South knows what its getting from Pinkerton in D1 football semifinals

There will be no surprises for the Nashua High School South football team when it heads to Pinkerton for Saturday's Division I semifinal.

Not after the Panthers got a first-hand look at the Astros in last week's regular-season finale, a game Pinkerton won 40-20.

"You kind of get an idea what they've got and how you match up," South coach Scott Knight said. "Sometimes you watch film and it's hard to see the speed, or they're much bigger than they looked on film, or much smaller. Sometimes, you just never know. It's hard to tell until you get out there and mix it up. That's what we got (last) Friday night. I think we saw what we're going to see."

What the No. 3 Panthers (5-3 in division) are going to see is an offense that's been putting up plenty of points throughout the season. Since struggling through its first two games, No. 2 Pinkerton (7-1) has won eight in a row, including an out-of-state game against Brockton, Mass. In those eight games, the Astros have averaged 38.9 points per game, going over the 40-point total in six of those games.

"We're going to need to be prepared for all the things they can do," Knight said, "and they need to be prepared for the things we can do."

South will get a couple of players back from injury, including linebacker Devin Merrick, who hasn't played since the win over Manchester Central on Oct. 5. Two other starters, tackle Christian Stack and running back Dymier Hyde, should also be closer to a hundred percent on Saturday.

Knight is somewhat surprised the Panthers have made it to this point, given the amount of injuries South has dealt with this season.

"If you had told me you're going to have the amount of injuries this year, and so-and-so isn't going to play, and this is how things were going to turn out, I'd have said we'd be lucky to win a few games," he said. "Now we can look at it like, playoffs is great, but I think we can do better."

The last time South won a playoff game was at Pinkerton, when the Panthers won the 2008 Division I championship game in overtime. But since then, the Panthers have lost four straight to the Astros, including two games in Derry.

If South can play a clean football game, Knight thinks his team has a good a chance as any would against Pinkerton.

"We've got to clean things up," he said. "We didn't do those things (Friday) and they did. They were better because they did. Against a good team like them or Exeter, you have to clean that stuff up. Special teams and turnovers play big, big, big roles here. It's good to be healthy. We're very excited to play on Saturday."

South and Pinkerton will kickoff at 1 p.m. on Saturday in Derry, with the winner advancing to face either No. 1 Exeter or No. 4 Manchester Central in the championship game on Nov. 17.