Nashua South football takes advantage of Merrimack turnovers to win first game

NASHUA – It wasn't pretty, but with an 0-3 start staring the Nashua High School South football team in the face, the Panthers will take whatever they can get.

South struggled to move the ball for parts of Saturday afternoon, but was able to take advantage of seven Merrimack turnovers and beat the Tomahawks 43-14 at Stellos Stadium.

The Panthers rushed for 291 yards and scored off four of the Tomahawks' turnovers, including returning a fumble and an interception for a touchdown in the first half.

"One thing we do, starting last week, we started hitting on defense," South coach Scott Knight said. "When you hit people on defense, you start to create some of the turnovers we were able to get. That's big for us."

Merrimack scored first in both halves, and seemed poised to make it a game with a touchdown drive to open the third, making it a 21-14 South lead. But the Tomahawks lost fumbles on two of their next three plays and only ran 12 plays in the game's final 21 minutes.

"We have to do a better job in other situations of protect the football," Merrimack coach Dante Laurendi said. "They're very physical. They hustle to the ball, so one guy is making the tackle and another guy is coming from behind. We've got to protect the ball better, but you certainly give their kids credit for being physical."

With quarterbacks Malik Langa and Shayne Holland struggling in the passing game, South turned to its ground game. Andrew DeCarteret led the way, rushing 15 times for 92 yards and a touchdown, while Josh Perry added 80 yards and two rushing touchdowns on 14 carries.

Perry returned an interception 22 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter that put South up 21-7. The Panthers also got a 22-yard fumble return for a score by Collin Morrow, which came on the kickoff after South tied the game at 7 late in the first quarter.

South (1-2) finished with 365 yards, but the quarterbacks - the Panthers played five in all - were a combined 11 of 17 for 74 yards and two interceptions.

"Right now, the passing game, it's not so much the quarterback, it's everything," Knight said. "Our spacing is wrong, we didn't send a man in motions a couple of times, we had a lot of stuff going on (Saturday) and wondered 'what is going on.' Hopefully, we'll evolve into something that's a little more consistent."

Merrimack (2-1) got the game’s first score, when Joe Giampietro rumbled in from 1 yard out to make it 7-0 Tomahawks with 2:43 left in the quarter. The score was setup by a 34-yard pass from Justin Grassini to Andrew DeGregorio that gave Merrimack a first down at the South 6-yard line.

But on the ensuing drive, Holland ran for a 52-yard touchdown to tie the game, and on the kickoff, Merrimack’s Tyler DeNeill lost the football while running and Morrow recovered and raced untouched into the end zone, giving the Panthers two touchdowns in 10 seconds.

The Tomahawks went into the half down two scores, but Grassini helped lead a nine-play, 78-yard drive that ended on a 6-yard touchdown pass from Grassini to Ryan Barry. On the drive Grassini (15 of 22, 211 yards, TD, three interceptions) connected with Dylan Beaulieu twice on the drive for gains of 29 and 32 yards respectively.

Merrimack appeared to get a break on the next South drive, when DeCarteret fumbled at the Panthers' 42 and it was recovered by Merrimack's Eric Cabral. But on the next play, the snap sailed over Grassini's head and was picked up by South's Jesus Antonio, giving the Panthers a first down at the Merrimack 23.

Six plays later, Perry ran in from 18 yards out to make it a 28-14 game, and South got the ball back two plays later, when Grassini was strip sacked and Thomas Crocco recovered the fumble for the Panthers. Langa ran it in from 13 yards out to put South up 36-14.

South finished off the scoring with a 13-play, 77-yard drive that ended with a 6-yard run by Perry.

"That last drive we had, we drove down, took care of the ball and finished," Knight said. "That's what we're looking for. When your 0-2, your backs' not against the wall. You've got to get that win just for the kids' confidence. You're inching closer to getting your backs against the wall and your confidence is taking a nose dive."

South will take on Nashua North at 7 p.m. Friday at Stellos Stadium, while Merrimack returns home to host Alvirne, also Friday.