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George, Pinkerton roll to win over Mack Plaque rivals

Sunday, October, 05 By Hector Longo
Staff writer

LONDONDERRY, N.H. — No gimmicks, no gadgets. No trickery or twists.

With nearly 4,000 folks gathered as witnesses here at Lancer Park, Pinkerton commandeered the inside track to the top spot and No. 1 in Division 1 football, pounding rival Londonderry 31-12 last night.

“We beat our rival, and we’re in the driver’s seat for the No. 1 seed right now,” said coach Brian O’Reilly. “But we go Concord, we go Brockton, we go (Manchester) Central, it’s a tough road ahead.”

The much awaited power struggle in the trenches transformed into a mismatch from the start with the Astros forcing a three-and-out and taking their opening possession 87 yards on eight straight rushes. Eric Guinto (seven carries, 93 yards) dashed off tackle 18 yards for the quick 7-0 lead.

It was as close as the Lancers (4-1 overall, 3-1 in the division), would ever get.

Sure, with Class L champion sprinter Guinto, Pinkerton could have expected to own the edges. But it was inside, tackle-to-tackle, where the outsized Astros worked their magic on both sides of the ball, something few in the state could have foreseen.

“(Our offensive line) came of age tonight,” said O’Reilly. “We’d been spending the first part of the season outside, Eric here, Eric there, not pounding it up inside.

“In the second half, we just started going with Chris (George) up in there, and once it goes it goes. I’m just happy that we controlled the ball up inside.”

Pinkerton held the Lancers, who had averaged 26.3 points and 262.3 rushing yards over the first four games, to 139 yards on 26 carries. In addition, the Astros forced four turnovers.

Guinto rolled 60 yards on a sweet inside counter with 4:31 left in the half to make it 14-0, and Shawn Clukey’s 25-yard field goal pushed the margin to 17-0 after Londonderry coughed up the ensuing kickoff.

After the intermission, O’Reilly unleashed his 200-pound senior battering ram George, who responded with the best night of his career, chomping up 111 yards and a TD on his 13 rushes.

“We expected before the game that we weren’t going to be able to run between the tackles,” said George, who struggled with a broken finger earlier in the year and only had 51 yards rushing total coming into last night.

“It just opened up. Our line came off the ball hard, smashing kids in the mouth and it worked all night.
“(Before last night) I was having trouble reading holes. It was getting kind of rough being out for a while, but I’m back.”

Astro QB Ryan Simpson added a TD run, while halfback Matt Mangano made good use of his eight touches by speeding to a 82-yard night.

Londonderry got on the board with a pair of second-half Anthony Terenzi TD runs, but the hosts never seriously challenged.

Defensively, Pinkerton chose to clog up the inside running lanes, having its defensive linemen submarine and create piles. The strategy paid huge dividends as it forced the Lancers to search for viable alternatives. Londonderry wouldn’t locate them until it was way too late.