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Harris-Lopez has four TDs as Titans roll past Merrimack

By Tom King - Staff Writer | Nov 7, 2020

Telegraph photo by TOM KING Nashua North's Curtis Harris tries to elude the Merrimack defense, including Dylan Sadowski (79), during the Titans' 42-12 Division I quarterfinal win Friday night at Stellos Stadium.

NASHUA – When it came to facing Merrimack High School in the playoffs, the third time was the charm for the Nashua North football team.

After two years of Division I quarterfinal frustration against the Tomahawks, the Titans broke through for an easy 42-12 win on Friday night at Stellos Stadium, where just about everything went their way.

“We’re getting there,” Titans coach Dante Laurendi said. “The last few weeks finally we’re playing back-to-back-to-back. It’s always a work in progress.”

In this pandemic shortened season that already saw two North games postponed, the Titans came through with their third straight dominant effort. Curtis Harris-Lopez, the player they missed due to injury in last year’s quarterfinal loss, showed the difference he can make with 119 yards and four TDs on 12 carries, all in the first half.

And the Tomahawks obliged with four turnovers, including three North interceptions of Kyle Crampton passes, caused in part by the tenacious Titan pass rush.

“We turned the ball over, a lot of missed tackles, a lot of missed assignments, offense and defense,” Merrimack coach Kip Jackson said. “You can’t do that against a bad team much less a team that has explosive athletes like North.”

Those explosive athletes are now 5-0 and will await the winner of today’s Londonderry-Salem quarterfinal for next Saturday’s semifinals, location to be determined.

North pounced on a Merrimack fumble on the game’s first series, Max Ackerman recovering it at the Tomahawk 25. Four plays later Jayden Espinal slipped in from 5 yards out, Lucas Cunningham added the first of five PATs and it was 7-0 North nearly three minutes in.

Harris got the first of his four TDs, a 17-yard run, on the next North possession, set up by a Derek Finlay 33-yard jaunt to make it 13-0 midway through the first period. He later would add a 36-yard score with 4:05 left in the quarer and the rout was on.

“Defensively we set the tone,” Laurendi said. “Fortunately we got an early turnover, gave us great field position, and we were able to score and get on top.

Anytime you can get out early and take a lead, it takes (the other team) out of your game plan and forces you to do some things you might not want to do.”

Harris-Lopez crawled in from 1-yard out, a drive set up by an Espinal interception, to help make it 28-0 with 5:54 left in the half. He would later add an 11-yard TD with 2:48 left, set up by North linebacker Toby Brown, Jr.’s swipe of a Crampton swing pass in the Tomahawks’ backfield. Brown rumbled 30 yards down to the 10. That sequence gave the Titans a 35-0 lead going into the half, and the second half was all running time.

Harris-Lopez was a passing quarterback a week ago in the first round win over Bishop Guertin, but last night he was basically a runner. And he ran wherever he wanted.

“He’s exciting to watch,” Laurendi said. “He made some good reads tonight. A lot of that stuff goes unnoticed, but he made some really good reads and when he kept the ball, he was explosive.”

Crampton, who threw for 285 yards in Sunday’s first round win over Nashua South, was under pressure throughout, and the Tomahawks managed just 53 yards of offense in the first half. He finally managed a 16-yard TD pass to Steven Petz with just 6:43 left.

“They started to bring pressure,” Jackson said of the first half, “and they have athletes that can cover in space. So it was a challenge for us.”

Travis Holbrook, Ackerman, and Spencer Whiting, among others, caused a lot of the disruption for North.

“It was important for us to get pressure on them, because you could see all year (Crampton) can sling the ball,” Laurendi said. “Our front and linebackers did a real good job of getting pressure on them and making them rush some throws.”

And now there’s no rush, the Titans can sit back and wait to see who is next. As Laurendi says, “We’re all in the same boat” in terms of playoffs and keeping fingers crossed on health moving forward, but the SS Titan seems so far like a speedboat that’s a cut above the rest.

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