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# Pinkerton football takes advantage of turnovers, rolls past Nashua South (video)
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/pinkerton-football-takes-advantage-turnovers-rolls-past-nashua-south-video/
- Published: 2017-11-05T15:00:42.000Z
- Updated: 2017-11-05T15:00:42.000Z
- Description: NASHUA - It's not often the Pinkerton Academy football team goes into the postseason with less playoff experience than its opponent. That was the case in Saturday's Division I quarterfinal, and the Astros showed that inexperience early on offense and special teams, losing three fumbles in the first
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Division I, football, Nashua South, Pinkerton, playoffs, slider, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

NASHUA - It's not often the Pinkerton Academy football team goes into the postseason with less playoff experience than its opponent.

That was the case in Saturday's Division I quarterfinal, and the Astros showed that inexperience early on offense and special teams, losing three fumbles in the first half.

Fortunately, the defense was ready for the challenge.

Pinkerton overcame a disastrous start to force seven turnovers and keep Nashua South from capitalizing on its early opportunities on the way to a 42-14 win over the Panthers at Stellos Stadium. The win sends No. 3 Pinkerton (9-1) to the semifinals, where it will face No. 1 Salem (10-0) on Nov. 11.

Ty Hicks rushed for 134 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries and also threw a 49-yard touchdown pass to Kayden Baillargeon early in the third quarter that gave the Astros a 35-7 lead. Baillargeon also had two interceptions of South quarterback Sean Holland, as both he and Hicks made up for fumbles early in the game.

"First quarter showed our inexperience in the playoffs with a lot of kids," Pinkerton coach Brian O'Reilly said. "That’s what one year off from the playoffs will get you with a young team. It was not a good way to start, right from the opening kickoff. But we held them off, we got better and better, and by the end of the game, we’ve got our playoff situation underneath us."

Baillargeon couldn't handle the game's opening kickoff, leaving the ball on the turf for South's Taevon Olson to scoop up at the 10-yard line. But a holding call and a sack pushed the Panthers back to the 30 and Pinkerton forced the ball over on downs.

On the Astros' third possession, Hicks had the ball stripped by Jaylan Pacheco, setting up a 30-yard touchdown pass from Holland to Tony Agor that gave South a 7-0 lead with 3:53 left in the first quarter.

Hicks would atone three plays later, finding a seam and going 71 yards for a touchdown that tied the game just 1:33 later and started a run of 42 points in a row for Pinkerton. Twenty-eight of those points came off South turnovers, including two touchdowns in the first three minutes of the third quarter.

"We haven’t had a game spin out of control like this in a long time," South coach Scott Knight said. "Things just unraveled real quick. The kids worked really hard and I feel bad for them. They put a lot of time in in the offseason and in the summer. They’re hurting."

Holland finished the game 24 of 40 for 253 yards and two touchdowns - both to Agor (three catches, 60 yards) - but also threw four interceptions. The senior quarterback also rushed for 51 yards on 21 carries, while Derek Downing caught nine passes for 89 yards and Olson added five catches for 78 yards.

Pinkerton took the lead for good with 6:06 left in the second quarter on a 5-yard touchdown run by Nicholas Lombard. The score was set up after South's Tanner Plourde fumbled a fair catch on an Astros punt near the Panthers' 40-yard line.

Three plays later, Holland was picked off by Baillargeon, who returned the interception 29 yards for a touchdown, but the score was called back on a block in the back by Pinkerton. On the next play, Gannon Fast ran up the middle for a 26-yard touchdown and a 21-7 lead with 4:41 to go in the half.

The Astros looked like they might make it a three-score game after recovering a Pacheco fumble at the South 48 on the Panthers' next possession. Pinkerton got down to the 13-yard line, but a fumble by Lombard ended the drive.

With 49 seconds left in the half, South put a drive together to get down to the Pinkerton 24, but a pair of sacks by the Astros pushed the Panthers back to the 37\. Holland's fourth-down attempt for Downing was broken up by Ryan Auger inside the 5-yard line to end the half.

"Our secondary has finally come together and they close on the ball," O'Reilly said. "That was something we were missing for a couple of years. They’d be in an area, watch a kid catch the ball, and come up and tackle them. Now we close on the ball. There were a couple of passes (Saturday) where you thought a guy was wide open, and at the last second, our guy came up."

On the opening drive of the second half, it was Maxwell Moseley coming up with an interception of Holland, which he returned 35 yards for a touchdown, but another penalty on Pinkerton, this time a clipping call, gave the Astros the ball at the South 22\. Four plays later, Gennaro Mara ran in from 6 yards out to make it 28-7.

Olson fumbled on South's next possession and Hicks found Baillargeon on a halfback option pass to make it a four-score game just 30 seconds later.

The Pinkerton defense stopped the Panthers at the Astros' 1-yard line on the following drive, and Baillargeon got his second interception of the game early in the fourth quarter to set up a 42-yard touchdown run by Mara to put the game away with 9:45 left.