Summer Notes: Londonderry High School Football

Losing seasons can sometimes take a toll on a high school sports program, but any concern Jimmy Lauzon had about what the Londonderry High School football team did in 2015 went out the door over the summer.

Coming off a 3-6 season, the Lancers' head coach saw something remarkable happen when it came time to sign up for football.

"They kept signing up," Lauzon said. "We do a lot of fun stuff in the summer, so kids just kept coming out. Our summer lifting was really high in numbers and we just kept growing."

Growing to the point that, at first, there wasn't enough equipment to accommodate the 125 kids who came out for the start of practice.

According to Lauzon, the numbers are solid in every class, including this year's seniors, of which Londonderry has 24.

"This is their third year with me, so they know everything," Lauzon said. "It makes our double sessions so much easier to install everything. Every time we get a new coach, we tell them the seniors will teach you."

Through last year's struggles, a lot of those seniors got plenty of playing time, which Lauzon hopes can translate into a few more wins this year.

One area the Lancers need to see improvement on is defense, as they allowed 27.8 points per game a year ago, up from 18.8 the year before.

"The last two years, our numbers on offense have been pretty good and we're bringing back 10 (players) on offense," Lauzon said. "But we've got to play more aggressively on defense. That's got to improve."

But even coming off a subpar season, with question marks on the defensive side of the ball, the goal remains the same for Londonderry.

"We just want to get into the playoffs and give ourselves a chance," Lauzon said. "We don't care what seed we get, we just want to get there."