RallyNorth.net

Sat, Nov 04, 2017 01:00 PM @ Nashua South

Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Final
Pinkerton	7	14	14	7	42
Nashua South	7	0	0	7	14

Pinkerton uses turnovers to roll over Nashua South

Saturday, November, 04 By David Willis
Staff writer

NASHUA – Despite a superior record and a head-to-head victory against its opponent, Pinkerton still found itself on the road on Saturday.

But a quick bus ride wasn't about to derail the Astros.

Pinkerton forced six Nashua South turnovers, and turned five of those into touchdowns as the No. 3 seed Astros rolled over the No. 2 Panthers 42-14 in the New Hampshire Division 1 quarterfinals.

“If feels amazing,” said receiver/defensive back Kayden Baillargeon, who intercepted two passes and caught a touchdown. “I've been waiting for this. We have worked so hard to get here. I am so thrilled. We had to play hard to get this win, and we got it done.”

The victory sets up a rematch for Pinkerton (9-1) against rival Salem (10-0) in the Division 1 North semifinals on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Blue Devils — which beat Londonderry on Saturday — dealt the Astros their only loss of the season, 35-20 on Sept. 16.

“Salem has already beaten us, so we have to go in and play a better game than we did before,” said quarterback/defensive back Aiden Goujon. “It should be a close game, but if we can continue to create turnovers and take advantage, we have a good chance.”

Turnovers proved to be the story on Saturday at Stellos Stadium. But initially it looked as if Pinkerton could be on the wrong end. The Astros fumbled away the opening kickoff, ten lost another fumble on their third drive, which Nashua South turned into a 7-0 lead.

“Our start was pretty rough,” said Goujon. “Last year we weren't in the playoffs, and a lot of us weren't used to this atmosphere. We had some jitters. But after we got over that we started to pull away.”

Defensive back Josh Ladipo started Pinkerton's turnover attack with an interception, and not long after Ty Hicks broke a 70-yard touchdown to tie the game.

A possession later, Astro Jared Collins recovered a fumble, setting up a Nicholas Lombard 15-yard touchdown run to give his team the lead for good.

“Turnovers like that can crush a team,” said Goujon. “They was the best our defense has played all year. Every turnover was a momentum swing. The defense was relentless tonight, and they really let us to a win.”

Pinkerton intercepted four passes as a team, which Baillargeon leading with two and linebacker Maxwell Moseley also picking off a pass to set up a TD.

The Astros also recovered three fumbles, including one each by Tyler Mackiernan and Terrell Hicks that set up TDs.

“We played a very, very good defensive game,” said Pinkerton coach Brian O'Reilly. “The turnovers we were able to cause were big. Our defense bailed us out today. They allowed more ball control for us, and we were able to score some touchdowns. The defense came up very big for us today.”

Star speedster Ty Hicks once again led the Astro offense. He needed just 10 carries to accumulate a game-high 136 yards. Gennaro Marra was next best with 64 yards on six carries and a pair of TDs.

The win now sends Pinkerton back to Salem, to take on a Blue Devils squad that has one all but one contest by at least 21 points.

“We were prepared for one thing today, but we made some adjustments and we got it done,” said Baillargeon. “It feels great to be back contending for a title. We were very young last year when we missed the playoffs, and it was rough. Now we are grown up and we are ready to go. We can't wait to take on Salem.”