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Smith, Davies keep Pinkerton in first

Friday, October, 29 By Jeff Hamrick

MANCHESTER, NH. — It’s amazing how a few seconds and a little speed can change a football team’s whole outlook.

Twice last night junior Emmitt Smith quickly responded to an opponent’s touchdown with spectacular runs, the second of which set up Kevin Davies’ game-winning score with 5.4 seconds left as Pinkerton outlasted Manchester Central 20-13 at Gill Stadium. With the victory Pinkerton (7-2 overall, 6-1 in Division 1) not only maintained its hold atop the New Hampshire Division 1 standings, but left the Astros one win away from assuring home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

After watching Central (6-3, 4-3) knot the score at 13 with a 41-yard touchdown pass with 1:39 left, Smith helped the Astros avert overtime with a dazzling 60-yard run two plays later that set up Pinkerton at the 1.
On the run, Smith, who earlier immediately answered Central’s first touchdown with a 101-yard kickoff return, was nearly tackled for a loss, but the 5-foot-9 inch, 150-pound speedster shook off the defender then busted to the sideline before cutting back to the middle of the field and nearly outran defensive back Curtis Bayne, who had the angle and pulled down Smith at the short of the end zone.

“We needed this win to stay No. 1,” said Smith, who finished with 89 hard-fought yards on nine carries. “I knew we had to make a big play, and I was happy I was the one to get the chance. It was great. I was just thinking about getting some positive yards when I got away from the first guy. Then I saw a gap so I went for it. It was unreal it opened up like that after I broke up that first one. But I was out of gas at the 1.”

Pinkerton, which had lost each of the past two seasons to Central, needed three shots to reach the end zone. Davies and St. Onge were both held up shy of the goal line before Davies, who also scored Pinkerton’s first touchdown, finished off the Little Green.

“The only thought I had was to let the clock run down with the thought if we couldn’t get in with three cracks we didn’t deserve to win,” Pinkerton coach Brian O’Reilly said. “

The Astros appeared to be in control after a pair of fourth-down tackles by Luke Somers on consecutive Central possessions before a 63-yard punt by Ryan Coombs left the Little Green at their own 29 with 3:12 left. But six completions later, Central tied the encounter. And following the kickoff, the Astros had a first-and-10 at their 37.

“It looked like we were headed for overtime,” O’Reilly said. “But I think we would have won in OT. What I told our kids what we wanted to do was try to pop one. If We could get past the 50, I thought we could take some shots into the end zone.”