Londonderry football bounces back with rout of Keene

KEENE - After a crushing loss the week prior, the Londonderry High School football team entered Friday’s game against Keene hoping to rekindle the early-season dominance that earned the Lancers a 3-0 start and briefly positioned them atop Division I standings.

As the popular adage goes: Mission accomplished.

In what may have been their most impressive performance of the season so far, the Lancers (4-1) overcame a daunting first-and-30 on their opening drive, scored the go-ahead touchdown, and put the disappointment of the loss to Pinkerton behind them en route to a decisive 44-0 victory over Keene (0-5) on a chilly night in Keene.

“It’s always a tough week after playing Pinkerton,” Londonderry coach Jim Lauzon said about preparing for the challenge of bouncing back from the loss. “We just tried to keep (our players) focused and not have a letdown coming into this game.”

Buoyed by change-of-direction handoffs and effective play-action passing, Londonderry’s offense scored on all but two of their first half possessions.

Connor Dubois got the Lancers on the board early with a 15-yard scoring run, capping a 60-yard first quarter drive that was highlighted by a long catch-and-run by sophomore Jeffrey Wiedenfeld to get the Lancers into Keene’s side of the field.

Londonderry made the score 13-0 on its following offensive possession when quarterback Michael McAlister connected with Dubois across the middle of the field for a 28-yard touchdown. Junior Evan Cormier rotated in at QB during the second quarter and gave the Lancers a commanding 23-0 halftime lead after he completed a 17-yard scoring throw to Weidenfeld with 1:30 left in the first half.

Both McAlister and Cormier showed great rapport with their receivers throughout the night, combining for 214 yards on 13 of 24 attempts through the air. The passing attack was so impressive that it almost overshadowed the Londonderry running game, which quietly accumulated over three hundred yards by the end of the night. Twelve different players got a carry out of the backfield for the Lancers, led by McAlister’s 11 rushes for 61 yards.

As good as the offense was for Londonderry, the defense may have been even better. With the exception of two daring and brilliantly executed fake punts by Keene, the Lancers' defense rarely allowed their opponents to cross the line of scrimmage. Londonderry forced several three-and-outs, sacked QB Sean Corrigan three times, and forced three Keene turnovers to go along with their first shutout of the season.

Corrigan and Keene’s offense made a valiant effort to get on the board in the third quarter with the score still 23-0. Starting with a fake punt from their own end zone, Corrigan marched the Blackbirds down field on an 11-play drive, deep into Lancer territory. Shortly after completing a long third-down pass to Matt Jankowski, Londonderry’s Adam Wilkinson cut in front of a sure touchdown pass and intercepted Corrigan at the goal line.

Londonderry added three more touchdown runs by Cameron Storace, Zach Chau and Jake McEachern in the fourth quarter to seal the victory and bring their record to 4-1 in a tough division race.

“Obviously the work we put in this week showed,” the coach said in reference to his team’s performance, “and hopefully we can carry that along the rest of the way.”

Londonderry looks to stay in the division hunt next Friday at home against Merrimack, while Keene visits Timberlane.