Merrimack quarterback Sahil Mujawar winds prepares to throw a completion while Anesu Zuwaradoka protects during the first quarter of Friday night's 38-14 Division I semifinal loss to Pinkerton. (Photo by Dan Doyon)

DERRY – After sneaking into the Division I playoffs with last week’s 34-21 win over Bishop Guertin, the Merrimack High School for all team’s reward was to hit the road and face a high-powered Pinkerton Academy offense engineered by quarterback Aiden McDonald.

And it only took one half for McDonald to pile up a game’s worth of gaudy production.

McDonald carved through 13th-seeded Merrimack defense in the first half by completing 8 of 11 passes for 257 and three touchdowns. He also added a 16-yard touchdown run during fourth-seeded Pinkerton’s 38-14 victory on Memorial Field.

“Obviously they’re a very aggressive team with a lot of speed at all levels,” Merrimack coach Kip Jackson said. “What was most impressive was the defensive pressure they were able to create.”

Pinkerton (7-2) moves onto next week’s quarterfinals where it’ll host No. 12 Windham (4-5), after the Jaguars pulled off an 8-7 upset over fourth-seeded Salem (6-3).

“We worked on the passing attack all week and we decided at the beginning of the game that even with the wind whipping around, that’s what we worked on so let’s do it,” Pinkerton coach Brian O’Reilly said. “And it worked out pretty well.”

Merrimack (3-6) couldn’t take advantage of a Pinkerton penalty on fourth down on the game’s opening drive that gave the Tomahawks a fresh set of downs.

The Tomahawks gave the ball back to Pinkerton after a failed 4th-and-five attempt and McDonald followed three plays later with a 50-yard touchdown pass to Camren Dillon to give the Astros a 6-0 lead with 8:40 left in the first quarter.

“Once they get the ball to one of their skilled players in the open field it becomes a challenge because of the speed they have,” Jackson said.

Pinkerton welcomed back its leading rusher and all-around dynamic playmaker Matt Morrison back to its lineup after he missed four games with a broken pinky on his left hand.

Morrison gave Pinkerton a short field after he intercepted Merrimack quarterback Sahil Mujawar to set up James Caruso’s 1-yard touchdown run to give the Astros a 13-0 lead with 51.8 seconds left in the first quarter.

Pinkerton went into halftime with a 32-0 lead after Morrison followed an 18-yard run with a 42-yard touchdown catch-and-run. McDaniel also ran for a 16-yard touchdown and added an 80-yard scoring pass to Ryan Michaud before Morrison’s score.

“Matt is special and is just one of those running backs that make people miss and has the power to run people over,” O’Reilly said. “He adds a different dimension to our offense.”

Jackson feels like his team made a lot of progress this season and is optimistic about the future. Merrimack’s first score of the game came from a 30-yard completion from Mujawar to Shea Egan.

“It was a positive season overall and it was a good learning experience for a lot of our younger guys,” Jackson said. “We lost a couple of close games throughout the year and I think we got better because of that. We had a young group at our skill positions. They got better and we can build upon that next year.”