RallyNorth.net

Pioneers prove too much for Hornets

Thursday, November, 25 By Mike McMahon
Staff writer

LYNNFIELD — Just like it has all year, North Reading gave a team with a much better record all it could handle.

But in the end, it was once again too much for the Hornets to handle. 

North Reading fell to Lynnfield 21-6 yesterday in their annual Turkey Day matchup.

The Hornets (1-9) had an upset on their mind, taking the opening kick and driving 87 yards on 14 plays, capped with a Nicholas Rosano touchdown up the gut.

“We knew they were dangerous,” head coach Jeff Wall said of the 9-2 Pioneers. “We wanted to keep the ball away from them, that was part of the mindset there. We knew what they could do and we wanted to keep the ball away from them. It worked that opening drive.”

The opening drive ate up almost the entire first quarter — 8:42 — but Lynnfield struck back just five plays later, with four-year starter Gino Cohee finding AJ Roberto over the middle for a 46-yard touchdown strike.

On their next drive, the Pioneers struck again, with Cohee finding Jeff Gannon for a 41-yard touchdown pass.

The Hornets struggled to mount much offense the rest of the half but kept the Pioneers at bay.

The second half was riddled with turnovers on both sides — the teams traded three fumbles in the third quarter — but a fumble by Lynnfield with 2:09 left in the third quarter gave the Hornets a chance; North Reading had recovered the ball on the Lynnfield’s 35-yard line, trailing 14-6.

The Hornets had trouble moving the ball against a tough Lynnfield defense, however.

“These guys never give up,” Wall said. “There is a lot of fight in these guys. I just wish we could have gotten a win for them. They’re doing so much right and we were right there, we just couldn’t get that win.”

Almost half of North Reading’s losses (4) came by less than one touchdown.

“I’ve been on a lot of winning teams that hasn’t had the fight and the heart that this team has,” Wall said. “They never give up and they gave us everything that they had; they have all season. This is a special group.”

As Wall talked with a group of huddled media, players came up one by one to thank him; most with tears in their eyes.

As the team walked off the field, Wall called for them to stop; he wanted to walk off the field with his team.

“I’m so proud of these guys,” he said. “It’s a really close group.”