> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Nashua South holds off Bishop Guertin to move on to D1 football semifinal - URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/nashua-south-holds-off-bishop-guertin-to-move-on-to-d1-football-semifinal/ - Published: 2025-11-15T15:00:15.000Z - Updated: 2025-11-15T15:00:15.000Z - Description: NASHUA - The Nashua High School South football team believes it has the best wide receivers in the state and after Friday night’s quarterfinal you can certainly see why. Senior quarterback Cody Jackson went 16 for 22 with 214 passing yards and two touchdowns, and senior receiver Colvin Levesque (112 - Author: Dan Attorri - Tags: Division I, Bishop Guertin, football, Nashua South, playoffs, slider, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44 NASHUA - The Nashua High School South football team believes it has the best wide receivers in the state and after Friday night’s quarterfinal you can certainly see why. Senior quarterback Cody Jackson went 16 for 22 with 214 passing yards and two touchdowns, and senior receiver Colvin Levesque (112 receiving yards and a touchdown on eight catches, plus a rushing TD) and junior receiver Justin Fish (five receptions for 70 yards) made big plays. Those performances helped the No. 4 Panthers decisively defeat No. 5 Bishop Guertin, 31-14, at Stellos Stadium to in the Division I quarterfinals. Jackson rattled off five straight completions on the first drive of the game to set up Levesque’s 2-yard rushing touchdown to give the Panthers a 7-0 lead. Bishop Guertin junior quarterback Nate Bowen (14 for 28, 138 passing yards) responded with a solid drive of his own, resulting in a 3-yard touchdown by junior Logan Curran (37 yards on eight carries) to tie the score, 7-7, with 1:55 left in the first quarter. But South (9-2) senior running back Sam Levine (99 yards on 29 carries) scored a 13-yard touchdown early in the second quarter and senior defensive back Joshua Tripp returned an interception 68 yards on the ensuing drive to set up Levesque for an 11-yard touchdown catch and a 21-7 Panther lead. South scored on every possession in the first half and Bishop Guertin (8-3) simply couldn’t match that firepower. “We believe we’ve got the best skill guys, we want to air it out,” Levesque said. “They ran a lot of man-to-man. As a receiver you work in the offseason and every day in practice to be able to show up when they do things like that. It comes down to preparation.” Senior Preston Bois connected on a 27-yard field goal to give the Panthers a 24-7 halftime lead. Jackson could not be stopped in the first half, going 12 for 14 with 164 yards over the first 24 minutes. “He’s incredible. I feel like every week he does something new to amaze me even more,” South coach Josh Porter said. “I can’t speak highly enough about Cody. His performance on the field, his leadership. Operating the offense, he’s a total commander of it. It’s awesome to see his hard work translate out here to the success he’s having.” While the Panthers seemingly could do whatever they wanted offensively, their defense was equally impressive, holding D1’s top receiver, BG junior Rocco Roy, to just 20 yards on three catches. “They’re a very tough team to plan for on the defensive side of the ball between their spread sets,” Porter said. "They get into that wishbone look. We had a hard week at practice getting after it and preparing. They do a good job moving (Roy) all over the field. We definitely had some extra attention with Tripp back there making sure, we were trying to rob them of his inbreaking routes.” While the Cardinals did a good job getting senior receivers Alex Dolan (55 yards on four catches) and Sam Fayad (50 yards on three catches) involved, and BG opened the second half with a short touchdown run up the gut by freshman running back Will Adams (26 yards on seven carries), the momentum swing was short-lived. The Cardinals cut South’s lead to 24-14, but the Panthers scored on the very next drive (a 4-yard pass to Tripp, his only catch of the game) to extend their lead to 31-14 with 2:59 left in the third. “Obviously they’ve got some good skill players that put a lot of stress on the (defensive backs),” Bishop Guertin coach Anthony Nalen said. “When they score at that rate and we don’t score, we’re out of the game early. It takes us out of what we could do. We tried to establish the run. In the second half we were able to do it, but when you’re chasing 21 points you can’t do that.” Tripp’s touchdown was crucial in helping the Panthers avoid the fate that BG did when the two teams last met. In their previous meeting on Oct. 10, the Cardinals led 24-8 at halftime, but South scored 20 points in the second half to claim the victory. “They got one drive on us. They ran the rock out of half. We came back and said ‘that’s enough of that,'” Porter said. “We were happy to shut them down after that, that swung the momentum for sure.” South senior lineman Kevin Hamel had a big game defensively. He broke up a pass, had a tackle for loss, and recovered a fumble off a strip sack by fellow senior Ray Karuru with about four minutes left to end BG’s final possession. “It starts with the preparation at practice all week and in the film room. We were ready for this team,” Hamel said. “Even a couple a weeks ago when we played them we weren’t as sound on defense, but we showed up (Friday).” Levine ran for a pair of first downs and South went into victory formation to bring BG’s season to a close. “Proud of the seniors. That’s a great group. They definitely built the foundation for us,” Nalen said. “We’ve got a lot of young guys who played for us (Friday). They did a great job for us, the future is bright.” The Panthers are heading into next weekend’s semifinals on a hot streak. South has won four games in a row, including two commanding victories to open the playoffs. Those two victories, a 44-15 win over Londonderry in the prelims and the quarterfinal victory over BG, were won in similar fashion, with the Panthers using the athleticism and talent of their skill players to make big plays and build early leads. “When our offense and defense is making big plays like that, we can all feed off of each other’s energy and it keeps getting better as the game goes on,” Jackson said. It’s going to take a lot of energy if South is going to come out on top in the semifinals against No. 1 Bedford. The undefeated Bulldogs routed Winnacunnet 44-13 in the quarterfinals and defeated Nashua South 34-14 when the two teams played in the regular season on Sept. 12. “Daunting task. They’re the only undefeated team in the state,” Porter said. “They’ve got athletes all over the field. Offense, defense, awesome in the trenches. But I think we’re a much better team now than when we played them in Week 2\. And I’m sure they’re a better team now than they were. It’s gonna be a great game. I’m looking forward to the challenge and I think our guys will be excited for that one.”