Merrimack football quickly put it all together in win over Concord

The Merrimack High School football team put itself in some bad situations in the first quarter of Friday's game against Concord.

There was a second-and-25 and a third-and-32 on the Tomahawks first possession, and a second-and-20 on the next one. A pass interference call on Merrimack's defense gave the Crimson Tide some great field position, too, but in less than a minute of game time, the Tomahawks completely changed everything.

Four plays after that pass interference call, Merrimack's Zach Twardosky corralled a tipped ball along the sideline for an interception. Two plays and 20 seconds later, Ben Eichman burst through a hole and went 82 yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead for Merrimack.

After a couple of punts, the Tomahawks got the ball back on their own 16-yard line, and James Dowling connected with Garrett Murray down the left sideline for an 84-yard touchdown pass. That possession took all of 13 seconds and put Merrimack up 14-0 going into the second quarter.

A pair of Concord punts were sandwiched around a Merrimack interception, but with the Tomahawks taking over at their own 31, the offensive line opened a huge hole for Eichman and he again went for a touchdown, this time from 69 yards out. That 11-second possession gave Merrimack a 22-0 lead and the Tomahawks were well on their way to a 39-7 win over Concord.

"We had the run and then we had the pass play we just missed," Merrimack coach Kip Jackson said. "We came back to that and ended up scoring on it. I think that second one pushed us over the top."

As impressive as the big plays were for the Tomahawks (6-1), the defense's performance might have been a bigger key to the win.

Merrimack held Concord to a total of 158 yards, including 84 in the first half, with 51 of those coming on one run by Tide quarterback Zach Miles. The senior recorded 10 more carries in the game, which went for a total of minus-2 yards.

"They were taking their ends and coming down hard, and then the linebacker was coming over the top to prevent," Concord coach Eric Brown said. "We run that veer play where Zach boxes it outside and they did a good job of containing it. We didn’t block it real well, but they had a good scheme."

The defensive performance is something the Tomahawks have come to expect this season. Friday's win was the sixth time in seven games that they've held the opposition under 10 points.

"Jared Dyer and Jordan Petrocelli, our defensive ends, are great, big playmakers," Eichman said. "Our linebackers, Bobby Bunis and Cole Keefe and Adam Thornton are great players. We had all our trust in them.

"We’re a great defensive team. We’re wicked physical and that plays a huge part in our success as a defense. I think that won us the game."

Jackson credits the work the players put in during the offseason for why the Tomahawks have been able to defend the way they have this year.

"It all goes back to the offseason," he said. "We have a lot of athletic kids who play multiple sports. We’re pretty fast on defense and disciplined. That usually ends up being a recipe for success. Coach (Brandon) Lilley does a great job preparing the kids each week."

Merrimack will face its two biggest tests of the year in the final two weeks of the season, as the Tomahawks host Nashua North (35.1 points per game) and goes to Bedford (45.9) to finish the year.

"North uses a variety of formations and ways of getting balls to their playmakers," Jackson said. "They’ve always been great at that. They’re very inventive about how they get the ball to people. Both of those teams will have more size and more speed than all the teams we’ve played so far."