Panthers hoping for better showing against Blue Devils

A football team that doesn’t need to make adjustments at halftime is usually sitting in a pretty nice spot.

That wasn’t the case for the Nashua High School South team in last week’s 54-48 double overtime loss to Londonderry.

The Panthers found themselves down 41-13 at the break, not because they couldn’t matchup against the Lancers. South’s problem was much more frustrating.

“We didn’t come out mentally prepared to play,” South coach Scott Knight said. “It was really frustrating. It’s probably the first game I can ever remember that it’s been two completely different games, two halves without adjustments being made, which is crazy. We thought we were lined up right and we were. We just weren’t playing.

“We’re done with it and it’s in the past, but for a couple of days, we were searching for answers.”

Hopefully for the Panthers (3-2 in Division I, 4-3 overall), they found them. It doesn’t get any easier this week, as Salem (4-1, 5-1) comes to Stellos Stadium for a 7 p.m. kickoff Friday night.

The Blue Devils are having no problem putting points on the board this season. Only twice has Salem scored less than 40 points in a game, and both of those were losses.

As expected, running backs Max Jacques and Jerickson Fedrick are leading the Salem offense. The duo gives the Blue Devils the ability to run the ball inside, but each one is also a threat to break a big gain at any time.

“Our kids run well and that definitely helps,” Knight said. “We had a number of plays the last couple of weeks, that in years past might have been touchdowns, with kids getting loose. We have kids who can actually run them down. When you can do that, you have a chance. When they break past your second level and it’s a touchdown, that’s a back-breaker.”

When the defense is able to stop one of those big gains, it forces the Salem offense to have to continue to work when it normally wouldn’t. While stopping the Blue Devils is easier said than done, slowing them down is possible makes things manageable, according to Knight.

“When you can run those kids down, they have to keep working, working, working,” he said. “You have to make them work for their touchdowns.”

In their last four games, the Panthers have played 12 good quarters of football and four that have been subpar. In those four, South has given up 21 points to Manchester Memorial and 41 to Londonderry.

The Panthers bounced back to shut out the Lancers in the second half a week ago, before giving up two scores in two overtimes, and Knight would like to see South play like that again.

“We went from one extreme to the other,” he said. “We took a half off and then we were back to our normal self. We just want to play good football, we just want to play well and see where we’re at.”