RallyNorth.net

Mazzola, Astros gun down Concord

Saturday, October, 27 By Ryan Lambert
Staff writer

CONCORD, N.H. | Concord hung around much longer than it probably should have, but once Pinkerton shook off the rust of a bye week, the Astros were too much for the Crimson Tide to handle.

Concord (2-6, 1-6 Division 1) drew first blood seven seconds into the second quarter, but the Astros (7-1, 7-0 Division 1) scored four touchdowns before halftime | three in the final 2:05! | and ran away with a 41-14 win.

"I've got to be honest with you, in that first quarter, I didn't recognize what happened to us out there," said Astros head coach Brian O'Reilly. "I didn't understand. That wasn't us | missed tackles, inability to block. When we finally got a hold of (ourselves) and looked back, I guess (it was because of the bye week). I hope that's what it was. We missed a lot of tackles, and we looked rusty."

Pinkerton needed someone to step up, and senior quarterback Peter Mazzola answered the call, setting up three scoring drives in just 2:02 before the half ended.

"His running out of the shotgun and his passing were pretty much responsible for all those points just before halftime," said O'Reilly. "That's something we want Peter to do and that's why we made him our quarterback. He's pretty dangerous in the shotgun situation and we probably need to use more of it. We will."

Mazzola engineered a dazzling four-play, 57-yard drive that started with an 18-yard run out of the shotgun and also included a 22-yard strike to Bobby Dattilo. Chris George scored from 12 yards out to put the Astros ahead for good. After the defense forced a three-and-out, Mazzola went to work again, throwing a 26-yard pass to Zach Smith for a score.

Then K.J. Deyette recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff return, Mazzola closed the half with a 27-yard scoring pass to Smith with three seconds on the clock.

"They were just beautiful passes," said Smith. "Peter put them right there and I was right under them. He's just a great quarterback."

When the dust settled, Pinkerton was on top 28-7 and the game was, for all intents and purposes, over. In the third quarter, Eric Guinto found paydirt on a 70-yard punt return and Mike Crupi scored his second to put the game out of reach.

"It was wonderful," said Smith. "It gave us great momentum into the second half. We just came back in the third quarter and scored again, too. It was great."

The win, coupled with a Nashua South win, means next week's meeting between the teams will determine the top seed in the Division 1 playoffs.