Merrimack football's defense set the table for offense's biggest plays against Nashua North

The Merrimack High School football team came out of the locker room for the second half of Friday's game against Nashua North ready to get its offense in gear.

Although the Tomahawks had a two-point lead, they had only run 22 plays, thanks in part to a nine-minute drive by the Titans that ate up most of the second quarter.

But North's defense forced Merrimack to go three-and-out, the third time the Tomahawks had failed to pick up a first down on the night, and the kick by Devin Wood rolled to a stop at the Titans' 20-yard line.

Merrimack returned the favor, and with North's Sam Nicholls back to punt, the Tomahawks were able to get pressure. Logan Karch busted through the line and got into the backfield fast enough that Nicholls was forced to tuck the ball and run.

Nicholls picked up four yards on the run, but needed nine, and Merrimack took over at the North 25. Three plays later, Ben Eichman scored from 8 yards out, one of his four touchdowns on the night, and the Tomahawks had the momentum they were hoping to get in a 32-24 win over the Titans.

"We felt good about where we were and we knew we got the ball at the beginning of the second half," Merrimack coach Kip Jackson said. "We wanted to try to set the tone right away, and score, which didn’t happen.

"What did end up happening was that our defense was playing really well. I think that allowed us to capture momentum and keep it for a while at the beginning of the second half. We needed it, based on what happened at the end of the game."

Merrimack forced another punt, and on the ensuing play, Wood made a diving catch over the middle for a 39-yard gain to the North 16. Then, on fourth-and-12, James Dowling completed a screen pass to Eichman, who followed his blockers to the right sideline and outran the Titans defense to the end zone.

"It’s amazing to watch a teammate succeed like he does and I’m just so proud of him," Dowling said of Eichman. "We all work as a team. I can’t thank our line enough and we have hard running backs who got the job done."

That score made it 20-6 Merrimack, and after an interception by Eichman, the senior running back scored again to make it a 20-point game.

"It was a collection of things," North coach Dante Laurendi said. "You just kind of keep making mistakes. The fumble, some bad penalties, we missed some tackles, we didn’t convert on some downs we needed to. It was a combination of things.

"These guys are really good and they have a heck of a defense. They fly around the football, they get 11 guys to the football, they play physical. This was one of the most physically games on both sides that we’ve been in all year."

North outgained Merrimack by 90 yards, but the Titans also turned the ball over four times - not including the failed punt to open the second half - and were unsuccessful on all four of their point-after conversions.

"They showed a lot of heart coming back when they were down by 20," Jackson said of North. "It was a lot of mistakes by both teams. We wanted to play with the field tilted toward their side and it allowed us to run the ball a little bit more and be a little more physical."