Big plays in second half lead Nashua South football to win over Nashua North (video)

NASHUA - The Nashua High School South football team was angry when it came back out for the second half of Friday's game.

Fumbling away the opening kickoff only made the Panthers madder, and they took out their aggression on Nashua North's defense.

South piled up over three hundred yards of offense in the second half and made a big defensive play late to finish off a 34-15 win over the Titans in a Division I West Conference game at Stellos Stadium.

Sean Holland ran for 141 yards and a touchdown and was 13 of 22 for 215 yards through the air, with a touchdown and an interception, as the Panthers scored on three of their first four possessions in the second half. Jaylan Pacheco added 118 yards and two touchdowns on the ground, and Alex Amigo also had two touchdowns, including a 38-yard interception return with 2:43 left in the game.

That all came after North's defense had stopped the Panthers at the 1-yard line late in the second quarter, and then hit on a 99-yard touchdown pass from Mike Loveless to Austin Ouellette that tied the game going into the half.

"We look at games like this, and if you can name a bunch of guys who had a big game, you know you had a pretty good game," South coach Scott Knight said. "They were mad (at halftime). We were going to go up two scores and then it’s a tie game. That was a two-touchdown swing right there. They felt like they were in control most of the half and had nothing to show for it.

"All that work for a tie. And then we fumbled the second-half kickoff. Our guys are pretty resilient. We showed that last week when we got down early against Merrimack. I’m happy with their resiliency."

The Panthers (2-2) held the edge in yards, 311-116, in the second half, but the Titans (2-2) didn't go away quietly. After South went up 21-8 with 4:59 left in the third quarter, North answered with a nine-play, 70-yard drive, capped by Loveless' 3-yard touchdown run.

But other than that drive, the Titans struggled to move the ball consistently, as the Panthers' defense bottled up North's rushing attack. RJ Jenkins led North with 75 yards on 23 carries and Loveless was 7 of 26 for 198 yards with a touchdown and three interceptions.

"They were more physical than us up front and they made the big plays in the second half," North coach Dante Laurendi said. "We didn’t. They executed in the second half and Holland took the game over. I thought we battled. We battled hard, but we were victims of their big plays in the second half."

North was able to contain Holland in the first half, holding him to minus-2 yards rushing with three sacks, but the senior quarterback was able to move the ball through the air, completing 10 of 15 passes for 136 yards and a 42-yard touchdown pass to Amigo.

The Panthers, who made a goal line stand of their own on North's first possession, were on their way to making it a two-score game in the second quarter, but the Titans stopped Pacheco on fourth-and-goal from the 1. On the next play, Loveless heaved the ball up from the back of the end zone to Ouellette, who hauled it in over South's Tony Agor and outran the Panthers to the end zone.

The teams went into the locker room tied 8-8, and North got the first opportunity of the second half when South fumbled the opening kickoff and the Titans recovered at the Panthers 21. But three plays later, Loveless was picked off by Devin Linscott at South's 4-yard line.

The Panthers put together a 10-play, 96-yard drive, that included a fourth-down conversion by Pacheco and a 44-yard catch-and-run from Holland to Taevon Olson, setting up a 3-yard scoring run by Pacheco.

After the South defense forced a punt, Holland broke through the Titans' defense for a 66-yard gain down to the 1-yard line, and on the next play, he dove into the end zone to put the Panthers up 21-8.

"He saw a seam and boom, there he goes," Knight said. "He and Jaylan get that zone read game going and it’s tough to stop. The line is starting to jell and open some stuff now. We’re getting better, but we have a lot to clean up."

Both teams are back in action on Sept. 29, as South hosts Timberlane and North travels to Merrimack.