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Young Pinkerton runs past Nashua South

Friday, September, 10 By Jeff Hamrick

NASHUA — When you’re as young as Pinkerton, Brian O’Reilly is looking for early signs of maturity. Last night, the Astros football coach saw a lot that should have him optimistic for the immediate future.

After letting Nashua South rebound from a 10-point deficit to take a late third-quarter lead, Pinkerton rode the legs of a freshman kick returner and a couple of underclassmen running backs to regroup for a convincing 23-14 win over the Panthers at Stellos Stadium.

The Astros (2-0) shutout the Panthers in the first half, but Nashua South dominated the third quarter with two touchdown drives to grab a 14-10 advantage with 23.5 seconds left in the period. However, it took the Astros only 17 seconds to reclaim the lead when Manny Latimore blazed untouched 99 yards down the sideline for the touchdown that but Pinkerton ahead for good.

“Right when I caught the ball, I started going left but nothing was really there,” Latimore said. “Then I looked up the sideline and saw one kid there but one of my blockers was right behind him, and he got an amazing block. Nobody touched me. It was amazing blocking.”

Although Latimore’s return proved pivotal, Pinkerton showed its mettle late in the second quarter after two poor special teams plays left Nashua South (1-1) with a 1st-and-goal at the Pinkerton 5. Four plays later a tackle by sophomore Jacob Whorf on a completed pass for a 4-yard loss shut down the Panthers’ at the 7 with 1:15 left in the opening half.

“We were struggling a little bit,” senior defensive back Corey Beck said. “They were moving the ball down the field on us, but the defense stayed tough. We kept our heads up and made some plays down there on the goal line which was very critical ... You get rewarded for hard work.”

Not only did the young defense protect the 7-0 lead built on a 1-yard run by Kevin Davies earlier in the second, but the offense immediately responded like veterans.

A 10-play, 83-yard drive that featured two completions by sophomore Chris St. Onge resulted in a 27-yard field goal by Ryan Coombs as time expired in the half.

“As a young team, that came from us,” Pinkerton coach Brian O’Reilly said about the special teams miscues. “But we responded defensively. That’s what you get with young teams. You get dumb things and then they show you they can play.”

Pinkerton finished off the Panthers with a time-consuming, 11-play drive behind the running of Davies and junior Emmitt Smith that culminated in a 22-yard scoring run by Smith with 3:10 left in the game.