Nashua North football using its time wisely

BEDFORD - The Nashua High School North football team is still looking to make improvements on offense, but Jason Robie knows his team still has time to get that done.

There were things the Titans coach liked during Saturday morning's scrimmage at Bedford, and for the things he didn't like, well, there's almost two weeks left to get better.

"We need to shore a few things up offensively," Robie said. "I also think that, in terms of the offense, some of the stuff is new, so it takes some time. We’re antsy, but we’re still 13 days from opening up. It’s not like we’re opening up tomorrow. We have 13 days to watch film and fix things and we will."

North starts the 2013 season at Stellos Stadium on Sept. 6 against Keene, one of its new opponents in Division I's West Conference.

As of now, the Titans will go into that game with senior Brandon Martin as their No. 1 quarterback, even though Martin and junior Colby Gunter both saw reps with the first string on Saturday. The last time Martin was under center, he was leading North to a last-minute win over Nashua South on Thanksgiving Day.

"Brandon Martin is the No. 1 right now," Robie said. "He’s shaking the cobwebs off and getting a feel for the system we’re running. He’s going to be fine."

With former offensive coordinator Dante Laurendi now the head coach at Merrimack, the Titans are adjusting to a few new things on offense. One of those is trying to find ways to move Martin around in the pocket.

"We don’t have the tallest of quarterbacks, so we’re going to have to move the pocket and roll him out a little," Robie said. "There were a couple of times we had guys who were wide open and we didn’t get the pass there. That’s trusting the reads and progressions. He’ll get there. He’s a good leader. We’re not where we’re going to be in 13 days."