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# Pinkerton soars past Bishop Guertin, into D1 football semifinals (video)
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/pinkerton-soars-past-bishop-guertin-into-d1-football-semifinals-video/
- Published: 2023-11-11T13:00:16.000Z
- Updated: 2023-11-11T13:00:16.000Z
- Description: DERRY - The Pinkerton Academy football team did a lot of things well in Friday night's Division I quarterfinal against Bishop Guertin. But what the Astros did best was keep the Cardinals from gaining any momentum. Top-seeded Pinkerton jumped on No. 8 Bishop Guertin early, going up by three scores, a
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Division I, Bishop Guertin, football, Pinkerton, playoffs, slider, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

DERRY - The Pinkerton Academy football team did a lot of things well in Friday night's Division I quarterfinal against Bishop Guertin.

But what the Astros did best was keep the Cardinals from gaining any momentum.

Top-seeded Pinkerton jumped on No. 8 Bishop Guertin early, going up by three scores, and when the Cardinals found the end zone, the Astros wasted little time answering, on the way to a 55-20 win. The win puts Pinkerton (9-0 in D1) in the semifinals, where the Astros will host either No. 5 Exeter or No. 4 Londonderry next weekend.

Matt Morrison had three touchdowns for the Astros, including two kickoff returns for scores that came right after Bishop Guertin put points on the board and appeared to be gaining some ground.

The junior finished with 302 total years, rushing for 109 and a score on 10 carries to go with return touchdowns of 90 and 83 yards. Morrison also recovered a fumble on defense that led to a long scoring drive in the first half.

"Matt doesn’t say much, he keeps to himself, he’s quiet," Pinkerton coach Brian O'Reilly said. "He’s very fast and he is a tremendous hurdler in indoor track. He’s fast and he’s smart. He knows when to speed up, when to cut back inside. He’s a cerebral running back, just like his dad (Kevin), who played for me and was a scholarship player at Northeastern."

Ryan Catineau added 40 yards rushing and two touchdowns while Caden Michaud had 71 yards and a score. Tim Hersom and Joseph Osanya also ran for scores, as Pinkerton jumped out to a 21-0 lead and led by 35 points at halftime, not far off from the team's regular-season meeting, which the Astros won by 39.

Despite that, O'Reilly was concerned about slowing down Bishop Guertin's offense, which put up 56 points in a preliminary-round win against Dover last week.

"I thought we played very well," O'Reilly said. "My concern with dealing with teenagers, when you beat somebody by a big score and then you play them a second time, you don’t necessarily bring the intensity.

"Combine that with their dangerous passing attack, I was worried about this game all week. If we come out here and just go through the motions, I don’t know. But we didn’t do that, the kids came out and answered the bell right away. I was impressed with our intensity."

Mike MacDonough had a solid game for the Cardinals (6-4), completing 17 of 26 passes for 173 and three touchdowns. Ronan Balistreri caught one of those scores, as the senior had six catches for 69 yards, while Cody Szymansky (four catches, 28 yards) and Sam Franco (three, 36) also had touchdown receptions.

But Bishop Guertin turned the ball over twice in the first half, leading to Pinkerton scores, and with kicker Connor Lennon sidelined, the Cardinals struggled on special teams. Two first-half punts by Bishop Guertin netted an averaged of just 8.5 yards.

"To keep it close, you’ve got to win the turnover battle, the special teams battle, and the penalties," Bishop Guertin coach Anthony Nalen said. "We lost all three of those the whole first half. Even with those, it would have been tough trying to get a win. When you give them good field position with a couple of penalties and turnovers, they convert in the red zone, you’re not going to beat a team like Pinkerton."

The Astros scored on their first eight possessions, including two in the first quarter to lead 14-0, but on the ensuing kickoff, Alex Dolan ran the ball back 78 yards to the Pinkerton 18-yard line.

But on second-and-3, MacDonough fumbled the snap and Morrison recovered to give the Astros the ball. Pinkerton went on a 13-play, 89-yard drive that ended with a 2-yard run by Catineau just 39 seconds into the second quarter for a 21-0 lead.

The offense got going on the next Cardinals' possession, as they needed just five plays to cover 63 yards. MacDonough hit Balistreri for a 20-yard score to make it 21-7 with 9:17 left in the half.

Any momentum Bishop Guertin had didn't last long, as Morrison returned the kickoff 90 yards for a score and a 28-7 lead.

"Coach put in a great scheme and I was just following my blockers," Morrison said. "When I saw a hole, I took it, made a couple of moves and just ran."

The Cardinals looked like they might pick up where they left off, as MacDonough hit Balistreri for a first down. But the play was negated by a hold on Bishop Guertin, and on the next play, a fumble by Sam Fayad was recovered by Ben Quintiliani to give Pinkerton the ball at the Cardinals' 18.

Three plays later, Morrison scored from 2 yards out to make it 35-7.

A 4-yard punt by Bishop Guertin on its next possession set the Astros up with another short field, and five plays later, Catineau ran in a 3-yard touchdown for a 42-7 lead with 3:01 to go until halftime.

The Cardinals got another score in before the end of the half, with MacDonough and Szymansky connecting on a 4-yard scoring pass with 24.5 seconds left in the half.

But Morrison did it again on the ensuing kickoff, this time scoring from 83 yards out with 10.5 seconds left.

"It really kills all the momentum going for their side and gives it to us," he said. "It essentially cancels out their touchdown and leaves us with the last score."