Grassini helping lift Merrimack football to new heights

While most of Justin Grassini's classmates spent the summer watching everything in their Netflix queue, the Merrimack High School senior was binge watching something else.

Aware of the opportunity that presented itself to the Tomahawks this season, and at the request of offensive coordinator Dave Jackson, Grassini filled a lot of his free time watching film.

Going into his third season as the team's starting quarterback, he knew there were things he still needed to work on, especially if Merrimack was going to have the kind of season the players and coaches thought they could have.

"I just watched film to see what mistakes I made and how I could correct them," said Grassini, who also played for the Merrimack Post 98 baseball team over the summer. "I tried to focus on my decision making. I watched a lot of film from last year."

That Grassini was willing to do it came as no surprise to head coach Kip Jackson.

"He's actually a very analytical kid when it comes to athletics," Jackson said. "He also understood that he was going to have a lot of weapons this year and the best way to take advantage of that was to try to understand what defenses were going to try to do."

So far, those extra study sessions are paying off, as Grassini has completed almost 63 percent of his passes for 1,667 yards and 21 touchdowns. But more importantly, Merrimack has bounced back from a season-opening loss to Bedford to take a 4-1 record into Friday's game against Londonderry.

During the four-game win streak, the Tomahawks has averaged 51.25 points per game, and a win over the Lancers would match last season's win total and give Merrimack more wins in the last two season than they had in the previous four.

"It's a big change," Grassini said. "In recent years, we've been predicted to finish last non-stop. It was a little nerve-wracking at the beginning. I think that's one reason why we were nervous in the first game, because we wanted to prove we can be No. 1. After that loss, we just all rallied together and became the team we needed to be."

The improvements have also been big for Grassini. When he started playing football in middle school, he was a wide receiver, but that lasted for one game before coaches moved him to quarterback.

It took a while for him to feel completely comfortable as the player with the ball in his hands on every play.

"I didn't know how to stand in the pocket my first year," Grassini said. "I'd just rollout and run."

Grassini stepped into the starting role with the varsity as a sophomore, and while there were promising signs, the Tomahawks finished the 2014 season 2-7 and went through a coaching change - the second in three years - in the offseason.

"Sophomore year was just like trying to survive," he said. "Being on varsity as a sophomore, I wasn't thinking so much about winning and it wasn't our best year of football. I think that's what changed this year. We're good this year and we have that mentality that we can beat anybody."

That mentality started to forge last season when Jackson took over as the head coach and became a reality when Merrimack handed Exeter its first loss in Week 8 of the regular season.

"That was a huge game for us last year," Grassini said. "We knew last year, it was our first year with Kip, but he was changing our mentality. We kind of put it all together."

Jackson has seen that change in mentality, and not just with his quarterback.

"It was the same difference that I saw with a lot of our kids," the coach said. "They didn't have to think much, they could just react. They were able to do things not only better, but they could do it while processing information in a much quicker manor. It was very obvious how much he'd improved."

Time will tell what lies ahead for Merrimack football this season, and for Grassini, who is also a pitcher for the baseball team, beyond this year. He just knows he'd like to play at least one of the two sports at the next level, or maybe both.

"I'd love to try to do both," he said. "Right now, I don't know if I'd do football or baseball. It's hard to tell."