McAlister making most of opportunities with Londonderry football

Mike McAlister knew that this was going to be it.

If the Londonderry High School senior was ever going to get his chance to be the Lancers starting quarterback, it had to happen now.

After spending much of his high school career being told there was someone better to play the position, McAlister spent every moment he could in the offseason, preparing himself for what turned out to be a tough competition in the preseason.

Now, seven games into his senior season, McAlister has rewarded the Londonderry coaches with a 6-1 record heading into Friday night's game against Nashua South, and the team's first playoff berth since 2014.

"It feels awesome," McAlister said. "The last two seasons, we haven’t had this opportunity to make the playoffs and get in a playoff game. It’s great for the seniors on the team. I feel pretty confident in this team because I know we’re never going to give up and we’re always going to give it a hundred percent."

The Lancers are giving it their all in large part because McAlister, and his fellow seniors, are doing the same, leading the way for a team that had more experience among the underclassmen heading into the season.

"A lot of them haven’t had a ton of experience," Londonderry coach Jimmy Lauzon said of his senior class. "We were worried about that coming in. I think that’s been the biggest difference between this year and the last couple of years. It might be the best senior class from a leadership standpoint. I’ve had great leaders, but from the 18 we have, they’ve been unselfish. That’s been the characteristics that have made us successful."

While Lauzon has seen a lot of unselfish play from McAlister this season, the quarterback felt he had to step up and promote himself after last season ended with the Lancers sporting a 2-7 record and a last-place finish in the Division I South Conference.

"I was mad that we were 2-7 and I never really got my opportunity, that I could lead this team to a winning season," McAlister said. "It was my work ethic that put me ahead of the competition.

"I started (playing quarterback) my freshman year. It was a bumpy road. I probably couldn’t throw a pass maybe 20 yards, but I never gave up. I was a running back in middle school and elementary school. I always wanted to be a quarterback, but I was always told there was another quarterback and I wasn’t good enough."

Regardless of what McAlister thought during last season, he kept it to himself during the year.

"I respect him for not ever really complaining," Lauzon said. "He’s right, there were times we probably could have used a spark and went in a different direction. He felt like he deserved a shot and he expressed that to me during the offseason.

"He’s transformed over the four years and gotten better. He’s just stuck with it. As a freshman, he really wanted to play quarterback. He’s just been determined to be a good quarterback. He’s worked really hard at (passing) and he’s done a lot of great things this year."

McAlister credits not just the offseason workouts for his success this year, but also his experiences playing lacrosse for the Lancers in the spring. As an attackman, he's usually running the offense from behind the goal and helping to set up his teammates.

"The position I play in lacrosse, that’s kind of the QB for the offense in lacrosse," he said. "That connects a little bit. It’s controlling the offense."

This week's game against South presents a chance for Londonderry to show what kind of team it can be once the playoffs begin on Nov. 4.

"This week would big," Lauzon said. "It’d be a big confidence boost. It’s important that we prove that we can play against a good team. Pinkerton was our big test so far and we didn’t play that well. It was our worst game and I think it’s been unsettling for them."

For McAlister, it's one more chance to show people just what he and the Lancers are capable of doing.

"I don’t think anybody but this team believed in us," he said. "Even in the school, they’d joke about us losing all the time. Where we are right now, it’s been a great feeling, kind of proving everybody wrong."