Merrimack football looks to right ship at Timberlane

It's not often that a football coach says he likes his team's effort after an 18-point loss, but it's been that kind of season for the Merrimack High School football team.

The Tomahawks fell to 0-4 in Division II (0-5 overall) following last Saturday's 31-13 loss to Manchester West, but coach Joe Battista saw some things from his players that he hadn't been seeing through the first four weeks of the season. Merrimack kept fighting until the end, driving down the field in the final minutes of the game, looking for a score that wouldn't have changed the outcome of the game.

The challenge for Battista and his coaches is to figure out how to get the 'Hawks to continue that for the next five weeks.

"We’re going to try some things that maybe go against my personality and how I like to run things," he said. "I think we have to do stuff to keep the players going. We can’t do the same old routine, because at this point, there is no carrot at the end. There’s no shot at the playoffs. We still have a long season."

There were other bright spots for Merrimack. Running back Sean McCarthy ran hard for the 'Hawks and quarterback Devin Gillis and receiver Conor Whalen seemed to get into the rhythm Merrimack has been looking for all season.

But the problem all season has been the number of guys that the 'Hawks can call upon in key situations.

"Certain positions, we’re strong, and at other positions, we’re playing people out of necessity," Battista said.

The 'Hawks went through a couple of seasons where numbers were down, and that's caught up to them this season.

"We had back-to-back-to-back small classes, and I think that’s caught up to us," Battista said. "This year, we have more players out there, but our upperclassmen numbers are still small. When you have three seasons in a row where our freshmen numbers were down, I think that’s catching up to us. I think next year, that trend might reverse. There’s a large class playing football in the middle school."

This week, Merrimack heads to Timberlane (1-2, 2-3) to face an Owls team that is fighting to keep itself afloat in Division II. Timberlane is coming of a non-division win over Salem, which snapped a two-game losing streak.

"Looking at them, they’re not the same size they’ve been in the past," Battista said. "I’m not going to think any less of them, because they’re always tough kids. I know they’re going to get off the ball and hit us."

Merrimack and Timberlane will kickoff Friday at 6:30 p.m. in Plaistow.