Big plays lead Merrimack football past Bishop Guertin

MERRIMACK - A year ago, the big play always seemed to be right around the corner for the Merrimack High School football team.

Despite graduating most of the starting lineup on offense and defense, not much has changed for the Tomahawks.

Merrimack scored four touchdowns on plays of 20 yards or more, and limited Bishop Guertin's offense for long enough, to come away Friday night with a 42-19 win over the Cardinals.

Joe Eichman led the way for the Tomahawks (2-0), as he scored a three touchdowns in three different ways - receiving, rushing and punt return - to go with over 300 total yards. The senior caught five passes for 157 yards, ran the ball 10 times for another 66 yards and had a 75-yard punt return for a score that broke the game open for Merrimack in the second half.

"You can say you have to stop him," Merrimack coach Kip Jackson said. "The problem is, you can try to stop a specific play and he has the vision and the explosiveness to cut back. Then the play that you expected isn’t the play that he’s running. He’s mentally tough and he has great focus and concentration, so he makes the tough catches."

Ben Eichman and Ryan Devanna also had big games taking turns at quarterback for the Tomahawks, as Ben Eichman rushed for 68 yards and a touchdown and was 8 of 14 passing for 133 yards and another score. Devanna added another 100 yards through the air on 5 of 11 throwing and ran for 22 more.

Defensively, Merrimack found ways to contain Bishop Guertin (0-2) quarterback Sam Raitt for most of the night. The senior finished with 178 yards and a touchdown on 31 carries, many of which came when the Tomahawks forced him from the pocket.

The Cardinals offense struggled in the passing game, as Raitt was just 10 of 31 for 53 yards and an interception, as the Bishop Guertin receivers had trouble hanging on to the ball.

"Offensively, the game plan was to throw the ball on every down, because we thought we had an advantage with our skill players, but they kept dropping balls," Bishop Guertin coach Jeff Moore said. "They were running the wrong routes. There were too many errors there, and at halftime, we changed back to try to run some clock."

Merrimack took the lead on its first drive, when, on third-and-7 from Bishop Guertin's 46-yard line, Ben Eichman found Joe Eichman wide open for the touchdown. The Cardinals tied it on an 11-play, 44-yard drive that ended in a 1-yard touchdown run by Ben Plumley with 2:43 left in the first quarter.

After each team punted on its next possession, Joe Eichman raced 44 yards for a touchdown with 20.8 seconds left in the quarter, putting Merrimack up 13-7. Touchdown runs by Ben Eichman and Adam Thornton in the second quarter game the Tomahawks a 27-7 lead at halftime.

Bishop Guertin's defense forced a punt on the opening drive of the second half and it looked like the offense would stall again but Merrimack was called for roughing the punter on fourth down at the Cardinals' 20-yard line. Raitt took advantage of the second chance, and three plays later, raced 56 yards for a touchdown that made it 27-13 with 8:26 left in the third.

Merrimack responded with a 13-play drive that got the Tomahawks down inside the Cardinals' 10-yard line, but Bishop Guertin held and forced the ball over on downs at its own 2-yard line. Three plays later, Plumley broke through the defense and for a 49-yard run, as Merrimack's CJ Grace made a touchdown-saving tackle near midfield.

The Cardinals couldn't get any more and were forced to punt. Joe Eichman fielded it at the Merrimack 25-yard line, went back a few yards as he ran toward his right, and then cut back against the coverage. Seventy-five yards later, the Tomahawks had a 34-13 lead with 1:47 left in the third quarter.

"We still have some good athletes and we try to get them in space and they make plays," Jackson said. "We’re fortunate to have a couple of kids who can make people miss and take it to the house."

Merrimack will look to go to 3-0 when it hosts Nashua South (0-2) on Friday, while Bishop Guertin tries to get its first win Sept. 16 against Timberlane (0-2).