Nashua North football dominates on both sides of the ball to beat Spaulding

NASHUA - When asked which side of the ball the Nashua High School North football team looked better on Friday night, Titans coach Dante Laurendi couldn't pick.

There was good reason for that.

North was in control on both sides of the ball against Spaulding, with junior Curtis Harris leading the way on offense and defense, as the Titans rolled to a 36-0 win over the Red Raiders in a Division I game at Stellos Stadium.

Harris finished with 167 yards rushing and three touchdowns on 17 carries while also going 5 of 10 passing for 77 yards, and he set the tone for North (2-0) defensively, coming up from his safety position to deliver some hard hits early.

"He’s done that since he was a freshman, how physical he is," Laurendi said. "He gets to the ball in a hurry and he gets there with some bad intent. He’s a heck of a player and once he got rolling, I think the other guys got rolling. We were able to distribute the ball.

"We were able to move the ball when we needed to and then were able to get stops in deep down and distances."

The Titans piled up 234 of their 366 yards in the first half, getting out to a 29-0 lead, while holding Spaulding to just 12 yards in the first two quarters, including minus-9 yards rushing.

For Red Raiders coach Kevin Herbert, his team's struggles on offense started with Harris blowing up potentially big plays.

"I think he takes big plays and makes them 4-yard gains," the Spaulding coach said. "Those are difference making type of plays. We have some good skill kids, and we’re starting to get some kids in our program athletically, but when you get that kid in the middle of the field, and he’s making big plays into minimal gains, it’s tough to get going."

Anthony Greene added 37 yards rushing and a touchdown for the Titans while Jayden Espinal had 22 yards and a score on the ground and caught three passes for 30 yards. Xavier Provost had 33 yards rushing and Sam Nicholls caught two passes for 47 yards.

After each team punted on its first possession, North took over at the Spaulding 46-yard line and needed eight plays to find the end zone, scoring on a 3-yard run by Harris.

A three-and-out by Spaulding set North up with the ball near midfield again, and Harris capped off the drive with another 3-yard scoring run to make it 14-0 with 2:02 to go in the first quarter.

Garrett Langis gave Spaulding good field position by returning the kickoff to the Red Raiders' 38, and facing fourth-and-2 at the 46, they called for a fake punt. But Adiran Sutton's rushing attempt was stopped a yard short of the first down, and three plays later, Harris ran in from 30 yards out to give North a 21-0 lead.

"He makes plays all over the field and where they put him schematically, he’s very tough to account for where he’s coming from," Hebert said. "We knew that coming in."

The Titans' defense forced another three-and-out, and this time, the snap on the punt went over Sutton's head and North recovered at the Spaulding 12. Two players later, Greene ran it in from 4 yards out, extending the Titans' lead to 29-0, and that's where it stood at halftime.

The Red Raiders took the opening kickoff of the second half and put together a 10-play drive that got them inside the North 5-yard line. But on fourth-and-goal from the 3, the Titans made the stop, taking over their 5.

North put together a drive of its own, going 88 yards on 14 plays, but on first-and-goal at the Spaudling 7, Brian Mwangi fumbled the handoff from Harris and Spaulding's Ryan Lane recovered. North found the end zone on its next possession, getting a touchdown from Espinal to put the game into running time.

"We played real physical," Laurendi said. "We flew around defensively, which is great. We took advantage of a lot of their penalties. They were behind the sticks quite a bit. We took advantage when we had the opportunity, which is good."