Heenan stepping up to help Londonderry football

Colby Ramshaw's touchdown reception Saturday was almost two quarters in the making.

The Londonderry High School football senior was trying to get the Alvirne defender covering him to break in one direction so that he'd be open on a specific route, and finally, late in the second quarter, it worked.

"I knew from the beginning, I needed to get the corner to stack inside and flip his hips to go inside, and once I did, I was able to break it out," Ramshaw said. "It was a good ball by my quarterback and I was able to go up and get it."

The ball from junior quarterback Drew Heenan was right where his tight end could easily haul it in for a 19-yard touchdown reception on the way to a 51-0 win by the Lancers. It was Heenan's second start in a row filling in for the injured Aidan Washington, and after helping Londonderry to a road win over Pinkerton, Ramshaw knew Heenan would be ready to go for the Broncos.

"I’m really proud of him," Ramshaw said. "Going in during Pinkerton, during one of the biggest games, the biggest game of our season so far, it’s definitely tough. He stepped up and was ready for the challenge. He came out with a victory."

Heenan's numbers weren't eye-popping against the Broncos, but Londonderry (5-0) didn't need them to be, as the Lancers scored a defensive touchdown and added another nine points on special teams. But he was 4 of 8 passing for 65 yards and two touchdowns and also ran seven times for 55 yards, 25 of which came on a touchdown run.

"I have plenty of faith in Drew," Londonderry coach Jimmy Lauzon said. "You get out what you put into something, and he has put a lot of work into this. We do except him to play well, but we knew going into the season we were pretty fortunate to have two good quarterbacks."

Heenan credits his success over the last two games to being able to focus on his own responsibilities and trusting his teammates to take care of theirs. The competition he and Washington had in the preseason, and every day in practice, helped prepare him as well.

"The focus coming into this week was just execute, each and every play," Heenan said. "Plain and simple, don’t try to do too much, just do your job. Every practice, every day, we’re just trying to make each other better in every way. We’re competitive people so we just compete each and every day."

On the pass to Ramshaw, all Heenan felt he had to do was get him the ball.

"He’s 6-4. He’s a big dude," Heenan said. "I told him going into the game, if we had a matchup with him, I’d try to get it to him. I saw it was man-to-man so I threw it up to him and I knew he was going to make the catch. He puts the work in every day."

Lauzon expects Washington to be back before the end of the season, and at that point, the Lancers coach will have a tough decision to make.

Or will he?

"Most years, we’d be in trouble if we lost our starter," Lauzon said. "Drew is able to fill that gap right now. I’m looking forward to Wash getting healthy having both of them at my disposal to use."