Merrimack's Stephen Doyle tries to fight off a tackle by Goffstown's Max Bugbee during Friday night's Division I West Conference game in Merrimack. (Photo by Joe Marchilena/NH-HighSchoolSports.com)

MERRIMACK – Kip Jackson felt like the Merrimack High School football team did a good job over the final week of the preseason of getting ready for the season opener.

Given that, the Tomahawks went into Friday night’s game against Goffstown wanting to get off to a good start.

The first quarter couldn’t have gone much better for Merrimack, as it scored on all three of its possessions to jump on the Grizzlies, and the Tomahawks never let up, opening the season with a 35-0 win over Goffstown in a matchup of Division I West Conference teams.

Maverick Torres was 11 of 12 passing for Merrimack (1-0) for 206 yards and three touchdown passes, two of them in the first quarter, when he completed all six of his throws to help his team get out to a 20-0 lead.

“It was really just the way we came out and the energy that we had, the mentality we knew we had to come out with to end up with this result,” Torres said. “We just want to stack plays, good play after good play. That’s how that happens.”

The senior quarterback completed passes to six different receivers, with Stephen Doyle, Sam Demas and Kaiden Okowuga each catching a touchdown pass. Gabe Gorman and Cash Torres added rushing touchdowns for Merrimack, which won its season-opener for the first time since 2020.

“We had a few goals this week, one of which was to start fast,” Jackson said. “Another was to make sure that there were no missed opportunities. And another was, in addition to starting fast in the game, to actually start the season 1-0. It was important for us.”

After Merrimack’s defense forced Goffstown (0-1) to punt on the game’s first possession, the Tomahawks went 53 yards in eight plays, scoring on a 12-yard touchdown pass from Maverick Torres to Doyle. The play was setup by a 31-yard catch-and-run by George Fitzgerald to convert a second-and-16.

The Grizzlies couldn’t control the ensuing kickoff and the Tomahawks recovered at the Goffstown 41-yard line. Maverick Torres found Demas for a 24-yard gain on the first play of the drive, and four plays later, Gorman scored from 5 yards out.

On its next possession, Goffstown elected to try to convert a fourth-and-11 from its own 34, but turned the ball over on downs after gaining just a yard. Merrimack capitalized on the next play, as Torres hit Okowuga for a 35-yard touchdown for a 20-0 lead with 1:04 left in the first quarter.

The offense stagnated a bit in the second quarter, but in the final minute, Maverick Torres and Demas connected on a 64-yard touchdown pass down the home sideline that put the Tomahawks up 27-0 at halftime.

“There was a loss of energy and momentum,” Jackson said. “Then being able to score, knowing that we’re going to be able to get the ball right back at the beginning of the second half, it’s a huge momentum swing back to us.”

The Tomahawks opened the second half running the ball on all but one play of a 13-play, 65-yard drive that was capped by a 2-yard scoring run by Cash Torres on fourth down. Maverick Torres hit Doyle for the conversion to put the game into running time with 5:25 left in the third.

“Huge momentum builder,” Maverick Torres said. “We have this one, and next week, we’re going to get focused in practice and focus on (Nashua South).”