Different feel, same approach for Nashua North football

NASHUA - This preseason has been different for the Nashua High School North football team, and it's not just because of the relaxing of COVID-19 protocols.

The Titans didn't just lose 18 seniors from last year's Division I championship team to graduation. Quite a few of those were three- and four-year varsity players.

It makes for a preseason with a lot of uncertainty for North, but coach Dante Laurendi is looking at it as a positive.

"It’s a fresh start," the coach said. "Even for the coaches, it’s back to the basics. You’re not going out there with kids who are entering their third year as starters.

"We had a bunch of kids who were in their third year as starters. The review is pretty quick when you have all that experience and you kind of get to the meat and potatoes pretty quickly. Now, there’s not many of these guys who have much experience for us. It’s back to the drawing board for a lot of these guys and even us a coaches, getting back and simplifying the way we coach things."

While Laurendi would have liked to see what last year's team could have done over a full season, it worked out well for the Titans that they had such an experienced group in a season when there wasn't much time for preparation.

"I had that conversation with someone earlier (Friday), that we were fortunate in the experience that we had last year because of the lack of the preseason and no scrimmages," he said. "Because of all that experience, and the number of kids who had two or three years, and some kids four years, of playing time, because we had that, it didn’t hurt us as much.

"With this group, we need all the time we can get in the preseason. We need those extra days of practice. For most of these guys, we’re starting from scratch."

North has a handful of returning seniors, but only a couple have a lot of varsity experience. The Titans will look to their juniors to help fill in the gaps.

"We have six or seven seniors and only a couple of those guys have varsity experience," Laurendi said. "We have a big junior class and a handful of those guys have some playing experience. They have to figure it out. Like anything else, it’s a process.

"I think as we go and start to get to the football stuff and guys get more confident, you’re going to see it emerge more and more from some of these natural leaders."

Even with the football preseason and regular-season schedules returning to normal, the Titans - along with their city rivals Nashua South - are still required to follow a few protocols, the biggest one continuing to wear masks inside of the school.

If it keeps North on the field for the entire season again, it's a move the players and coaches are willing to make.

"We were fortunate last year," Laurendi said. "We were one of the few states to play a fall football season. We did what we had to do to get through that, as did most of the teams in New Hampshire. We were fortunate and some teams weren’t.

"If you love the sport, you find a way to do what you can to get it done. We don’t want to wear the masks, but it is what it is. When we’re out, we talk to the kids about trying to be responsible and we’re not through this yet. We have to remain aware like we did last year. We have to try our best to stay healthy."