lwn 2-4-21

FEBRUARY 4, 2021
WEEKLYNEWS.NET - 978-532-5880 11
HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS SCHEDULE
THURSDAY
Boys Basketball
Pentucket at Lynnfield (5:45)
Salem Academy at Bishop Fenwick (6:30)
Boys Hockey
Bishop Fenwick at Pope Francis (7:40)
FRIDAY
Boys Basketball
Peabody at Winthrop (6)
Bishop Fenwick at Austin Prep (6:30)
Girls Basketball
Winthrop at Peabody (7)
Boys Hockey
Danvers at Peabody (5:15)
SATURDAY
Boys Basketball
Salem Academy vs. Bishop Fenwick
(1:30)
Girls Basketball
Bishop Fenwick at Dexter Southfield
(2:30)
Boys Hockey
North Reading at Lynnfield (12)
Arlington Catholic at Bishop Fenwick (7)
Girls Hockey
Peabody/Lynnfield at Marblehead (4)
St. Mary’s at Bishop Fenwick (6:20)
Swimming
Salem, Swampscott at Peabody (4)
Gymnastics
Bishop Fenwick at Beverly (1:30)
Danvers at Peabody (5:30)
SUNDAY
Girls Hockey
Shawsheen Tech at Bishop Fenwick (9)
Gymnastics
Peabody at Gloucester (4)
MONDAY
Boys Basketball
Austin Prep at Bishop Fenwick (6:30)
Girls Basketball
Bishop Fenwick at Austin Prep (4:30)
Rockport at Lynnfield (5:45)
TUESDAY
Boys Basketball
Peabody at Beverly (6)
Girls Basketball
Beverly at Peabody (7)
Swampscott at Winthrop (7)
WEDNESDAY
Boys Basketball
Bishop Fenwick at Arlington Catholic
(6:30)
Girls Basketball
Arlington Catholic at Bishop Fenwick
(6:30)
Boys Hockey
Swampscott at Peabody (5:15)
Bishop Fenwick at Archbishop Williams
(7)
Triton at Lynnfield (8:15)
Girls Hockey
Peabody/Lynnfield at Winthrop (6:10)
Bishop Fenwick at St. Mary’s (7)
FILE PHOTO | SPENSER HASAK
Jack Ford (right) and the Lynnfield football team are looking forward to hopefully returning to
the field for practice starting Feb. 22.
Local football coaches looking
ahead to a season after all
By Mike Alongi
Following Friday afternoon’s
unanimous decision to approve
the safety modifications that
will allow for a football season
starting in late February, football
coaches across the North Shore
kicked their preparations into
high gear. With just 20 days until
practices are officially allowed
to begin, the time has come to
put the pedal to the medal. The
current plan is for football to
run during the “Fall Sports II”
season, which will take place
from Feb. 22 to April 25.
“Our guys couldn’t be more
excited,” said Bishop Fenwick
football coach David Woods,
who also serves as Fenwick’s
athletic director. “We’ve been
trying to prepare for this for
awhile now, but it was still uncertain
which way it was going
to go. Now that we know we
have a path forward, we’re ready
to hit the ground running.”
“The biggest positive in all
of this is that the kids are going
to get a chance to play, and for
that we’re all very grateful,” said
Peabody football coach Mark
Bettencourt. “It looks like we’ll
be able to play a seven- or eightweek
season, and as coaches
that’s everything we could’ve
asked for under the circumstances.
It’s going to be great
for the players, especially the
seniors.”
“This has been a long time
coming and everyone in our
community is so excited,” said
Lynnfield football coach Pat
Lamusta. “We’re fortunate that
here in Lynnfield, hockey and
basketball have gone really
smoothly and I think it’s giving
everyone confidence that we’ll
be able to safely have football as
well.”
While individual school districts
will still need to approve
football and other sports for
the “Fall Sports II” season, the
working theory is that schools
currently playing during the
winter season — including
schools in the Northeastern
Conference, Catholic Central
League and Cape Ann League
— will likely approve sports for
“Fall Sports II.”
Some programs, such as
Greater Boston League schools
Lynn English, Lynn Classical
and Revere, will have a delayed
start to football and other sports
due to the GBL’s adjusted sports
calendar. Those schools are
planning to start football practices
on March 1 at the earliest,
with games coming during a sixweek
season from April 12 to
May 15.
