> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Harris-Lopez rewriting the script with Nashua North football - URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/harris-lopez-rewriting-the-script-with-nashua-north-football/ - Published: 2020-11-19T13:00:04.000Z - Updated: 2020-11-19T13:00:04.000Z - Description: Curtis Harris-Lopez has been his own version of a myth buster on the football field. Think a freshman can't start on defense at the varsity level? Harris-Lopez did that. Think it's too tough for someone who had never played quarterback before, at any level, to jump into the role in the middle of his - Author: Joe Marchilena - Tags: Division I, Curtis Harris-Lopez, football, Nashua North, playoffs, slider, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44 Curtis Harris-Lopez has been his own version of a myth buster on the football field. Think a freshman can't start on defense at the varsity level? Harris-Lopez did that. Think it's too tough for someone who had never played quarterback before, at any level, to jump into the role in the middle of his high school career and do it at an all-state level? Harris-Lopez did that, too. Think kids from New Hampshire don't get Division I offers to play football in college? Guess what? Harris-Lopez had eight of them, before verbally committing to Holy Cross on Monday. Now, with one high school game left, the Nashua High School North senior is looking to help the Titans win their first championship in football. "It’s the most exciting thing in the world at the moment," he said. "At first, with Covid, I didn’t know if we were going to have a season. It was very painful to know that we might not have a season. The plan unraveled like it was supposed to." That hasn't always been the case during the four seasons Harris-Lopez has played for the Titans. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/bc/58/bc5866d0-9fd9-4113-b959-670d6f16471d/content/images/www-nh-highschoolsports-com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/jmsalnnfball111420-n2-1wm.jpg) Curtis Harris-Lopez and Nashua North play Goffstown for the D1 title on Saturday. As a freshman, he broke his thumb trying to make a tackle on special teams in the second game of the season, but came back to contribute on defense. "There are freshmen who contribute on varsity around the state, but typically, that's on offense," North coach Dante Laurendi said. "You don't see defensive skill players who have an impact as freshmen. "I don't think he spent a day with the freshmen team. Right off the bat, and it wasn't just his athleticism, but his ability to understand defense, and the mental side of it, was key. From a physical standpoint, his ability to hit and make an impact was why he was there." Harris-Lopez made that impact, despite being one of the smallest - and youngest - guys on the field. "With me, freshman year, I didn't have the ability to lift like everyone else already in high school," he said. "Being smaller was a little bit (tough), but I used my competitiveness. There's no greater feeling than playing varsity football." Going into his sophomore year, Harris-Lopez not only was going to start in North's defensive secondary, he would be a starter at slot receiver. Early in the season, the Titans started giving Harris-Lopez opportunities at quarterback, and by the end of the year, he was North's starter. While Harris-Lopez used his athleticism to make it through the rest of that season in a new position, he spent that offseason doing whatever he could to make himself a better quarterback. "We live in a day of specialists and kids going to QB coaches since they were 5-years-old," Laurendi said. "They may be more natural passers, more used to the footwork, but (Harris-Lopez) made the effort to work on that. He grew more consistent. He worked with (assistant coach Zach) Harris in the offseason, and continues to do that." When Harris-Lopez was first presented with the move, he wasn't thrilled. "At first, I didn't really want to do it," he said. "But Coach Harris said he needed me to do it, so I took the role and went from there. "Sophomore year, everyone said I couldn't throw. I lifted a lot, gained 15 pounds, and every day after summer workouts, I was throwing." And through all that, Harris-Lopez was still starting on defense for the Titans, even after a knee injury ended his season early as a junior. "He's too impactful on that side of the ball," Laurendi said. "Sometimes, if you have a quarterback who could play defense, you might have somebody who is close enough to fill the void, so you don't have to play him. "That was never the case. (Harris-Lopez) was definitely too impactful and has too much experience. And I don't think he would allow us to take him out." While Harris-Lopez just wants to be out on the field, defense is where many of the schools that were recruiting him planned to use him. For him, making plays on defense feels just as big as finding the end zone on offense. "I like hitting people, I guess you could say," Harris-Lopez said. "As soon as you get a big hit, you get everyone in the crowd going with the 'oohhss' and your teammates are running up on you. It sets the tone, which makes the defense play harder, which gets you turnovers and gets the offense going. "But I also like scoring." The Titans hope Harris-Lopez has a few more touchdowns in him in Saturday's Division I championship game against Goffstown.