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# Defense stepped up when it need to to get Pinkerton football into the D1 semifinals
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/defense-stepped-need-get-pinkerton-football-d1-semifinals/
- Published: 2017-11-06T22:48:48.000Z
- Updated: 2017-11-06T22:48:48.000Z
- Description: It wasn't a play that would show up on many stat sheets, but it proved to be a big one in Saturday's Division I quarterfinal between the Pinkerton Academy and Nashua High School South football teams. With 2.4 seconds left in the first half of the Astros' 42-14 win, the Panthers faced a fourth-and-22
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Division I, football, Nashua South, NH High School Sports Insider, Pinkerton, playoffs, slider, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

It wasn't a play that would show up on many stat sheets, but it proved to be a big one in Saturday's Division I quarterfinal between the Pinkerton Academy and Nashua High School South football teams.

With 2.4 seconds left in the first half of the Astros' 42-14 win, the Panthers faced a fourth-and-22 from Pinkerton's 37-yard line.

Down 21-7, South had a chance to make it a one-score game and the Panthers would get the kickoff to open the second half. Quarterback Sean Holland found Derek Downing behind the defense on his way to the end, but at the last second, Pinkerton's Ryan Auger got a hand on the ball and knocked it harmlessly to the turf.

Pinkerton's defense then forced two turnovers on South's first two possessions of the second half, scoring off both to go up 35-7\. On the day, the Astros had seven takeaways, four of them interceptions, and they scored 35 points off those turnovers.

When South was able to move the ball, Pinkerton's defense bent, but didn't break, as it kept the Panthers from scoring despite getting inside the Astros 40-yard line on four other occasions.

"They do a great job of getting off blocks," South coach Scott Knight said. "They do a good job of pursuit. They play whistle to whistle. We look like we may get a good perimeter block and we don’t sustain, they get off it and make the play four years down the field. They play the whole play. I give them a lot of credit the way they pursue."

South finished with more yards than Pinkerton (327-321), but the turnovers proved to be a big difference. While Holland finished with 253 passing yards, he was picked off four times and the Astros held him to 2.4 yards per carry.

"When you go up against a spread, you take away everything, especially when you have a running quarterback," Pinkerton coach Brian O'Reilly said. "You can’t take away the pass, because he’ll run you to death. We don’t spy quarterbacks, but we’re aware of them and they’re involved in our key read. It wasn’t any one thing we need to take away, but we understood that he was the focal point of their offense."

On all of the interceptions - two by Kayden Baillargeon, one each from Joshua Ladipo and Maxwell Moseley - came on plays where the Pinkerton defender closed on the ball, something that the Astros hadn't been doing in the past. Auger and Tyler Mackiernan also made plays in the secondary.

"There were a couple of passes (Saturday) where you thought a guy was wide open, and at the last second, our guy came up," O'Reilly said. "Our secondary has finally come together and they close on the ball. That was something we were missing for a couple of years. They’d be in an area, watch a kid catch the ball, and come up and tackle them. Now we close on the ball."

Now Pinkerton will have a chance to make up for its only blemish on its regular-season schedule, as the Astros (9-1) will take on Salem (10-0) in the D1 semifinals on Saturday. The winner will take on the winner of Goffstown (9-1) and Winnacunnet (10-0) in the championship game on Nov. 18 at the University of New Hampshire.