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Rushing attack puts Pinkerton back on track

Saturday, September, 12 By Jeff Hamrick

DERRY (NH) _ When you coach a perennial state title contender, opening the season with a 28-point defeat is something that can leave some scars. Pinkerton's Brian O'Reilly wanted to make sure it didn't turn into a lingering wound.

The Astros rebounded from their disappointing defeat to Bishop Guertin with a shellacking of their own, defeating Manchester Memorial 42-0 yesterday. It took Pinkerton less than 2 minutes to match its scoring output from a week earlier, and the Astros added two more touchdowns in the following four minutes.

"It was night and day compared to last week,'' O"Reilly said. "Last week was an embarrassment to our program and it's nothing that is going to go away. It's nothing we're going to put behind us. It is something we will refer to for the rest of the year. It was something we're not supposed to be about, but it was a lot different (yesterday)."

Listening to the coach, it is easy to imagine the Astros had more than enough time to think about the first-game defeat with some tough practices. And the way they responded should leave them much more optimistic. Pinkerton didn't even need a play from scrimmage to take a 7-0 lead when Eric Guinto returned a Manchester punt 55 yards. The Pinkerton defense helped the Astros open the advantage to 21-0 forcing fumbles on each of Manchesters next two plays.

Kevin Davies recovered the first, setting up the Astros at the Memorial 29 before scoring from 4 yards out. One play later it was Mike McStravock pouncing on a Memorial fumble at the 26, leading to a touchdown pass from Ryan Simpson to Mike Mazzola.

"During the week I was wondering what I have for a football team," O'Reilly said. "So this game was going to tell me if they were traditional Pinkerton football players or if they were a bunch of kids that just put on shirts that said Pinkerton and just pretended to do what we do. They answered the question for me today. We looked like a real football team today."

The Astros dominated both lines of scrimmage, outrushing Manchester 210-8. Pinkerton allowed only 75 yards total offense while the Crusaders (1-1) managed a mere four first downs _ one in the second half when a running clock was employed. With its successful rushing attack, Pinkerton threw only two passes. Maybe most importantly, the Astros had no turnovers after committing six the previous week.

"Our game plan was to try and stay inside as much as possible," O'Reilly said. "It wasn't because of anything Memorial showed me, but because of ourselves. We had to prove we could play a physical brand of football against a team that had its way with its opponent last week."

Pinkerton grabbed a 35-0 lead in the third quarter on a 37-yard run by Guinto and a 12-yard run by Emmitt Smith before Davies provided the final margin with a 39-yard interception return midway through the final quarter.