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Let the North-South buildup begin as key game awaits

By Tom King and Hector Longo - Staff Writers | Sep 24, 2018

Yes, this is the week of the big game – Nashua High School North vs. South.

And yes, again it has incredible meaning.

Last year, the South Panthers were basically able to get the jump on the Titans for the West Conference title with their win in the annual battle.

And Friday, North could at least put themselves in good position after five weeks for a post-season berth, and really hurt South’s chances.

The Titans’ eye-opening win over Manchester Central on Friday night certainly puts them, at least for now, in a category above where they were after three weeks.

So yes, it’s a rivalry game. But certainly much more than that.

“We’ll figure it out,” Nashua South coach Scott Knight said. “But you know, our backs are against the wall now with that Concord loss (28-26 on opening night). I thought that was a game we shouldn’t have lost.”

So let’s examine this: North and Merrimack are atop the West at 3-1. Bedford (4-0) and Manchester Central (3-1) are the favs in the West’s cluster partner, the North. But Concord, the team South would lose a potential tiebreaker to, could be 5-1 by mid-October if you project the schedule.

That’s why Friday night’s game is so big. If North wins, it could go to 4-1 and basically reduce the West battle to a two-team race between the Titans and Tomahawks. They don’t meet until Oct. 19 at Merrimack.

NASHUA SOUTH

What do the Panthers need to do for next week, regardless of the opponent?

One, get healthy. They lost backs Jaylan Pacheco and Joe Burtula as well as wideout-DB Tanner Plourde at various times during Friday’s game.

But beyond that, South quarterback Dante Young was running for his life most of the night.

“We need to do a little bit better job up front,” Knight said. “Off the edge, they gave us some problems. I have to look at the film to see where the breakdowns were with protections.”

Otherwise, the Panthers made due with what they had.

“I loved how our kids responded in the secondary,” Knight said. “That was probably the most shaken up group of the night.”

One highlight was the speed of defensive back David Barnett. He’s only 135 pounds and was able to fly after Merrimack receivers Adam Thornton and Tristan Wood when it appeared they were gone for touchdowns.

The Panthers’ main concern will be tailback Jaylan Pacheco, who suffered a hip pointer, was in pain late in the first half and only made a brief appearance in the second.

“He could run straigh ahead, but couldn’t cut sid-to-side, which you need to do at tailback,” Knight said.

“If we’re missing guys, we’re missing guys. We don’t have a ton of depth, but we’ve got enough to play well enough to be in this.”

MERRIMACK

One has to wonder had Merrimack not shot itself so much in the foot just over a week ago at Manchester Central (six turnovers in the first half), it would be sitting pretty atop the West at 4-0 rather than tied with North at 3-1. But the fact the Tomahawks bounced back with a dominating defensive performance – 14-0 felt at times like 28-0 – was a great sign. The ‘Hawks are clearly a team to be reckoned with.

“We wanted to get back to basics, be physical,” Tomahawks coach Kip Jackson said. “I told the kids I was proud of their resilience last week.

“Last year I don’t know if we would’ve survived a game like that. This was important for us.”

Senior wideout-linbacker Adam Thornton had a superb game on both sides, along with junior defensive lineman Jared Dyer and senior defensive lineman Jordan Petrocelli. But Thornton seemed to set a tone as he was involved in a lot. Jackson called him “an impact player”.

“He really is,” he said. “He’s been a little nicked up, so glad to see him come out and have good game.

“He’s a physical kid, a physical player.”

Merrimack hosts Bishop Guertin on Friday.

BISHOP GUERTIN

Suddenly, any BG game may have gotten more intriguing as the Cardinal offense played better than it had all season in a 42-0 win over Keene.

The Cards finally got their speed in space, including junior Joey Lupo. But a key may have been the play of Joey DaSilva at quarterback, as he shredded the Keene defense for 194 yards in the air and three TD passes, plus running for another. DaSilva won the job for the Keene game with a good week of practice.

“That’s what we’re trying to do, get these kids to compete each week in practice,” Cards coach John Trisciani said. “Competition breed success. … He did a pretty good job with what we were trying to do. It’s Week Four, and we’re finding out more and more about our team each week.”

