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LONDONDERRY —  Max Jacques had the solution for Salem’s second-half blues. “We talked about it, about just keeping the intensity up the whole game,” said Jacques. “If we do that, we’re tough to beat.” That was the case last night as the Blue Devils — led by its dynamic duo of Jacques and Jerickson Fedrick — sustained their 34-13 halftime lead, clubbing Londonderry 55-32 to advance into next Saturday’s Division 1 playoff semifinals. Salem, 6-4, finishes the regular season at 5-3 in division play and will likely be the No. 4 seed and play at Pinkerton next week. That will change, however, if Exeter upsets Nashua North today. The Blue Devils would have clinched a playoff spot last week, but they blew a 20-7 halftime lead and fell to Concord, 42-29. They would not let that happen twice. The Lancers (3-7) briefly looked like they might zap Salem in the second half again, however. Trailing by 21 points at halftime, they scored two quick touchdowns in the third quarter, on a 40-yard run by Michael Weldenfeld (10 carries, 122 yards, two TDs) run and a 41-yard scamper by workhorse Sean O’Gorman (28-195, three TDs) to cut the gap to 34-25. But Salem’s defense stiffened after that, not allowing a first down on Londonderry’s next two possessions, while the offense kept rolling, scoring the next three times it had the ball. “As ugly as the score is, I actually thought we played some good defense, especially in the second half,” said Salem coach Jack Gati. “Except for those two long runs, we held them pretty good.” In addition to Matthews, end Donald Needham, linebacker Joey Dipalma and lineman Evan Sharpe were among the defensive Devils who had strong games. Also, Michael Lorenz had an interception. “We just have to play more consistent on defense,” said Gati. “We know we can score points.” Indeed, the Devils — who had 515 yards of total offense last night — finished the regular season averaging 41.3 points game, scoring over 40 six times. However, they’ve also given up an average of 31.1 points. Jacques and Fredrick, meanwhile, enter the playoffs with a combined 43 touchdowns and 2,871 yards rushing.  

MANCHESTER — Sean O’Gorman and the Londonderry offense could not be stopped last night, but it was the defense that sealed the deal in a 42-28 victory at Manchester Memorial.
Although Londonderry (3-6) held a 21-6 lead at halftime, courtesy of three O’Gorman TDs, Memorial rallied to tie the score 28-28 after three quarters. But the Lancers shut out Memorial in the fourth quarter, finally clinching the game on a 22-yard interception return by Michael Wiedenfeld in the closing seconds.
O’Gorman finished the game with 197 yards rushing, putting him over 1,000 (1,026) for the year, and the Lancers rushed for 381 yards overall. Connor Richard added 112 yards on just eight carries and Vincent Parilla contributed with an 85-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in an otherwise all-Memorial third quarter.
Wiedenfeld put Londonderry back in the lead for good with 2:21 remaining on a four-yard run before icing the game with the interception.
The Lancers, whose ground game gave them possession for more than 30 minutes of play, forced three turnovers in the fourth quarter to prevent Memorial from gaining any momentum. Parilla led the defense with 11 tackles, Wiedenfeld was in on nine stops and Joey Hamilton was credited with eight.
 

DOVER — Londonderry’s Sean O’Gorman continued to run wild, but it was not enough.

The junior running back rushed for a whopping 248 yards and four touchdowns on just 20 carries, but the Lancers fell to Dover 34-33 last night.

LONDONDERRY — By all rights, Sean O’Gorman and the rest of the Londonderry football team should have been exhausted late last night.

Instead, after O’Gorman scored his sixth touchdown of the game, which gave him 42 points (includes six extra-point kicks), to pace a stunning and rainy 54-48 double-overtime victory over Nashua South, he felt rejuvenated.

MANCHESTER — On a first-and-goal play with 1:15 remaining, Manchester Central’s defense delivered a crushing blow and Ben Mills recovered the Londonderry fumble at the Little Green 2.

LONDONDERRY — Running true to season-long form, Pinkerton shared the wealth in a stocked backfield as the Astros stormed past Londonderry for a 35-0 victory last night. While no one back had more than eight carries or 69 yards, Pinkerton used 10 different ball carriers — only one of whom is a senior — who combined for 247 yards. “We’ve grown as a unit,” said junior Kevin Davies, who had team-high 69 yards, including a 25-yard touchdown. “Our line has been growing as the season’s gone on. We have so many kids who can carry the ball, it’s amazing. I’ve never been on a team like this.” The victory capped off Pinkerton’s Mack Plaque award winning week over Londonderry. After allowing 64 points while splitting its previous two games, the Astros (4-1 overall, 3-1 in Division I play) held the Lancers to 127 total yards. “Rivalries are rivalries,” Pinkerton coach Brian O’Reilly said. “I was concerned this week that they couldn’t look past (Londonderry) because of its record.” The Astros wasted no time setting the tone after recovering a Lancers’ fumble on the game’s first play from scrimmage. Two plays later, Emmitt Smith went 25 yards on a sweep that gave Pinkerton a 6-0 lead. “Coming into the game, we knew we had to stop they’re running game,” Londonderry coach Jon Rich said. “The best way to hold off a good offense is to hold onto the ball as long as possible. When you turn the ball over on the first play of the game like we did, you’re not helping out your cause.” With the running game working so well, Pinkerton went to the air for a pair of Chris St. Onge touchdown passes of 48 yards to Smith and 55 yards to Branden Rodgers. St. Onge completed only one other pass in the affair. With the Astros’ emphasis on the run, St. Onge might play a critical role late in the season with consistent passing. “When you have young kids, it takes a while to get the small nuances of the offense down — the shifting, the motion, the fakes,” O’Reilly said. “And it’s coming, and I know we’ll be better at the end of the year with what we’re supposed to be doing.” Londonderry was playing without senior quarterback Ian McMullen, who broke his ankle in last week’s loss at Concord and likely will miss the rest of the season. “It hurts,” Rich said. “He’s a great athlete and a hard worker on top of that. He throws the ball pretty well, so not having him hurts a lot.”

LONDONDERRY — Nashua North ran the ball with authority and took advantage of some untimely penalties last night in a 27-7 victory over Londonderry.

North scored three times in the first half to take a 21-0 lead and then just coasted in the second half.