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# Cruz giving Londonderry football an extra punch going into D1  semifinals
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/cruz-giving-londonderry-football-an-extra-punch-going-into-d1-semifinals/
- Published: 2024-11-23T15:30:14.000Z
- Updated: 2024-11-23T15:30:14.000Z
- Description: Jimmy Lauzon had a plan for what the running back position was going to look like this season for the Londonderry High School football team. Or least he did, until Adrian Cruz helped make him change it.
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Division I, Adrian Cruz, Lancers, Londonderry, NH High School Sports Insider, playoffs, slider, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

Jimmy Lauzon had a plan for what the running back position was going to look like this season for the Londonderry High School football team.

Or least he did, until Adrian Cruz helped make him change it.

"This one was a tricky one this year," Lauzon said. "We had a senior back who we thought was going to be good and he had really progressed, especially from freshman year on. He put in his time and was ready for it to be his turn."

But the work Cruz put in during the offseason helped propel him to the top of the depth chart and allowed the Lancers to limit guys to just one side of the ball.

"One of them ended up being our primary linebacker, so we just moved him to that side of the ball," Lauzon added. "This is Adrian’s turn. He’s been good at every level and I expected no different here. He’s been ready to go right off the bat."

Cruz was definitely ready in last week's Division I quarterfinal, as he ran for 179 and three touchdowns to help No. 3 Londonderry to a 28-13 win over No. 6 Nashua South. The Lancers now go on the road to face No. 2 Exeter at 1 p.m. Saturday at Bill Ball Stadium with a spot in the D1 final on the line.

Last week, Londonderry was coming off a bye in the first round of the playoffs and it gave the junior plenty of time to get anxious for a chance to shine.

"I had a good game in Week 1, probably one of my best games all season, and I hadn’t felt that really come out of me throughout the season," Cruz said. "I feel like every game should be like that. I’m really hard on myself, so I always thought I could do better. I felt like I needed to get back on track."

While Cruz may have felt like it was on him to step up, Lauzon knows he's been getting the proper effort from his running back. Sometimes it just doesn't show on paper.

"It’s hard to be a great run team every single week, especially against the level of competition I feel like we played this year," the coach said. "He has been beating himself up for that, but it’s just part of the deal. It wasn’t on him.

"Not surprised with the playoff game and how he played, especially since we went into the game saying that was going to be the plan. We planned on pounding him."

It was the kind of game Cruz pictured himself having last season, but as a sophomore, he found out early on that there was a lot more he had to learn.

"There were a lot of mistakes I made," he said. "I was too quick to bounce outside because I was a real instinctual player. When I was younger, I just bossed around a lot of kids. That’s what I thought I could do on varsity and I couldn’t. It took me the year to learn and get better."

Regardless of what Cruz thought, Lauzon knew it was going to be more of a year to watch and learn last season, especially because there were guys who had already gone through those growing pains in front of him.

"You’ve got a guy in front of you who has already made those mistakes," Lauzon said. "He already knows what not to do or what to do. Adrian came up ready to go as a sophomore, maybe thinking as a sophomore he was going to get more varsity time.

"By Week 8 (last season), we felt like we could go with him. He had a big run against Pinkerton in the playoffs. He was running the ball in key moments. I wasn’t afraid to play him toward the end of last season. I felt like he had really earned it."

After spending the offseason running track to improve his speed and hitting the weight room to get stronger, Cruz was itching to go to start the year.

"Weight room, track, everything went into where I’m at right now," he said. "It was really like ‘this is what I was waiting for.’ It made really anxious putting in all this work and I wanted to go play. When I got out there, I had been waiting so long and I wanted to execute."

The Lancers now go to a place they're very familiar with, having played in the last three D1 title games at Bill Ball Stadium. They also faced the Blue Hawks in the regular-season finale, a 21-10 loss on Nov. 1.

That game gave Cruz and the Lancers a preview of what they'll have to do differently if they're going to keep their season alive.

"I feel like this week, I’ve got to hit the hole faster," he said. "No hesitation this week. A lot of carries are going to be short gains. Downhill, hitting the hole, more patient. Get to where I need to go now, before they can see me. I feel like we’re a team that can build off what we did last week."