The Lynnfield football team (0-1) opened its season at North Attleborough (2-0) Friday night, but ran into a big red wall in the Rocketeers, who escaped, 21-6, at Beaupre Field
The Pioneers had no answers for the Rocketeers’ ground game. North finished with 229 yards rushing and 292 total yards to the Pioneers’ 166. In contrast, Lynnfield picked up only 42 yards on the ground.
“They had a very big line and linebackers were dynamic, so that was a ton of pressure on Ty (Adamo) in the pass game, especially because we had trouble establishing the run,” said Pioneers’ head coach Pat Lamusta.
Trailing 21-0 at the half, Lynnfield climbed back into the game when Adamo connected with Jesse Dorman for a 25-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 21-6.
But ultimately, penalties proved to be the kiss of death for the Pioneers, who had two touchdowns called back on whistles.
“Our guys did a nice job coming out in the second half, but a couple questionable calls negated passing and rushing touchdowns for us, which was unfortunate. We had a chance to get back in it, but time was running out,” Lamusta said. “Ultimately, it was great competition for us. I do think we can build off this. We can build off how we came out in the second half.”
Defensively, Jared Bernabei and Spencer D’Augusta led the charge with five tackles apiece.
Adamo was under pressure, nearly from start to finish, yet completed 14-of-22 passes for 149 yards with one touchdown and one interception. The bad news, he was sacked for a loss of 45 yards. Dan Lemieux completed one pass on one attempt for 43 yards.
Madux Iovinelli led the receiving corps with six receptions for 126 yards, while Dorman (3 catches, 52 yards, TD) and Dan Lemieux (2 catches, 11 yards) also had multiple catches. Luke DiSilvio (4 yards), Bernabei (3 yards) and Nick Kelter had one reception each.
Lynnfield ran the ball only 11 times with Bernabei picking up 23 yards on six carries and Adamo racking up 19 on five carries.
The Pioneers visit Wakefield for a non-league contest next Friday at 6 p.m. in search of their first win.
