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Guinto's run KOs South

Saturday, November, 17 By Ryan Lambert
Staff writer

NASHUA | Pinkerton led by a touchdown at the half and the defense had already made several big stops, but the Astros needed one more big play to break the game wide open. Enter Eric Guinto.

The sophomore speedster, who gained 107 yards on 12 carries, got the ball on the first play from scrimmage in the second half and took off like a jack rabbit for an 81-yard score that iced the game as Pinkerton won its ninth Division 1 state title, and third straight, handcuffing Nashua South 14-2.

"That changed the game," said Pinkerton coach Brian O'Reilly. "It happened right in front of me, so I got a good view of it. It was an off-tackle run and he busted it up inside and it was going for about four to five yards, then he just put a move on one of the Nashua kids. He just left him in the dust and was gone. It was just a tremendous move."

After that, the only thing standing between Guinto and postseason glory was South's star quarterback and strong safety, Billy Ferriter. Guinto cut back to the other side of the field and turned the rest of the play into a 75-yard dash. Ferriter, a speed demon in his own right, never stood a chance.

"Once he gets past the middle linebackers, he just turns on the speed," said fellow running back Bobby Dattilo, who had 43 yards on seven carries. "He's one of the fastest kids I've ever seen. Once he's past them, he's gone. You can't catch him. I would take Eric Guinto over anybody in the entire state for football in a race."

Pinkerton, though, had already established that this was not the same team that lost to South two weeks ago 30-7. Pete Mazzola launched a 28-yard pass into the end zone with 45 seconds to go in the first quarter. Dattilo lost track of the ball in the bright sunlight due to the high arc of the pass, but dove at the last second and cradled the ball to put the Astros on the board.

"It was set up perfect," Mazzola said. "Coach had a perfect play called and they did exactly what we expected them to do. I threw a good pass, Bobby made a great catch and it just worked. I think he lost it in the sun for a little while, but he made a nice diving catch."

On the other side of the ball, Pinkerton was dominant. Three times in the first half, the Astros defense turned aside South forays inside the 30-yard line, repeatedly breaking up plays that had pounded it just 14 days ago.

Mazzola, who had eight tackles and four passes defensed on the other side of the ball, suggested the quick change was a result of South's not changing its game plan.

"They didn't change their game plan, but they shouldn't have changed their game plan," O'Reilly agreed. "No one has stopped them all year long. Why would they?

"They threw some plays at us they didn't throw last time, but why would you change what you do when no one has stopped you all year long? The fact that we stopped them, you can say, 'Well maybe they should have gone to something else.' They don't have anything else. That was what they do."

After the Guinto score, the game was academic, leading to a plodding, ugly second half. Nashua did put together a 14-play drive to start the fourth quarter that sputtered in the red zone (again), but South was long since finished by then.

"It shows that our kids, when given a second chance, can outwork other teams the second time around," O'Reilly said.

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• The third is as sweet as the first