Unlike other fall sports such as
soccer and field hockey, football
won’t be seeing drastic changes
to its on-field rules. Many of the
modifications involve sideline
and bench procedures. Some of
the modifications that will be put
in place for this season are:
— Masks must be worn at all
times. Neck gaiter masks will
not be allowed for football.
— There will be no locker
room use for any teams.
— The “team box” on the
sideline will be extended to the
10-yard line to allow sufficient
space for social distancing.
— The maximum number of
players on a game-day roster
will be 45, and there will be six
coaches allowed per team.
— Timeouts will be held at
the 25-yard line.
— Indoor practices will not
be allowed under any circumstances,
including inside field
houses, bubbles or gyms.
“I think the biggest issue for
us as a team is going to be the
roster limits, because we anticipate
having 80 guys come
out for the team this year,” said
Woods. “But at the same time,
everyone has to deal with it and
we’ll adjust accordingly.”
At the end of the day, last
week’s news mostly just brought
relief and excitement that a football
season will be allowed to
happen after all.
“When I told my seniors, I
think some of them didn’t even
know whether to believe me or
not,” said Lamusta. “They were
strung along a bit in the summer
about the fall season and then
that was taken away, and I think
they really weren’t sure if they
were going to be able to play.
Now, our guys get a chance to go
out there and compete and leave
a legacy behind.”
“Now that we have this decision,
we can refocus ourselves
and really get moving on preparing
for the season,” said
Bettencourt. “You can deal with
snow or cold weather, but you
can’t deal with not being allowed
to play. Since we’ve gotten over
that hurdle, it’s time to get ready
to play again.”
“A lot of our guys have been
working out for football since
the day after the (2019 Division
6) Super Bowl, so it’s been
more than a year since we’ve
been on the field,” said Woods,
whose Crusaders finished as
the Division 6 runner-up that
year. “We have 18 seniors on
our team and a lot of them have
been playing since they were
freshmen, so to be able to give
them one final season of playing
with their brothers is a great
thing.”
FILE PHOTO | JOE BROWN
Grace Klonsky had nine points and four rebounds for the
Pioneers in a win over Manchester-Essex last Wednesday.
Lynnfield girls basketball
earns second straight victory
By Mike Alongi
MANCHESTER — The
Lynnfield girls basketball team
won its second game in as
many days Wednesday evening,
notching a 39-27 victory
over Cape Ann League foe
Manchester-Essex on the road.
With the win, the Pioneers move
back to an even .500 on the
season.
“It’s exciting that we’ve been
able to fight back to get to this
point where we can kind of reset
and take on the last part of the
season,” said Lynnfield coach
Jeannine Cavallaro. “We faced
a few powerhouses early in the
season and we weren’t playing
great, but lately we’ve really
started to come into our own.
We were a little flat at times
(Wednesday), but we came out
ready to play and we fought the
whole way.”
Senior captain Ava Buonfiglio
led the way for Lynnfield with
13 points and four rebounds,
while senior captain Grace
Klonsky had nine points and
four rebounds. Senior captain
Caroline Waisnor had eight
points and six rebounds, while
sophomore Isabella George had
seven points and three rebounds.
Juniors Abby Adamo and Riley
Hallahan each had six rebounds
in the win.
The Pioneers came out like
they were fired out of a cannon
in the first quarter, sprinting out
to a 13-0 lead in the opening
minutes of the game. After
taking a 15-2 lead into the start
of the second quarter, Lynnfield
looked to be in complete control.
While the Pioneers continued
to hold onto an eight-point lead
midway through the second
quarter, Manchester-Essex continued
to battle back. By halftime,
the Pioneers only led by
six points at 21-15.
But in the third quarter,
Lynnfield started to pull away
again. The Pioneers locked down
on defense and pushed their lead
back to 11 points, eventually
taking a 10-point lead into the
final quarter before coasting to
a victory.
“We showed a lot of grit in
this win,” Cavallaro said. “Even
though we led wire-to-wire, we
still had to battle to get out of a
rut and hold on to win the game.
I really liked the mentality that
we came with.”
Lynnfield (3-3) travels to
Ipswich Friday evening (5:45).
“We’re excited for what we
can do the rest of the way this
year,” said Cavallaro. “We’re
starting to hit our stride and I
think we’re starting to gain some
confidence, and hopefully we
can continue to ride this positive
wave.”