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# Pacheco helps run Nashua South past Nashua North in Turkey Bowl
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/pacheco-helps-run-nashua-south-past-nashua-north-in-turkey-bowl/
- Published: 2018-11-22T10:30:34.000Z
- Updated: 2018-11-22T10:30:34.000Z
- Description: NASHUA - Jaylan Pacheco saw how hard his Nashua High School South football teammates had been working in practice the last few weeks, getting ready for Wednesday night's Turkey Bowl. Knowing the effort the Panthers had put in, and knowing that this would be his last time playing with them, the senio
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Division I, football, Nashua North, Nashua South, slider, Turkey Bowl, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

NASHUA - Jaylan Pacheco saw how hard his Nashua High School South football teammates had been working in practice the last few weeks, getting ready for Wednesday night's Turkey Bowl.

Knowing the effort the Panthers had put in, and knowing that this would be his last time playing with them, the senior wanted to make sure his effort matched.

Pacheco did that and more, rushing for five touchdowns, as South overcame some big plays from Nashua North on the first half and shut out the Titans in the second half for a 52-26 win in the 15th Thanksgiving game between the schools at Stellos Stadium.

It was the third win in a row to end the season for the Panthers, and their third straight win over North in the Turkey Bowl. South did it with a rushing attack that went for 347 yards and kept the ball away from the Titans for long stretches.

Pacheco led the way, running for 203 yards to go with his five touchdowns, and quarterback Dante Young completed 7 of 13 passes for 139 yards, including a 15-yard touchdown to Jason Compoh. Chris Keefe also had a 56-yard rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter for South (5-5).

"I wanted to play the best I could for my team," Pacheco said. "Everyone was working really hard for this game and I felt like I couldn’t let everybody down. I wanted to work the best I could. The line was giving me a lot of good reads and I was happy the way the team performed."

After some early struggles that included North (7-4) scoring long touchdowns on each of its first two plays, the South defense settled in and held the Titans to just three yards of offense in the second half and just two first downs for the game.

On the first play from scrimmage, North's Curtis Harris hit Austin Ouellette for a 72-yard touchdown. After the Panthers answered with a seven-play, 63-yard drive that ended in Pacheco's first touchdown, Harris scrambled for a 63-yard scoring run.

"It started out real well and we just kind of puttered out," North coach Dante Laurendi said. "We didn’t tackle real well, we didn’t take advantage of some opportunities. The kids played hard, we just didn’t play well. A little bit of the rust showed."

Ouellette had a big first half for the Titans, adding a 38-yard run for a touchdown and an 82-yard kickoff return for another score.

"What a way to go out for him," Laurendi said of Ouellette. "He created so many big plays for us over the last few years. It was great for him to go out and do that again."

Ouellette's third touchdown of the first half gave North a 26-16 lead, but South came right back, cutting it to two on Young's touchdown pass to Compoh with five minutes left in the half.

The Titans turned the ball over on their next two possessions, and the Panthers capitalized on the second, needing just four plays to go ahead on a 5-yard run by Pacheco. Young's pass to Pacheco for two made it 32-26 South going into the half.

After neither team could get anything going to open the third quarter, North appeared to win the field position battle, pinning South at its own 8-yard line.

But on second down, Pacheco rumbled for 23 yards, kick-starting a nine-play, 92-yard drive that ended with a 10-yard scoring run by the senior.

"The key was the 92-yard drive," South coach Scott Knight said. "That took a lot of clock and we were able to get in.

"The second half we settled down. We’ve been off so long. You’re playing against a scout team for three-and-a-half weeks. The speed of the game, we’re looking at the same stuff, but the speed is different. You get here and you have to change your game speed a little bit. Once we started doing that, we were OK."

North looked like it might swing some momentum when it forced South over on downs at the Titans' 17-yard line with 7:58 left in the game. But they went three-and-out and the Panthers scored to take a 46-26 lead with 5:41 remaining.

"It makes me very happy to know we came out on top, but it’s also sad to know this is the last time I will play with a lot of these kids," Pacheco said. "I owed it to my team. They worked really hard. We were out here grinding every day, trying to get better as a team."