LYNNFIELD — And it’s on to the Elite Eight for the No. 5 Pioneers (8-1), who rolled to a 28-0 win over visiting Swampscott (5-4) Friday night at Pioneer Stadium.
In the Division VI showdown, Niccolo Antidormi had a big day for Lynnfield with touchdown runs of 31 and 55 yards on nine carries with 93 rushing yards. Quarterback Tyler Adamo (9-of-16, 165 yards) had a 3-yard touchdown run and threw for another. Jared Bernabei (5 carries, 50 yards) put the nail in the Big Blue’s coffin with about seven minutes to go with a 45-yard rushing touchdown. Joey Cucciniello also impressed with 107 yards on three receptions, all of them at key times.
The Pioneers will travel to No. 4 Hudson next Friday.
“We wanted to win the turnover ratio, the penalty ratio, and third down ratio, and that’s what we were trying to do all night,” said Lynnfield coach Pat Lamusta. “And field position is always key against these good teams.”
Both teams struggled offensively in the early going. But while Lynnfield pretty much protected the ball (1 interception), its defense came up huge, forcing four turnovers. The Big Blue had five first-half possessions but managed only 72 yards in the first half with three punts, a lost fumble, and a turnover on downs.
The second half wasn’t much better, with turnovers on three of Swampscott’s first four possessions. However, the Big Blue defense did its job early, forcing three-and-outs on the Pioneers’ first three possessions and holding them to just 8 yards.
But Lynnfield turned it around in the second quarter. The Pioneers were facing a third-and-2 on Swampscott’s 32-yard line. Adamo was nearly sacked, but managed to shovel a pass to Antidormi, who flew down the left sideline and into the end zone to make it 7-0 after Massimo LoGrasso tacked on the extra point.
Starting on its own 13 one possession later, the Pioneers drove to the Big Blue 3-yard line where Adamo called his own number. Joey Cucciniello (61-yard reception from Adamo) and Madux Iovinelli (27-yard catch from Adamo) had the key plays.
The Pioneers started the second half similarly to the first, with three straight three-and outs and negative yardage.
But they flipped the switch when Antidormi turned a corner at his own 45 on the left side and left the Big Blue in the dust, making it a 21-0 game with 22 seconds left in the third quarter.
The touchdown was set up by a Bernabei strip sack of Big Blue quarterback Jack Spear. Bernabei capped an 88-yard drive in the fourth quarter with the final touchdown of the game.
For Swampscott, Spear (11-of-21, 124 yards, 3 interceptions) had no answer for the Pioneers’ swarming defense. He did connect a few long bombs in the second half to give the Big Blue some hope – a 54-yard completion to Sam Nadworny and 35-yard completion to Joe Marino – but it was too little, too late.
