Cunningham's kick gives Nashua North football win over Exeter

NASHUA - Lucas Cunningham never attempted a field goal as long as the one he faced with the game on the line on against Exeter High School on Friday night.

The Nashua North junior stared down that pressure to stamp a perfect ending to an incredible football game between undefeated Division I powers.

Starting at a final drive deep in its own territory, North marched down the field in 10 plays to set up a 33-yard field goal attempt with two seconds left in regulation. Cunningham left no doubt in drilling the ball down the middle as time expired to give North a walkoff 31-28 victory at Stellos Stadium.

“(Exeter) has been a top team in the state for years, it feels great to knock them off,” Cunningham said. “I had only made kicks from that far in practice, never in games. As soon as it came off my foot, it felt good.

North’s electric junior quarterback Curtis Harris ran for 141 yards on 21 carries with three touchdowns, including a 41-yard touchdown scamper to tie the game at 28-28 with 6:22 left in the fourth quarter.

Exeter quarterback/punter Ryan Grijalva’s 40-yard punt pinned North at its own 12-yard line with 3:05 left in regulation. Harris ripped off a 17-yard run and Anthony Greene (nine carries, 59 yards) followed with a 20-yard run down to Exeter’s 34.

North (4-0) received a big break four plays later when Exeter (3-1) was called for a personal foul on a late hit at the end of an 8-yard Harris run. The penalty moved North to Exeter’s 20 with 31 seconds remaining, and Cunningham finished the drama two plays later.

“Our first three games were blowouts, so coming into this game, we knew we had to be ready for it. They’re a great team and it was a fight until the end,” Harris said. “I felt confident in (Cunningham). He hits them all in practice when he kicks them from 45 yards. I told him right before that last kick, ‘Let's go home’.”

“We had complete confidence in him based on the way he kicked last week and the way he kicked in practice," North coach Dante Laurendi said. “We made the decision that if we didn’t get a touchdown, we take a shot and he nailed it.”

The Titans had extra motivation to win the game after junior Xavier Provost left the game to what is feared to be a serious knee injury following a 7-yard run down to Exeter’s 23 on North’s opening drive of the second half. Provost finished with 68 rushing yards on six carries, as his 33-yard scoring run tied the game at 14-14 with 3:29 left in the second quarter.

North shook off that emotional shock to finish off the 12-play drive with with a 4-yard touchdown run by Harris to give the Titans a 21-14 lead with 7:24 left in the third quarter.

“He’s a dynamic player, plays both sides of the ball and doesn’t come off the field. Losing a guy like that isn’t easy,” Laurendi said. “We showed so much resilience tonight. Xavier is such a loved kid. We overcame some of their long drives and we did a good job of overcoming and rebounding.”

Exeter responded to North’s drive with a 15-play, 71-yard drive that chewed up nearly the rest of the third quarter. After gaining 97 yards and converting a pair of short touchdown runs in the first half, Jaedon Cliche (22 carries, 145 yards) gained 22 yards on his first carry of the third quarter to get into North territory.

Cliche eventually caught a 10-yard pass from Grijalva to set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Spencer Clark (12 carries, 51 yards). Cunningham came off the edge to block Nolan Elmore’s extra point, leaving North with a 21-20 lead with 32 seconds left in the third.

Grijalva (nine carries, 72 yards) delivered the most improbable play of the night, when he turned a third-down rollout that appeared to have no chance, into a 48-yard run down the sideline, in which he was launched into the pylon by North defenders to complete the touchdown. Cliche followed with a two-point conversion run to give Exeter a 28-21 lead with 9:22 left in the fourth quarter.

“They made a play at the end, they certainly played well and they deserved the victory," Exeter coach Bill Ball said. “We’ll look at the tape, but I know what happened.”

Both teams now have to shift focus to their respective rivalry games next week, as North plays Nashua South (3-1) on Friday. Exeter hosts Winnacunnet (1-3) on Saturday.

“We’ll take this win for now, and move onto next week for South,” Harris said.