Panthers not overlooking Lancers

Scott Knight has two reasons he doesn’t think his Nashua High School South football team will get to throw the ball much Friday night against Londonderry.

One is the weather – the forecast calls for rain all day.

The other is the injury status of his quarterback.

Knight acknowledged that starter Trevor Knight, the coach’s son, suffered an undisclosed injury in practice on Wednesday, and it may keep him out of Friday night’s game. The Panthers will host the Lancers at 7 p.m. at Stellos Stadium.

If the younger Knight doesn’t play, Patrick Goff will get the start.

“There’s a strong chance he’s out (Friday),” Knight said. “(Goff) is very capable. He got reps in the Dover game, he got reps in the Pinkerton game and he got about three or four series in the Lowell game. All preseason he worked with the No. 1s.

“We don’t lose a lot there. And it depends on the weather. It could be a hand-the-ball-to-(Derek)-Paradis night and see how he goes.”

Whether the Panthers get to showcase their passing game or not, Knight is looking for his team to avoid the pitfall it suffered a year ago against the Lancers. Last season, South (3-1 in Division I) was coming off a big win over Nashua North and stumbled the next week, falling in overtime to Londonderry.

The coach has spent a lot of time this season talking to his team about those trap games.

“We’ve talked about it all week and it’s not just for this week either,” Knight said. “We talked about it for the North game, too, because it’s the same thing. Getting a good win at Concord (on Sept. 30), and getting a good win (last week), we don’t want a letdown after that. We just have to be aware of thinking we’re better than we are.”

The Lancers (0-5) are a different team than the one that lost to Milford and North in the first two weeks of the season. Londonderry has some players back from injury and off-the-field issues, and kept things close against Manchester Central last week before falling 14-10.

“They’re a much different team,” Knight said. “You don’t want a letdown here because then you put yourself in a spot. If we can take care of business, we’ve got a tough three game stretch, but I don’t want to think that far down the road because we’ve got to take care of (Friday).”

The Panthers finish off the season at Salem (3-1), against Exeter (3-1) and at Central (3-1). The four teams are battling for three playoff spots behind Pinkerton (5-0).

“We’re on-guard here,” Knight said. “We need to go out and play well.”