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# Nashua North football wraps up a top seed with win against Merrimack (video)
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/nashua-north-football-wraps-up-a-top-seed-with-win-against-merrimack-video/
- Published: 2019-10-26T14:40:11.000Z
- Updated: 2019-10-26T14:40:11.000Z
- Description: NASHUA - The Nashua High School North football team had just picked up its eighth win of the season, remaining undefeated, and clinched home field through the first two rounds of the Division I playoffs. But after Friday night's 31-19 win over Merrimack, the Titans celebration was slightly tempered.
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Division I, football, Merrimack, Nashua North, playoffs, slider, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

NASHUA - The Nashua High School North football team had just picked up its eighth win of the season, remaining undefeated, and clinched home field through the first two rounds of the Division I playoffs.

But after Friday night's 31-19 win over Merrimack, the Titans celebration was slightly tempered.

That's because, with under three minutes to play in the third quarter, North junior quarterback Curtis Harris went down awkwardly and was writhing in pain on the Stellos Stadium turf. After being attended to on the field, Harris was able to walk off on his own, and after getting checked out, was walking the Titans' sideline for the remainder of the game.

The severity of the injury to Harris' left knee won't fully be known until early next week, but North coach Dante Laurendi believed a worst-case scenario was avoided.

"We still have to evaluate, but it’s tough to tell," the coach said. "We have to see the severity of what the other stuff is. We’ll wait and see. We’ll hope for the best and see what happens. Hopefully, it’s not something too bad."

Before the injury, Harris had done to the Tomahawks (5-3) what he's done to teams all season, rushing for 175 yards and three touchdowns while completing all five of his pass attempts for 89 yards and a touchdown. The Titans (8-0) took a 31-7 lead into halftime and held off a Merrimack fourth-quarter comeback to finish out the win.

North outgained Merrimack 309-76 in the first half and finished with 421 yards. Jayden Espinal added 86 yards on nine carries for the Titans while Sam Nicholls caught three pass for 75 yards and a score, all of which came on a drive at the end of the first half.

On that possession, North faced a third-and-26 from its own 22, but Harris was able to roll out of the pocket, and while on the run, throw a bomb to Nicholls for a 47-yard completion. Two players later, the two connected again for a 12-yard gain to the Merrimack 19, and then Harris hit the senior receiver for a 16-yard touchdown with 13 seconds left in the half.

"He’s a special athlete and a great kid," Merrimack coach Kip Jackson said. "Whenever he gets a crease, he’s dangerous. He’s similar to some of the special kids we had at South (where Jackson was an assistant) and some of the kids we’ve had recently at Merrimack. You have to make sure you have good leverage at all times and make sure tackles."

Defensively, the Titans made it a rough night for Merrimack quarterback James Dowling, who was just 6 of 14 for 122 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He also had 10 carries for 53 yards before leaving the game late with an ankle injury.

In the second half, the Tomahawks moved Dowling out to receiver and put Kyle Crampton at quarterback, but he was just 4 of 11 for 25 yards. Devin Wood finished with five catches for 92 yards and a touchdown and Jared Dyer had two rushing scores for Merrimack.

Harris put North up 7-0 with 8:30 left in the first quarter on a 63-yard touchdown run, taking the snap on a designed run and going around the right side of the line, where there was just enough room for him to race down the sideline.

"I hit the hole, and then the linebacker, he grabbed me, so I figured he was going to pull me down," Harris said. "Then he let go, so I just kept running."

Lucas Cunningham added a 26-yard field goal on North's next possession, but Wood returned the ensuing kickoff to the Titans' 19-yard line. Four plays later, Dyer scored from 2 yards out to make it 10-7 with 1:47 left in the first.

North answered with an eight-play, 65-yard drive that was aided by a defensive pass interference call on Merrimack that turned a third-and-10 from the Tomahawks' 34 into a first down. Harris scored from 9 yards out three plays later to make it 17-7.

On the Titans' next possession, the junior added a 34-yard touchdown run, and after Espinal picked off Dowling, Harris' touchdown pass to Nicholls finished off the scoring in the first half.

"We know there are going to be times we have to throw it in certain downs and distances," Laurendi said. "But we’ll take what they give us. It’s kind of whatever we need to do. We’re not saying we have to run the ball or we have to throw the ball. This late in the year, you have to do what you’ve got to do to survive."

Merrimack scored twice in the fourth quarter to cut into the lead, getting a 75-yard touchdown reception from Dowling to Wood to make it 31-13 with 9:17 to play. The Tomahawks added a 15-play, 80-yard drive that ended with a 5-yard touchdown run by Dyer to close out the scoring with 2:43 remaining.

North goes on the road to finish off the regular season, as the Titans face Portsmouth-Oyster River on Friday. Merrimack will host Winnacunnet, also on Friday, needing a win, or a Bishop Guertin loss, to clinch a playoff spot.

"We knew we had to win one of the next two just to make sure we control our own destiny," Jackson said. "Now we have to win next week."