LYNNFIELD — It’s been an up-and-down season for the Lynnfield football team. Riddled by a rash of injuries and lacking experience, the Pioneers have won just three games.
Nonetheless, the team is hoping to finish the year on a high note with a win against traditional archrival North Reading on Thanksgiving Day. The game is slated for 10 a.m. at Pioneer Stadium.
To do so, however, will be an uphill climb. The 9-1 Hornets advanced to the semifinals of the Division 5 state tournament.
“North Reading will be a challenge this year for sure,” said Lynnfield’ coach Pat Lamusta. “They are well-equipped in all phases of the game. We want to get some consistent rhythm on offense in the game so we keep their offense off the field.”
Truth be told, this may be Lamusta’s most challenging season since taking over as head coach in 2018 after the departure of Neal Weidman. With a revolving door of injuries, Lamusta has had to scramble week after week to find the right personnel he hoped would click. Turkey Day will likely be more of the same.
He said a key to the game will be special teams.
“We are hoping to get a few guys back from injury for the game, but a big difference is special teams,” Lamusta said. “North Reading does a good job, typically, and they have a great returner this year who we’ll need to contain. Dan Lemieux will be a big part of this game — kicking and returning.”
Another one: not giving up big plays.
“Defensively, we’re hoping we can keep them in front of us and not give up chunk plays,” Lamusta said. “We will need to be sharp on pursuit and tackling on the perimeter.”
The Pioneers have won Turkey Day bragging rights for three consecutive years.
“We’re eager to get a win for our seniors,” Lamusta said. “They have put a ton of time in for this program over the years, loved the ups and downs, and we would like to get them one on Thanksgiving Day.”
Tri-captains Luke DiSilvio, Ben Gazit, and Matt Tracy are part of a senior group that has never lost a Thanksgiving Day game. They know the season hasn’t been what they’d hoped for, but are confident they can go out as winners.
“I’m really proud of the guys for working so hard, considering we had so many injuries and were really inexperienced,” Tracy said. “I just want to go into North Reading playing hard like we always have and see what we can do.”
Tracy was one of many players asked to play a different position this year, seeing significant minutes as a defensive end.
“I played a little bit last year, so I knew the position and went back to it when we needed me to,” he said. “I had a lot of fun doing it — to be honest.”
Tracy thinks the Pioneers are ready to win.
“We’ve had so many growing pains this year with a lot of kids having to move around doing what we think is best for us,” he said. “We’ve come a long way. Every year, you come out kind of slow, but we should be able to pick it up by the end of the year, so I think we are at a point where we can be successful.”
DiSilvio said he trusts the coaching staff to come up with a successful gameplan.
“North Reading is very good, but I think I have a good idea that we can come up with a good scheme during the week. We just have to pick at what we can at their defense,” he said. “This year, injuries really killed us. We definitely would have had a much better record if we had the team we had started the season with. I think we have a good chance to win. We just need to get a good, solid week of practice in and we just need to know that we can. We have the right attitude to do that.”
Unfortunately for Gazit, who was the only returning member of the offensive line, he’s done for the year after undergoing shoulder surgery a couple of weeks ago to remedy an injury he suffered during the first game of the season. He said he tried to play through it, but it finally caught up with him.
“I can’t really move it right now, but it’s not too bad,” Gazit said. “I tried to pay through it, but it kept popping out and I had to ice it every game, so surgery was inevitable.”
He agreed with DiSilvio that the Pioneers will need a great week of practice if they are to win the game.
“As Luke said, we need to have a good week of practice,” he said. “For us, as seniors, it’s our last time to go out, so we need everyone onboard. We are going to need the juniors to play like it’s their last game as well. We all need to give it everything we have. It doesn’t matter if the score is not what we want it to be. Hopefully, we can come away with a win.”
Gazit said he believes the Pioneers will be back to their winning ways next year.
“We definitely have a very young offensive line, but the future is very bright for them,” he said. “Having a year of varsity experience really helps you a lot and I believe that next year, they can take that experience and turn it into some wins.”
While he’s disappointed he can’t suit up on Turkey Day, he’ll be the Pioneers’ biggest fan.
“I’ll be cheering everyone on — that’s for sure,” Gazit said. “That’s my role that day, so that’s what I’ll do.”
