Bishop Fenwick High School hosted a 7-on-7 football tournament this past Saturday, featuring programs from all across the Bay State. The Lynnfield Pioneers were present and accounted for with coach Pat Lamusta adding the tournament is “always the wakeup call.”
“It’s, usually, about a month away from equipment distribution. When you get to that, it’s the home stretch of the summer,” Lamusta said. “The message to the kids now is to get whatever they can out of the summer. This is it – especially for the seniors. Have no regrets in the summer because once the season gets going, it’s basically on autopilot.”
The Pioneers are coming off a 9-2 season. Despite graduating 14 seniors, they’re looking to take it a step further come the fall.
Luckily for Lamusta, he returns several key players, starting with quarterback Tyler Adamo.
“Tyler Adamo was recently recognized by Sports Illustrated as one of the top quarterbacks coming back for the 2024 season,” Lamusta said. “He’s just a great athlete and had a tremendous baseball season. We’re looking forward to seeing what he can do.”
One position to keep an eye on at Pioneer Stadium is the offensive line. The group that helped keep Adamo healthy last season has graduated, except for Walter Radulski.
“Walter Radulski is our one returning offensive linemen,” Lamusta said. “We’re looking for him to help us out significantly on the o-line and d-line.”
The good news for Pioneers’ fans is that Lamusta also likes what he got from Nick Lozada and Chris Duprey last season.
“Linemen Nick Lozada and Chris Duprey rotated on the o-line and d-line last year,” he said. “They’re competing for the offensive and defensive line spots.”
More key players include Jared Bernabei and Jesse Dorman, both of whom have offers to play at the next level.
“Running back and linebacker Jared Bernabei has attracted a lot of interest from colleges,” Lamusta said. “He and captain Jesse Dorman were offered by Saint Anselm in the late spring. These two have been forces in the weight room as well.”
But that’s not all, according to Lamusta, who also coaches boys lacrosse in the spring.
“We also have Iain McCarthy, Spencer D’Augusta, and George Lambros. We’re looking forward to having them back for their senior seasons,” Lamusta said. “Oliver Ventolieri may also be another guy competing for an offensive line position.”
Offensively, you could say Madux Iovinelli is an explosive player poised for a breakout season, in addition to junior Luke DiSilvio.
“Madux Iovinelli is one of our tall receivers. He’s a great target and we’re looking forward to getting him the ball. He’s such an explosive player and he’s stepped up in big games in the past. I think Tyler will have a variety of targets, but Madux has definitely been one of his favorite third-down targets,” Lamusta said. “Luke DiSilvio is a great athlete and a rising junior. He can jump through the roof. He can help us out at receiver and defensive back. He’s got great hands and we can’t wait to see what he can do.”
As for his team’s identity, Lamusta’s leadership group has that one taken care of.
“Our leadership council chose the word ‘together’ to be our rally phase back in January. We’ve been breaking down workouts and when we wrap things up, we always end the day saying, ‘together,’” Lamusta said. “We want to make sure we put the speed and athleticism all together, by playing together.”
The Pioneers will need to remain together as they start the season with three consecutive road games. The first is against North Attleboro, then Wakefield, followed by a trip to Ipswich.
“It’s a tough start. Our players are the type of players that play way better when the competition is better. I’m optimistic that they will rise to the occasion,” Lamusta said. “Ipswich will be a much better team, Wakefield is very good, and North Attleboro is also a strong opponent.”
Lamusta is looking forward to the Week 1 matchup with the Red Rocketeers of North Attleboro to truly assess where his team is at.
“I’m looking forward to the first game. It gives you a nice barometer of what you have and you get an idea of what needs to be corrected. Then, you get an idea of what your team’s potential can be,” he said. “Last year against Triton, we won, but we made a lot of mistakes. We were happy, but at the same time, we knew what we had to work on.”
The season is less than two months away, with the Pioneers kicking off on Friday, September 13.
