success getting the ball all the way to the red zone after starting the drive at their own 34-yard line. A pass interference call doomed the Pioneers as Triton quarterback Max Ciaramitaro tossed a 20-yard pass to Jared Leonard to even the score at 7-7 with 11:20 left in the second quarter.
The second drive for the Pioneers wasn’t the best as they went three and out and gave Triton possession on the 42-yard line. The Vikings drove 68 yards down the field and Nathan Miller powered his way into the red zone from a couple of yards out to give Triton a 14-7 lead with 3:44 left in the half.
Sophomore quarterback David Tracy began to march the Pioneers down the field with a 30-yard pass to Joey Cucciniello but even after two pass interference calls got Lynnfield into the red zone, Triton’s defense answered the bell and forced the Pioneers to attempt a field goal with 11 seconds left. The kick from over 20-yards out was no good and the Vikings entered the half with a 14-7 lead.
At the start of the third quarter, Lynnfield started on its own 20-yard-line but poor field position wasn’t a problem for the Pioneers. Thanks to the connection between Tracy and Cucciniello in the air. After gaining 50 yards in the passing game, Arthur Chiaradonna ran into the end zone from 11 yards out to tie the game with 6:30 left in the third quarter.
After completing a 10-yard pass to Brian Elliot, the Pioneers were stonewalled and forced to punt in their following drive. Triton got good field possession taking over at midfield with 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter. Lynnfield’s defense came up big as they forced a punt with less than eight minutes left in the quarter.
The Pioneers took over possession at their own 20-yard line looking to find a crucial touchdown. Disaster struck for Lynnfield as Cole Piaseczynski snagged a pick-six that gave Triton a 20-14 lead with 5:47 left in the quarter.
“One of the greatest plays I’ve ever seen here at Triton,” said head coach Eric Burgos. “Cole Piaseczynski is just a grinder, a workhorse and he did what he is supposed to do and it showed.”
Sharkey was the star of the final drive for the Pioneers offense, He broke off a 40-yard run after Lynnfield gained possession as its own 27-yard line and he continued to get carries as they got into the red zone.
With 1:20 left, the game came down to one play with the ball on the two-yard line on fourth down. Lynnfield failed to complete a pass and went home empty-handed.
Lynnfield finishes the regular season with a 2-5 record.
