Nashua South football shows it still has plenty of fight left in it

There are two ways a football team with lofty preseason goals can go after starting a year with two consecutive losses.

Scott Knight saw his Nashua High School South football team head in the right direction last Friday, as the Panthers picked up their first win, 27-20, over Merrimack. But the signs that things might be OK with the team started to take place during the week of practice leading up to the game.

After opening the year by getting outscored, 60-28, by Salem and Pinkerton, South hit the practice field and, well, really started hitting.

"It was weird," Knight said. "We almost had a couple of fights in practice and kids were ornery. It was 85 degrees out and they fed off it. That was Tuesday and it continued into Wednesday.

"We worked really hard this week. I thought Wednesday was a big turning point for us as a football team and it showed. We were more physical than we’ve been. All of a sudden, we changed as a football team. I said bring that tomorrow and they did. Can we do that Friday night? We got out of the gate really bad and they said not going to happen."

On the first possession of the game, South's Alex Amigo dropped back to punt, but saw something that made him try to run for a first down. Instead, Merrimack stopped him for no gain, the Tomahawks took over at the Panthers' 29-yard line, and four plays later, South trailed 6-0.

"We got out of the gate really bad, made a couple of bad decisions, and gave them the ball in great field position," Knight said. "That’s the thing, I give them a lot of credit, because we have not been playing well the first couple of games. We said ‘you know what, enough is enough.’ We responded and finally developed a running game."

In the first half, South ran 44 plays, with 29 of them on the ground, and the Panthers finished the game with a 50-29 split of running plays to passing plays.

South was also able to convert on third and fourth down, picking up 12 of 21 on the night, including two on the game's final drive, when the Panthers were trying to run out the clock. Half of those successful conversions came in the first half, and five of them were on running plays, with running back Jaylan Pacheco leading the way.

"That’s nice to have that, to get 2 yards when you need it," Knight said of the 5-9, 220-pound junior. "You don’t have to load up the backfield. You don’t have to go full house or double tights. He’s a powerful kid."

But it wasn't until a fortuitous bounce midway through the second quarter that South started to find the end zone.

Merrimack's Joe Eichman broke free for a 50-yard run that would have given the Tomahawks the ball inside the South 30. But the senior tried to cutback through a couple of Panthers' defenders and lost the football, with Amigo knocking it free.

"They do a great job of hustling," Merrimack coach Kip Jackson said. "They were chasing him down and Joe tried to do a jump cut between all three and try to score because he likes to compete. Unfortunately, the ball came out."

Nine plays later, on fourth-and-7, South quarterback Sean Holland connected with Amigo on the first of three touchdown passes, this one from 30 yards out. Amigo made the catch over his shoulder as he was falling out of bounds in the end zone, and held on to the ball as he hit the ground.

"He brought his ‘A’ game (Friday)," Knight said. "I told him he’s the player of the game in my book. He made some big-time catches. Sean had some great throws. Those two fades down here are big time."

South (1-2) still has a long way to go to get to where it wants to be, starting Friday against Nashua North (2-1).