Pieces still coming together for Goffstown football

When the Goffstown High School football team puts it all together on offense, things have gone well this season.

And fortunately for the Grizzlies, they've been able to execute more often than not this year, including in Saturday's 46-13 win over Manchester Memorial.

Three of Goffstown's touchdowns came on plays of 30 yards or more, two of which were long completions that were the third and first play of the drive, respectively.

"We’re continuing to get better every week and that’s all we can ask for at this point," Goffstown coach Nick Hammond said. "Offensively, it’s about execution. When we execute the way we’re supposed to, we’re really tough to stop. When we don’t, we struggle."

Those struggles are easy to overlook when the offense is compiling 383 yards, with Zach Picard rushing for 159 yards and two touchdowns and Jarrett Henault throwing for 189 and two more scores.

Although those touchdown passes went for 53 yards to Jonah Lopez and 56 yards to Caden Perry, Henault's completion percentage for the day was just under 29 percent, including 4 of 18 in the first half.

"We missed a few early by a little bit, but we were able to clean it up," Hammond said. "Jarrett continues to do some really good things for us. He does a great job leading the team. He’s a really great decision maker and he does a great job in the run game. He is resilient and competitive as they come. He is really a next-play kid. He does a great job of going to get the next one."

That was evident on the two touchdown passes. On the first one, Henault was just 2 of 11 going into that drive, and after throwing incomplete on first down, he connected with Lopez for a 17-yard gain before the two collaborated again on the touchdown.

And on the first play of the second half, Henault hit Perry for his long touchdown reception.

Perry also had the play on defense that seemed to wake the Grizzlies up, as he picked off a pass by Memorial's Jeffrey Josefik and returned it to the Crusaders' 9-yard line. Two plays later, Henault scored from 8 yards out.

Goffstown's defense stepped up on Memorial's next possession after Christian Sebo returned the ensuing kickoff to the Grizzlies' 8-yard line. On third-and-goal from the Goffstown 2, Jeremy Henault brought down Sebo in the backfield for an 8-yard loss, forcing Memorial to attempt a 27-yard field goal that went wide left.

Although the Crusaders were able to move the ball throughout the game - Memorial had eight drives that ended in Goffstown territory - the Grizzlies were able to keep them off the scoreboard until the final minute of the game.

"They do some things on offense that are a little challenging for us," Hammond said. "We didn’t make the right checks and they got us. Our kids just need to be ready to play and I think that’s the most important thing for us. Defensively, it’s really about tackling for us. That’s been the No. 1 priority and it will be throughout."

A 3-yard fumble recovery returned for a touchdown by Toby Halpern with about seven minutes left to play helped round out a big all-around day for Goffstown.

"We preach getting the football back and securing it on offense, and when we do that, we do good things," Hammond said. "Any time you can get a turnover in their end, it’s important and it changes the game."