RallyNorth.net

SALEM, N.H. — Fortunately, the Salem football team will begin its “second season” at home next Saturday in the Division 1 playoffs.

That will give the No. 1-seed Blue Devils something to focus on all week rather than dwelling on the end of their first season last night, which was nothing short of a disaster.

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Penalties at crucial times in the second half destroyed Pinkerton’s chances for a comeback victory against Manchester Central yesterday. The plethora of penalties included a 15-yard facemask and a roughing the kicker call that greatly aided a late scoring drive by the Little Green, who beat Pinkerton 21-10.   “Penalties killed us,” Pinkerton quarterback Ryan Simpson said. “That’s what lost us the game today. We stopped them and stopped them and then gave them chances right back to score.” The Astros trailed 14-10 late in the fourth quarter when the hosts went for a fourth-and-nine play from the Astros’ 29. Pinkerton wrapped up running back Mike Cavanaugh four yards short of the first down marker. But wait one second. A facemask penalty gave Manchester Central a first down at the 11. The Astros held tough and forced Manchester Central to kick a field goal four plays later. But the running-into-the kicker penalty gave Manchester Central yet another first down and it scored after the Astros got called for another penalty for having 12 men on the field. Cavanaugh said, “We watched film all week. We took three days of practice just to watch film on them so we really knew what they were doing.” Pinkerton also got flagged early in the fourth quarter with an illegal procedure and a holding penalty after driving to the 10-yard for a first-and-goal play. Those penalties forced the Astros to kick a field goal, which it missed.   Pinkerton was without running backs Eric Guinto and Kevin Davies who were out with concussions. “We came in and we thought we were going to win,” Simpson said. “We thought we were going to come back in the second half and just shut them out but we didn’t.”

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Alex Lambert rushed for 135 yards, which included a 69-yard TD run, as Londonderry improved to 3-3 with a 31-20 win over Manchester Central. Sophomore Vinnie Parilla scored twice for the Lancers. Sophomore Sean O’Gorman added a 98-yard kickoff return for a score. The Lancers (3-3, 3-2 Division 1) play at Manchester Memorial on Friday (7 p.m.). The Little Green dipped to 3-3.