McRae, Panthers rally to beat Blue Devils

NASHUA – The Nashua High School South football team wrote a formula for disaster.

Usually teams that give up almost 400 yards rushing to Salem’s Max Jacques and Jerickson Fedrick, that turn the ball over four times against the Blue Devils and that trail by 10 late in the fourth quarter, lose to Salem.

Not the Panthers. Not on this night.

South’s Armand McRae caught eight passes for 131 yards and three touchdowns, the third a 75-yard catch-and-run that gave the Panthers the lead for good, and South rallied twice to beat Salem 38-34 in a Division I game at Stellos Stadium Friday night.

Fedrick (202 rushing yards, three touchdowns) and Jacques (195) put on a show, giving the Blue Devils leads of 24-17 in the third quarter and 34-24 with 6:56 left in the game, but the Panthers found a way to respond every time they fell behind.

“That was crazy,” South coach Scott Knight said. “We weren’t sharp all night. We had four turnovers. But what I was pleased about was our character.”

South (4-2 in division, 5-3 overall) found itself down 7-0 after Salem’s first drive – which ended on a 4-yard run by Fedrick – but the Panthers scored the next 17 points to go up by double-digits with 5:09 left before half.

But just before halftime, the Blue Devils (4-2, 5-3) recovered a South fumble and scored five plays later on a 36-yard pass play from Matt Cannone to Alexander Chase with 1:53 left in the half to make it 21-17.

Salem got the ball to start the second and put together a 16-play, 78-yard drive that ended on a 22-yard field goal by Christopher Saulnier that made it 24-17.

Despite the deficit, Knight was happy the defense didn’t break.

“Usually when you get around 12, something bad is going to happen,” he said. “That was a great drive by them, they didn’t make any mistakes, but we were able to hold them to a field goal. We knew if we could get some stops, we’d have a chance.”

The Blue Devils also turned the ball over three times, including an odd series later in third quarter, where the teams combined for three turnovers in a series of seven plays.

On the first play after the third miscue – a fumble by Jacques – South’s Keith Farkas was called for an illegal forward pass, losing a down and pushing the Panthers back. But on the next play, Farkas threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to McRae – his second – to tie the game at 24 with 35 seconds left in the third.

But Salem needed just two plays to answer, scoring on the first play of the fourth quarter when Fedrick went 51-yards for a touchdown that put the Blue Devils up 31-24.

Another field goal by Saulnier, this one from 21 yards, put Salem up 10 points with 6:56 left in the game.

South took over at its 43 after a short kickoff and needed just six plays to get in the end zone, scoring on a 6-yard run by Farkas.

“We ran zone all the way down the field,” Knight said of the drive. “I thought we could lean on them a little bit and our kids are in good condition. We found something we liked and then we started hammering away.”

Salem was forced to punt on the following possession, but the Blue Devils downed the ball at South’s 8-yard line. A sack of Faraks left the Panthers facing third-and-13 at its 5 when McRae ripped off a 16-yard run for a first down.

Then, on a third-and-6, Farkas hit McRae for a short gain, but the junior back broke out of two tackles and raced 75 yards for the go-ahead score with 1:49 left in the game. On the play before, Cannone had a shot at an interception that would have ended the drive.

“(McRae) wasn’t going to be denied on that,” Knight said. “That’s character. He wanted to get it done. We have enough weapons on this team, I tell the kids that no individual guy has to win the game.”

Farkas finished with 75 yards rushing and two touchdowns on the ground while going 13-of-20 for 246 yards and three touchdowns. Derek Paradis added 152 yards on 27 carries.

South’s win, coupled with wins by Nashua North (4-2) and Manchester Central (4-2), creates a log jam at the top of the Division. Pinkerton (4-1) plays on Saturday at Concord and a win would give the Astros sole possession of first place, while the other four teams would be tied for second.