Plourde's love of the game gave Nashua South football a steady voice on defense

When Tanner Plourde first joined the Nashua High School South football team, coach Scott Knight could tell right away he had a player dedicated to the game.

But it wasn't until an offseason camp when Plourde was a sophomore that Knight learned just how much his starting safety was into football.

"When he was a sophomore, we had spring camp going on, and I talked to his dad, he’d been coming home doing drills in the backyard after the camp," Knight said. "On a school night. He works really hard.

"He knows the game, he puts a lot of time into it, he watches a lot of film, and knows what we’re looking for."

Plourde started playing football when he was in fifth grade, and it didn't take long for his interesting in playing, and learning the game, to grow.

"I love watching football and learning about it," the senior said. "I watch film for hours a week. When coach goes on the whiteboard and talks about concepts, I was just really interested. I want to learn more about it."

That desire to learn helped Plourde get on the field as a starter at safety when he was a sophomore, and for the last two years, he was the guy who helped South's defense recognize the opponents formations and personnel, and get everyone in the right spot.

"He knows what calls to make and where to put people and where his eyes need to be," Knight said. "He’ll call our a formation and communicate different things. He is the guy who can see some different things and if something is not right, you’ll hear it."

There was a lot of responsibility that came with that role, but it was something that the coaching staff felt Plourde was capable of because he played so much defense throughout his time at South. Before this year, he didn't play on offense, so that meant Plourde was not only practicing with the starting defensive unit, but also with the Panthers' scout team.

Plourde turned that experience into more of a leadership role this season.

"We hadn’t had a really big leader in the secondary since I’ve been in high school," he said. "Most of our leaders were in the box or on the offense. I was looking forward to it."

And this season, the Panthers (5-5) had one of their better years defensively, allowing an average of 22.8 points per game. South only twice allowed more than 28 points, giving up 42 to Bedford and 52 to Manchester Central, and without those scores, that average drops to 16.8.

"This year, we had 11 people who know what they’re doing on every play," Plourde said. "We had a roller coaster season, lots of ups and downs. You need mentally tough people to get through that."

While playing in Wednesday's Turkey Bowl was a bittersweet moment for him, Plourde is hopeful he'll have more opportunities at the next level.

"I’m still working on it and talking to coaches," he said. "You’ve got to have a passion for it. I don’t care if I’m sitting on the bench all year, I love watching and being a part of it."