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Astros put on clinic

SALEM — Thanks in large part to senior With quarterback Nathan Campos, Pinkerton's football team put on a clinic Friday night.

A wing-T clinic.

With Campos running for three touchdowns while rushing for 81 yards on eight carries and passing for another, Pinkerton's offense was unstoppable in a surprising 49-21 pasting of host Salem.

The Astros (3-0) scored on their first seven possessions and might have made it 8 for 8 if they hadn't run out the clock the last time it had the ball.

"I don't think I've had a team do that (go 7 for 7)," said veteran coach Brian O'Reilly. "That's pretty impressive.

"My goal at the beginning of the year was to have a four-back offense like the wing-T is supposed to be. I think we showed how tough an offense it is to stop if you have four guys contributing."

Leading rusher Jacob Albert had another fine game, rushing for 137 yards on 15 carries, junior classmate Cole Yennaco rushed for 88 yards and two touchdowna on 10 carries and caught a TD pass and fullback Jack Mackiernan rushed for 58 yards and a TD on 10 carries.

"That's definitely one of my best games," said Campos. "I had a good day passing (3 for 3 for 54 yards) and I was able to get some good runs. The coach refers to me as the fourth back in the backfield."

Said O'Reilly: "They had no answer for Nathan. I told him at the beginning of the season that he had to run when he had the chance and he did that tonight."

Campos had the only scoring play in the first quarter, a 27-yard scamper, which set the stage for a wild second quarter in which 49 points were scored.

After Campos scored on a 16-yard run to start the second quarter to take a 14-0 lead, Salem came alive and scored three touchdowns — a 9-yard pass from Noah Mustapha to Matt McCloskey, a 57-yard run by Aidan McDonald (15 carries, 87 yards) and a 78-yard kickoff return by McCloskey with 36 seconds left in the half to stay within striking distance, 28-21.

But the Astros weren't done, driving 62 yards in just three plays and 28 seconds to take a 35-21 halftime lead when Yennaco snared an 18-yard TD pass.

That final TD may have deflated Salem because the second half was all Astros, driving methodically twice for scores, first on a 10-yard Mackiernan run and finally on a 28-yard Yennaco burst up the middle.

Salem only threatened to score once in the second half but that drive was thwarted when Albert made a nice interception in the end zone.

The Blue Devils did have some bright points as Mustapha completed 6 of 8 passes in the second half in an impressive passing performance and McDonald and McCloskey had strong games.

But it was far from enough to disrupt Pinkerton's "clinic."