NORTH READING — It may have gotten a little too close for comfort in the late stages, but the Lynnfield Pioneers (9-2) had just enough left in the tank to survive a furious North Reading fourth-quarter rally to come away with a Thanksgiving Day 43-36 rain-soaked road win at Arthur J. Kenney Field.

After Spencer D’Augusta scampered up the middle to make it 43-22, Lynnfield appeared to be in the driver’s seat, but the Hornets had other ideas. Gavin Brady exploded on the ensuing kickoff, weaving his way 88 yards into the endzone to make it 43-29 with 4:42 left to play.

North Reading recovered an onside kick at the Lynnfield 47 and advanced to the 36 on the next play. Jared Bernabei seemed to restore order with an interception, but a Pioneer fumble gave the ball right back to North Reading on the Lynnfield 35. One play later, quarterback Jason Berry executed a flea-flicker to Antonio Ricca to make it a one-score game, 43-36, with four minutes to go.

Lynnfield’s Will Mandile was in the right place at the right time, recovering the onside kick, but it wasn’t safe until Bernabei put the game in the books with a minute to go after he picked up 5 yards for a first down, allowing the Pioneers to run out the clock.

While Lynnfield is known for its passing game, head coach Pat Lamusta flipped the script in this one – and it worked.

Bernabei (176 yards on 20 carries) was a backfield wrecking crew, scoring four touchdowns. He tossed in a defensive interception for good measure. D’Augusta wasn’t too shabby, either. He ran for 112 yards on nine carries.

Simply put, the Hornets couldn’t stop the Pioneers’ running game.

“Those two and our entire running game were phenomenal today,” Lamusta said. “They were driven and just stuck to the gameplan and the offensive line was tremendous. I can’t say enough about the way the kids responded and the effort they put in to win this game.”

Bernabei said it was all about the offensive line.

“I give all the credit to those guys,” he said. “They had an amazing game – the best game of the season. We had an amazing rushing game and we truly put on a great show. It got kind of close, but we went back to how we practice and stuck to what works. We all believe that when you practice hard, you play hard, and that’s what we did today.”

It did not start well for Lynnfield. North Reading took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter on an 8-yard touchdown pass from Berry to Brady.

Tyler Adamo answered with a 7-yard scramble to make it a 7-7 game with 4:19 left in the quarter after Massimo LoGrasso (7-for-7 PATs) tacked on the extra point. A Berry-to-Gavin 55-yard bubble pass regained the lead for North Reading at 14-7.

But the rest of the half belonged to Lynnfield. Jesse Dorman joined the party with a pick in the endzone. Lynnfield needed just a couple of minutes to string together an 80-yard drive, capped by Bernabei’s touchdown from 5 yards out, the big plays being a 32-yard run by Bernabei and 40-yard Adamo-to-Dorman strike. D’Augusta tacked on the 2-point conversion to send Lynnfield into halftime with a 22-14 lead.

The Pioneers picked up where they left off in the third, driving 63 yards in 12 plays. A big play on the drive was a 15-yard completion from Adamo (9-for-11, 130 yards) to Madux Iovinelli (3 receptions, 58 yards), allowing Iovinelli to set a new mark for single-season receiving yards (872).

Bernabei polished off the drive with a 5-yard run to bump the lead to 29-14. Touchdowns from Bernabei (31-yard run) and D’Augusta (50-yard run) completed the scoring for Lynnfield.

Lamusta had plenty to say about his seniors.

“The seniors drove the success of this team,” Lamusta said. “On and off the field. Captains like Walter Radulski and Iain McCarthy, who may not have been in the stat column every week, were key leaders on the offensive line and the defensive backfield, respectively. It’s young men like Walter and Iain who glue it all together and make this thing go.”

The win was the third straight Turkey Day victory for Lynnfield, which now owns a 37-29 edge dating back to 1959.