Compoh is back and Nashua South football hoping better than ever

There were a lot of reasons Josh Compoh was looking forward to the 2020 football season.

Among the items at the top of the list was that it would be the final time he and his older brother, Jason, would be teammates on the gridiron.

They even came up with a nickname for the Nashua High School South duo.

"He called us the Compoh Combo," Josh Compoh said. "We were very excited to play."

But in the first game, the combo got derailed.

Josh Compoh suffered an ankle injury in the season opener against Nashua North. While Jason Compoh was putting together a season that got him selected to the CHaD East-West All-Star Game before going to play at Merrimack College this fall, his brother was left in limbo.

"It was extremely frustrating," Compoh said. "The process, too, because at first, I didn’t think it was that serious. We went to the doctor and he said I’d only be out for a week. But then I got an MRI, and basically, I ruptured a ligament and we didn’t find out until two weeks after."

Not only would he miss the rest of the football season, but basketball as well, and the injury lingered into outdoor track.

It was tough for South football coach Scott Knight to watch, and not just because he knew how much the Panthers would have benefited from having the running back on the field.

"He’d go out there and drag his leg if he could, he just loves the game," Knight said. "But his ankle was bad. He just couldn’t go.

"He’s a hungry kid. There’s a reason why he started as a sophomore. He could do some things and he had enough size at the time and pretty good vision. He had a pretty good sophomore year. He had a great offseason. He took it upon himself to train really hard and came back big and strong and ready to go. Unfortunately, he got hurt and it threw a wrench into some things that we wanted to do. He’s done nothing but get better since then."

As soon as he could, Compoh went back to the weight room, not only trying to increase his strength, but get faster, too.

"I was around 205, now I’m like 215, 220," he said. "I wanted to work on being as fast as possible, just being as smooth as possible in and out of breaks. And as healthy as possible going into the season."

That work has Knight excited about what the senior could provide for the Panthers in 2021. While Jason Compoh was mainly used at defensive end, the South coach sees the younger Compoh moving around on both sides of the ball.

"You may see him in a couple of different spots on defense and on offense," Knight said. "He always had really good hands and we knew we could use him in the slot."

When Compoh was a sophomore, South kept him mainly at tailback on offense because they didn't have anyone else who could fill that spot. This season, the Panthers feel like they can make those moves and not see any drop off.

"It’s just that if you don’t have another tailback who is good like that, you’re robbing Peter to pay Paul," Knight said. "We’d be weaker. This is a different year where I think Connor Rowsell, we can put him at tailback. He played some tight end last year. We can move Josh. They could be in a two-back set. We have a lot of flexibility with those guys."

Playing all over the field is something Compoh has been used to.

"I started playing football in second grade and I’ve always played different positions," he said. "I played corner, safety, everything. I’ve always played everything. I’m a bigger guy, but I’m also fast and I like to hit."

He began playing the sport in large part because of Jason.

"I started playing like two years after he started," Compoh said. "When he first started, I wasn’t really that interested. But he was amazing, so I wanted to be a part of that.

"He was getting attention from family and friends and I was like ‘I want that, too.’ He started working hard when he got to high school and that just motivated me. Seeing him get Division I offers was motivating."

Knight believes Compoh is in line for a special kind of season, which gets underway Friday night, when South hosts Salem at Stellos Stadium at 6:30 p.m.

"Sometimes you have kids who are gifted, and they do enough and they’re good players," the coach said. "Then you have kids who are gifted and they outwork everyone. He’s a good player who works hard.

"We have four captains this year and they’re all of that mold. They’ve managed to outwork almost everybody. They took that role seriously and took it to a different level. Josh has done that. He wasn’t content on being one of the stronger kids. He wanted to be the strongest, fastest kid, and he’s worked for that."