Nashua North's Jedwin Lluveres wraps up Manchester Central's Liam Patten during Friday night's season opener at Stellos Stadium. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – They blocked. They tackled. And as a result, they won.

That’s pretty much the formula for the Nashua High School North football team in a 31-7 season-opening win over Manchester Central Friday night at Stellos Stadium.

The Titans, who led 10-7 at halftime, had a secret weapon that worked for them especially in the second half, senior running quarterback Harrison Joshi. All Joshi did was carry the ball 16 times for 134 yards, all while splitting time with junior Brady O’Connor, and paced two long Titan second half drives of 79 and 97 yards.

“The kids were flying around, it took us a little bit in the first half to get going,” North coach Chad Zibolis said. “The (offensive) line was outstanding. We’re kind of adjusting right now what we’re doing with our quarterbacks. We’ve got Brady, who’s a real good thrower, and we’ve got Joshi who’s a real good runner for us. … We adapted to what was working.”

“We didn’t know anything about the quarterback situation,” Manchester Central coach Ryan Ray said. “We saw a little bit of their film obviously from the preseaon, but they didn’t have numbers though, so we couldn’t tell what was what and who was who … We knew if we couldn’t stop the run, we couldn’t beat them. They just kept grinding on us.

“They were a tidal wave of right at us over and over and over. And they broke us.All the credit to Nashua North.”

The Titans also got three TDs from Jedwin Lluveres as they turned a close game into a blowout. North actually trailed 7-0 on Central’s first possession on QB Drake Jamies’ 52-yard TD pass to a wide open Romello Diaz, a blown coverage. But that was it for the visitors.

The Titans worked a Marco Raposo 25-yard field goal to get on the board in the second quarter, and then took advantage of a bizarre Central fourth-down mishap deep in Little Green territory. Confusion in an obvious punt situation allowed the Titans to start on the Central 30 when the Little Green ran an unsuccessful play, and nine plays later Lluveres ran in from 6 yards out. Raposo’s PAT made it 10-7 and the game was never the same.

“It did change the game,” Ray said. “I take the blame. That was pretty terrible.”

“We were shocked,” Zibolis said. “We thought they were going to pooch kick it. … You never know. It helped us out.”

North then got Joshi going in the second half, an eight-play drive ending with Lluveres plunging in from 1 yard out with 3:47 left in the third to make it 17-7.

The Little Green were poised to get back in it, but the Titans had a goal line stand late in the third/early in the fourth, after Central had first-and-goal inside the 1. Incredibly, a fumbled snap and two incomplete passes gave the Titans the ball back at the 3, and with Joshi leading the way, they marched 97 yards in nine plays, Lluveres zipping in from 18 yards out. Late in the fourth Kobe Perry scored on a 21-yard run to finish the scoring.

Meanwhile, North’s defense, paced by linebacker Jack Krulikowski and defensive end Denzel Delgado de Jesus, was flying all over. Central mangaged 222 yards, but didn’t have much to show for it.

“We’re just looking for a better season,” Krulikowski said. “We wanted to take it to them first play.”

“They were going straight ahead a lot faster than most teams do,” Ray said. “Nashua North got off the ball and they really brought it on every play. It was a hard fought game, and for almost three quarters it was a great game.”

Nashua North football players make a presentation to the family of late Titan graduate Ian Blake prior to the start of Friday night’s game. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

PRE-GAME TRIBUTE

Before the game, the North football team made a jersey presentation to the family of late Titan graduate Ian Blake, who passed away in June due to a drowning accident.

“The kids were emotional about it,” Zibolis said. “That was a nice thing the kids did for Ian. It was a really nice memorial we put on for him.”

“We lost a brother this off-season,” Krulowski said. “This entire season, everything we do will be for him.”