Nashua South's Cody Jackson is outrunning Lowell's Atilio Colon en route to a 61-yard TD run during the Panthers' 36-13 win Friday night at Stellos Stadium. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – Sometimes there’s a moment when a player shows he’s arrived.

That moment came for Nashua High School South quarterback Cody Jackson on Friday night when he turned the corner shifted into another gear, turning on the speed for a 61-yard TD run that helped spur the Panthers to a 36-13 non-league win over the Lowell Red Raiders at Stellos Stadium.

It was part of a combined 224-yard night for the junior quarterback as the Panthers improved to 3-0 on the young season. All the stats are good but the win won’t count in the NHIAA standings – but it still showed how far South has come in a year. Including Jackson.

“Everybody’s just progressed so much,” Jackson said. “Most of those runs were out of designed pass plays, guys holding blocks, finding a way for me to run. We’re all bigger, faster, stronger.”

South scored on their first three possessions and settled for a 22-7 lead at halftime. But the second TD, Jackson’s long run, was an eye-opener, helped too by a Josh Tripp block.

“He showed a burst on that, and I’ve never see that,” Panthers coach Scott Knight said. “He’s showed some good speed in practice, but that I have not seen, to that (level). He put his foot in the ground and he was gone.

“He’s getting more and more comfortable with what we’re asking him to do.”

It showed. Jackson had two 18-yard runs on the Panthers’ opening drive, an eight play, 71-yard journey that Jackson ended with a 3-yard TD run. His conversion pass to Collin Kochanek made it 8-0 two-and-a-half minutes in.

Lowell answered with a 27-yard TD run by Anthony Perez to help make it 8-7, but then Jackson went into action.

“I think they’e a good team,” Lowell coach Scott Boyle said. “We beat ourselves in the first half. … They made big plays on us when we could have stopped them. Then it kind of snowballed. … They’re playing good. I think they do a good job, and I think they’ll be a real good team this year for sure.”

Jackson found Justin Fish and Josh Tripp for combined gains of 34 yards to lead the Panthers to a score on their third drive, a 3-yard Colvin Levesque TD that helped make it 22-7 at the half.

In the second half, Lowell closed to 22-13 on a Jack Casey 23-yard TD pass to Collin Christiansen with just 16.5 seconds left in the half. But the South offense, in a mid-game lull, sprung to life with two fourth quarter TDs.

The first was a 39-yard Jackson TD pass to a wide open Diego Cabrera 55 seconds into the quarter to help make it 29-13. Sam Levine wrapped it up with a 2-yard TD run with 3:48 to go.

Jackson ran for 131 yards and threw for 93. He had all sorts of options in the secondary.

“Boy, I tell you what, with those weapons,” Knight said. “And I don’t want to jinx anything, we’re taking care of the ball. A year ago on some of those escapes, (Jackson) might have taken a chance on a throw, and threw some picks on those. That’s where he’s getting smarter. His second year, he has a better handle of the offense and the kids around him have a better understanding on what we’re trying to do. And we’re a lot better up front.”

A lot better, period.