Duval's return helps spark Goffstown football

It was the kind of game that might have been expected of Andrew Duval, given the promise that the Goffstown High School junior had shown a year before.

Big plays from his safety position on defense, and on offense, nine catches for 173 yards and a touchdown in Saturday's 39-35 win over Salem.

But there were other factors in play, like how Duval was playing just his second game back after breaking his right thumb in the first game of the year. Oh and that right hand happened to be covered by a cast as thick as any pads Duval had under his jersey.

"He's a special athlete," Goffstown coach Justin Hufft said. "We ran screens with him and that's all hands. He's still not in end-of-season form. He's playing into football shape. He's making mistakes that he doesn't normally make, but he's going to get there. He's a remarkable athlete and a heck of a football player."

Quiet for most of the first half, Duval made his presence known on Goffstown's first touchdown drive, catching a 40-yard pass from Nik Moquin to set up Carter Cormier's 4-yard touchdown run.

When the Grizzlies got the ball back with 1:30 left in the half, Moquin looked for Duval again, this time finding him for a 34-yard completion that set up Sam Heidenreich's 35-yard field goal. On the catch, Duval managed to keep two Salem defenders from ripping the ball out of his hands.

The junior added a 43-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter. Duval added two catches on the Grizzlies' game-winning drive, none bigger than an 8-yard reception on fourth-and-5 at the Salem 28 that kept Goffstown alive.

Two plays later, after a Goffstown timeout with 54.7 seconds left, Moquin connected with Charles Keith for a 15-yard gain to the Salem 8-yard line. On third-and-goal from the 3 - and with the clock running under 15 seconds - Moquin found Keith again, this time over the middle, for the game-winning score with 10.1 seconds left.

"Our quarterback saw something that he liked, came over and said 'this is going to be open,' " Hufft said. "He asked for it, so we gave it to him and he made the play.

"It helps having a senior quarterback. He knows the game, he knows his receivers, and sees what the defense is doing. I always trust Nik. We give him the ability to read and make decisions."

Goffstown goes into the regular-season finale at Merrimack having won 21 of its last 22 games, and with a playoff spot already wrapped up.