Telegraph photo by TOM KING Nashua North back Isaac Smith gives up the ball after scoring one of his two touchdowns in the Titans' 49-21 Division I title win Saturday in Bedford.

It was a very happy return.

Do you think after he scored two touchdowns in Saturday’s Division I state title game that Nashua High School North football coach Dante Laurendi was glad to see back Isaac Smith return to the program after taking a year off?

“Yeah, we hated it,” Laurendi said with a loud laugh after the 49-21 championship win over Goffstown. “We lost a dynamic receiver in Xavier Provost (knee injury a year ago). To get Isaac back to fill that speed void, to add on to what we had was great.

“He not only had a phenomenal year, but he just played huge today.”

Smith had 28 yards and a TD on five carries and also added a two-point conversion run. But his biggest play was perhaps the game’s biggest as well – a 72 -yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the second quarter, just after the Grizzlies had scored to cut their deficit to 21-14. And ironically he had fumbled the ball, but once he picked it up was able to outrun the coverage.

“Just in the off season I’d really been training in track and speed skills,” said Smith, who has worked with the local program P.U.S.H.for speed training. “That helped me on the kickoff. But also the blocking. All of our outside guys have been riding it this year. They’ve been doing their jobs, driving kids down the field. It makes it easy for me, just to run outside.”

“Isaac had a great return,” Harris-Lopez said. “Speed. His speed is what helps him a lot.”

Smith, a track standout who probably has that kind of athletic future in college, said he simply missed the team atmosphere the Titans had created.

“What made me come back, I saw the potential of this team,” he said. “I really missed it. I missed it a lot. Track is nice and all, but it doesn’t have that team bonding.”

Smith, who also had a 9-yard TD run early in the third quarter, said he the sun was giving him a problem on that big return.

“The sun was in my eyes, I couldn’t see anything,” he said. “I fumbled it up. I just didn’t want to lose it anymore, so I picked it up and did what I could do.”

What was it about the Titans, besides their talent, that made them stand out from other teams – enough to have Smith return?

“Honestly, I think it’s just the chemistry,” Smith said. “We’re all brothers, we’re all here for each other,and I think that’s what counts.”

BOWKETT NOT SURPRISED

Sabers coach Robin Bowkett wasn’t surprised at how Plymouth bounced back from a 20-7 halftime deficit to take a 21-20 lead late in the game before the Sabers rallied for their 26-21 Division II title win.

But his players had the resiliency to handle it.

“Just the way that our kids were resilient in the end as well,” he said. “We talked about how they’re going to punch you in the mouth, it’s just are you going to get back up and keep swinging yourself. And you’ve got to do it for 48 minutes. Our group, man, it’s a special group led by some great seniors. It was just an awesome football game, you know?”

Bowkett feels that the theory that true character reveals itself in times of adversity came through.

“We’ve certainly tried to build that with this group over the last four years,” he said.

FINLAY A TITAN TRICK AND A TREAT

Another huge play for the Titans was a third down option pass from

“On Monday we came up with two trick plays,” North offensive assistant Harris said. “We (he and offensive coordinator Chad Zibolis) always come up with something to keep in the back pocket.

“We knew it was a big third down, third and 5. Teams will pack the box and we’ll still run it. So we figured we’d take a shot. Derek Finlay made a helluva pass and Lucas Cunningham came down with a great catch.”

Why Finlay to throw? Simple – he’s one of a couple in the mix for the QB job next season, along with fellow sophomore Jack Peters and whoever else that may come along.

“We’ll see, it’ll be good competition between him and Jack Peters coming back,” Harris said. “He (Finlay) is our backup QB this year, we knew we had confidence in him to throw, we let him do it.”

“That was a Chad and Zach special,” Laurendi said. “I think we ran it last year at some point, or something like that. He’s (Finlay) a cool character. Made a great throw and Lucas made a great catch.”

UNSUNG SABERS

Unsung heroes for the Sabers included Jake Civiello, having a late interception, and outside receiver Connor Holland, who had a big catch late as well.

“Obviously Jake, with the interception at the end, it was very fitting for him,” Bowkett said. “But Connor Holland came up with some big first down catches.

“We liked the matchup over there on the right side. On fourth and 9, we had it on the 30, the 31 near the end of the game, we took a time out. We talked about punting, but it just didn’t make sense to punt down there. Too many things could go bad.”

Enter Holland.

“They haven’t covered this rout all day,” Bowkett said, explaining the reasoning. “Our confidence in our kids is super high. It was let’s execute this rollout, hit Connor on the sidelines at the sticks. They don’t have any more timeouts, we can take a knee and win this thing.”

And that’s what happened. “Connor Holland came up with some big catches, some big first down catches, and helped us move the sticks.

“He’s a guy that gets overshadowed by some of the other playmakers on our team. But (Saturday), if you are (looking for) an unsung hero, that’s the first kid that comes to mind.”

SEASON WRAPS UP

With no Turkey Eve Bowl this year in Nashua between Nashua North and South, Saturday’s game was it for the Titans for the season. The game was cancelled months ago because only a minimal number of fans would be allowed to attend due to coronvirus concerns.

The Sabers already knew it would be their finale. But the school building is shut down this week and Bowkett said he’ll meet with the team, go over film, collect equipment, etc. a week from now, after Thanksgiving.

“The kids enjoy doing film after games,” Bowkett said, “and they’ll want to do this one for sure. But we can’t do that until after Thanksgiving, our school is shut down. But we’ll definitely meet with them. … One more film session and it’ll be great.”

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