DaSilva said that Lupo’s opening 85-yard kickoff return for a TD made him feel more at ease.

“I took a deep breath and just relaxed,” he said. “From there, I think it made me play lot better. If he hadn’t returned that kick, I maybe would’ve had a pretty bad start.”

Even more important for Trisciani was Guertin’s defense, holding the Blackbirds to an anemic 62 total yards, helped by two huge losses on punt attempts.

“Even more than scoring the points I liked how we played on defense, too,” Trisciani said. “We talked about taking pride in that zero points. Nowadays when a lot of these teams are scoring points,I’d say I’m more happy with the zero than the 42.”

Also significant was this was Trisciani, who previously had spent multiple seasons as an assistant, earned his first career win as a head coach.

“I talked to the kids a little bit after the game and I tried not to make it about me,” he said. “But I told them that’s the first one I’ve gotten as a head coach. I’ll never forget it, and I’ll never forget the group that it was with. Definitely something I’ll remember, it was really special.”

ALVIRNE

The Broncos are certainly loving life in Division II, and Friday night’s 40-12 win over ConVal may have been their most complete in the year-plus of the Tarek Rothe coaching era.

“We executed the game plan really well,” Rothe said, “and we also played a very clean game.”

For the Broncos, they scored on defense, special teams, and of course, offense. And, like Guertin did, the Broncos also got an 85-yard opening kickoff return for a TD thanks to Grady Hudson.

The Broncos will host 1-3 Sanborn on Friday with a chance for a 4-1 start.

MILFORD

While St. Thomas QB Shawn DeKorne (15 of 30, 281 yards) dazzled fell short of his third straight 300-yard-plus passing game Friday night in Milford, you had to respect the counter-punch by his opposite number at quarterback, the Spartans’ Gavin Urda. Urda ran 16 times for 139 yard and hit 4 of 10 passes for 77 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

“Two different styles, they did a heck of a job, that kid’s great,” said Milford coach Keith Jones “He threw the ball where it needed to be. He created time, just good stuff.”

DeKorne hurt the Spartans with his legs, too, rushing eight times for 60 yards with three rushing TDs.

The balance in the Milford ground game was a tremendous asset as the Spartans chewed up 349 yards on 58 carries, a stat that had to please Jones.

Bruising Junior Ughu finished with 97 yards and three touchdowns, while Owen Zalenski ran 15 times for 90 yards. He ran for one TD and caught another.

Tristan Shattuck was also effective with 23 yards on six tries.

“It was a good mix, in and out, everyone was contributing,” said Jones. ” We can’t put it all on Junior and Gavin all he time. Zalenski gave us a buck’s worth. Tristan gave us a buck’s worth. And hopefully we’ll get Victor (Garcia) back soon.”

The senior Garcia missed the game with a tender knee.

Good job officials!

In this corner we’ve had no problem taking poor calls to task over recent weeks. In this week’s edition, we’re going to call out the official on the St. Thomas sideline for showing proper discretion when it counted.

Milford High drove into St. Thomas territory and faced a key play. The Saints’ staff made a late defensive change. The St. Thomas player sprinted off the field, only to be a good 8 yards from the sideline when the snap went, right in front of the official.

The kid hustled. And he didn’t affect the play at all. So the official chose not to throw the flag for 12 men. Great job.

As it was, Milford finished the job and scored, without the penalty.

And finally, have to give out a game ball to the Milford High School marching band. It’s only September, the Spartans jammed on Friday night against St. Thomas. The band looked dynamite and could not have sounded better.

Brad Smith and his kids deserved a major shutout. Nothing better than a good high school band. You folks are dynamite, and it is certainly appreciated.

SOUHEGAN

Souhegan fans could not have been happy pulling into Sanborn and seeing big No. 65, senior left tackle Vincent Bowman in street clothes.

The anchor to the offensive front, Bowman fractured his thumb against Alvirne and was wearing a cast.

His future this year is to be determined.

Fortunately, sophomore Will Boyle stepped up and did a commendable job in the big fella’s place. Boyle has had experience with varsity pressure, albeit in a bit of a different manor. He is also the Sabers’ place-kicker.

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