Merrimack football gets first win over Bishop Guertin since 2000

NASHUA - Joe Giampietro may have been sore after Saturday night's football game, but everything else the Merrimack High School senior was feeling made up for it.

After suffering a season-ending knee injury in the second game of each of the last two seasons, Giampietro left Stellos Stadium on his own after scoring the game-winning touchdown that lifted Merrimack to a 16-13 win over Bishop Guertin.

"Nothing feels better than to be able to make it to Week 3," Giampietro said. "Especially with scoring that touchdown, my heart just poured out and it was just awesome."

The win was Merrimack's first over Bishop Guertin since Sept. 3, 2000, when the Tomahawks were previously in Division I and defeated the Cardinals 17-0 in a crossover game to open the season.

Giampietro led Merrimack (2-0) with 74 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries, as the Tomahawks outgained the Cardinals 261-173, including 154-67 in the second half. Justin Grassini was 8 of 18 passing for 108 yards with a 22-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Barry, who finished the day with 108 total yards of offense.

"That was a great battle," Merrimack coach Dante Laurendi said. "Both teams were physical, flying around, and we just happened to make one more play at the end. Our defense played their butts off and really came through.

"Some slight adjustments (on offense at halftime), but we weren't maintaining blocks and guys weren't keeping their heads up. They were bringing pressure and coming real hard and real physical, so you tip your cap to them. They were forcing us into grinding it."

Bishop Guertin had a 10-0 lead in the first half and went up 13-10 with 6:06 to play thanks to a 35-yard field goal by Chase Hughes, but the Cardinals (0-2) struggled on offense without injured running backs Kelvin Rivera (hand) and Jackson Housman (knee).

"We had some good spurts at times and we were moving the ball well, and then at other times, not so well," Bishop Guertin coach Travis Cote said. "It was kind of an up-and-down game. We weren't as consistent as we needed to be. We had a lot of guys, some sophomores, playing who are inexperienced. We're trying to move guys around to different spots so that we can utilize the best 11 we can put out there."

Keenan Dwyer had a team-high 49 yards rushing and Hughes added a 5-yard touchdown run and a 24-yard field goal in the first half. Kyle Cushion was 10 of 16 passing for 53 yards and added 20 yards on the ground.

The Cardinals got the first big play of the game on Merrimack's first offensive possession, when Cushion intercepted a pass by Grassini and returned it to the Tomahawks' 5-yard line. Two players later, Hughes crossed the goal line to put Bishop Guertin up 7-0 with 6:50 left in the opening quarter.

Merrimack was able to pick up a couple of first downs on its next two possessions, but was forced to punt each time. The second gave Bishop Guertin the ball at its own 21 and the Cardinals got down to the Tomahawks' 6-yard line before settling for a field goal by Hughes and a 10-0 lead with 6:40 to go in the half.

The teams traded three-and-outs, but Merrimack blocked Hughes' punt, giving the Tomahawks the ball at their own 43, and six plays later, Grassini found Barry open over the middle for a 22-yard touchdown that made it 10-7 with 1:55 to go until halftime.

"Just to build momentum and get some confidence after seeing a zero on the board and shooting ourselves in the foot," Laurendi said. "They were bringing pressure and forcing us into bad situations, so to get that, it was a momentum boost for us."

Merrimack tied the game late in the third quarter on Kyle Newman's 25-yard field goal, which capped a 12-play drive that started on the Tomahawks' 12.

After the Tomahawks' defense forced the ball over on downs on the Cardinals' next possession, Merrimack moved inside the Bishop Guertin 40-yard line. But the drive stalled there, and on fourth down, Merrimack faked the punt and Grassini's pass fell incomplete.

A defensive holding call on the next play moved Bishop Guertin to midfield and a 14-yard run by Cushion helped set up Hughes' second field goal of the game, putting the Cardinals up by three.

"I think our defense was good most of the night," Giampietro said. "We held their offense and it helped that it was only a field goal."

Merrimack took over on its own 23, and on first down, Bishop Guertin was flagged for defensive pass interference. Then, on third-and-5, Grassini found Ian Roberts for a 15-yard gain, and on the tackle, the Cardinals were flagged for a helmet-to-helmet hit, adding another 15 yards.

"That's tough on the last drive like that," Cote said. "The kid is going down to make a tackle and the offensive guy drops his head and they hit helmet to helmet. That's part of the game and there's not much you can do."

That gave the Tomahawks a first down at the Cardinals' 28.

"A lot of it's not intentional and a lot of the time you can't avoid it," Laurendi said of the penalty. "I'm sure the call helped us out, because it was tacked on to a nice pass play. Definitely a big break."

Four plays later, Giampietro barreled into the end zone from the 2-yard line with 4:05 to play. Bishop Guertin blocked the extra point, but the Merrimack defense was able to keep the Cardinals from picking up a first down, and after working some clock, Merrimack's Justin Weiser intercepted a pass by Jordan Hiscoe to close the door.