> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Titans come up short against Astros in Division I title game - URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/titans-come-up-short-against-astros-in-division-i-title-game/ - Published: 2010-11-21T00:08:09.000Z - Updated: 2010-11-21T00:08:09.000Z - Description: DERRY – Forgive the members of the Nashua High School North football team if they continue to hear a knocking sound all weekend long. Opportunity just wouldn’t stop pounding on the door for the Titans during Saturday’s Division I championship game. Only problem was, North couldn’t find a way to answ - Author: Joe Marchilena - Tags: Division I, Fall Sports, football, Nashua North, playoffs, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44 ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/bc/58/bc5866d0-9fd9-4113-b959-670d6f16471d/content/images/www-nh-highschoolsports-com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/northpinkfball1120-2-pa-21.jpg "NorthPinkFball1120-2 PA-2") DERRY – Forgive the members of the Nashua High School North football team if they continue to hear a knocking sound all weekend long. Opportunity just wouldn’t stop pounding on the door for the Titans during Saturday’s Division I championship game. Only problem was, North couldn’t find a way to answer. The Titans let a plethora of opportunities slip away and the result was the team’s second consecutive title game loss, this time at the hands of Pinkerton Academy, 14-7. North outgained the Astros, won the turnover battle and was penalized less than Pinkerton, but every time the Titans (7-5 overall) got down to the red zone, they couldn’t find a way past the goal line. “Our kids played their butts off and I couldn’t ask for anything more than what they gave,” North coach Jason Robie said. “We just shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times and that cost us.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/bc/58/bc5866d0-9fd9-4113-b959-670d6f16471d/content/images/www-nh-highschoolsports-com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/northpinkfball1120-2-nn5-1a.jpg "NorthPinkFball1120-2 NN5-1A") The Titans ran a total of 46 plays inside Pinkerton territory, and four times in the second half, North had a first down inside the Astros’ 20-yard line. But on each drive, a penalty pushed North’s offense back and allowed Pinkerton’s defense another chance to close the door. “Give our defense credit,” Pinkerton coach Brian O’Reilly said. “We set them up the entire game. Our defense has bent and bent and bent and does not give up scores. Somehow, it manages to make it happen.” A week after Andre Williams ran for 280 yards and five touchdowns, North’s senior back managed just 98 yards on 32 carries and was kept out of the end zone. Brandon Karkhanis threw for 160 yards and had a 35-yard touchdown pass to Anton Marinchik, who caught nine balls for 130 yards. But North was plagued all afternoon by dropped passes, as the Titans’ entire receiving corps dropped at least one. “Brandon put the ball where it needed to be, we just dropped the ball a little,” Robie said. “Quite frankly, we could have thrown the ball all day underneath on them because they were giving it to us and we dropped the ball. That’s not typical of us. Typically, when you put seven guys in the box, we’re going to move the football. Our short pass is like a run and it’s been effective for us all year long.” Pinkerton scored on its first possession on a 2-yard run by Kevin Davies (17 carries for 94 yards), but Ryan Coombs hit the right upright on the extra point for just a 6-0 lead. North took the lead on the first play of the second quarter when Marinchik made a catch over the middle, broke a tackle and raced to the end zone. Kyle Regan’s extra point made it 7-6 Titans and that’s where it stood at halftime. After forcing a punt on Pinkerton’s first drive of the second half, North methodically moved down the field, setting up a first-and-goal from the 3-yard line after a 16-yard completion from Karkhanis to Marinchik. North fumbled on first down and a holding call on second down negated a touchdown run by Williams, pushing North back to the 13\. The Titans lost four yards on third down and Karkhanis’ pass to Jahmar Gathright on fourth down sailed through the back corner of the end zone. But the Astros (10-2) gave the ball right back, as Emmitt Smith fumbled and Cam Duval recovered for North at Pinkerton’s 17\. But another holding call on first down pushed North backward and again Karkhanis threw incomplete on fourth down. “That’s the game of football,” Robie said. “You hate to see it in the championship game. If they’re legitimate calls, then they get called. I can’t blame the officials because we had plenty of opportunities to score.” Pinkerton responded with its best possession of the game, putting together a 12-play, 77-yard drive that ended on a 15-yard run by Mike Mazzola. Smith ran the ball in for the two-point conversion and a 14-7 lead with 7:24 to play. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/bc/58/bc5866d0-9fd9-4113-b959-670d6f16471d/content/images/www-nh-highschoolsports-com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/northpinkfball1120-2-nn64p25.jpg "NorthPinkFball1120-2 NN64&P25") On the drive, Davies carried the ball five times for 44 yards after not getting a touch on offense in the third quarter. “Kevin is just a powerhouse,” O’Reilly said. “I don’t utilize him enough (on offense). He does so much on defense as a linebacker, he has to take a blow.” North marched right back down the field on its next drive, thanks in part to a personal foul against Pinkerton and a fourth-down completion from Karkhanis to Marinchik. But faced with another fourth down in the red zone – this time from the Astros’ 4 – North couldn’t convert, as Davies batted down a pass by Karkhanis. Pinkerton picked up a first down on the next drive, but North’s defense stepped up and the Astros elected to punt on fourth-and-1 at their own 28. “The fourth-and-1 someone asked me if we were going to go for it,” O’Reilly said of calling timeout before the punt. “We were never going to go for it, because our defense was playing so well. I wanted to make sure (Robie) thought I might be going for it. That was more of a fakeout on our part. We were playing good defense.” North got the ball back at its own 41 with 1:04 to play and moved into Pinkerton territory on passes of 15 and 14 yards to Marinchik. Karkhanis then hit Gathright and Eric Muite each with a 9-yard completion to give the Titans a first-and-goal at the 10. Williams ran for a loss of two on first down, and after a North timeout with 17.5 seconds left, the Titans were called for a false start on second down. Two incomplete passes brought up fourth-and-goal from the 17 with 6.8 seconds to play. North tried a gadget play with three laterals to get the ball to Williams, but he lost his footing trying to make a cut and the game came to an end. “Quite honestly, I thought they were going to throw it into the end zone,” O’Reilly said. “It wasn’t like they were on their 20-yard line. The end zone is right there.” Karkhanis completed the pass to Duval, who pitched it back to Ryan Gauthier, who gave it back to Karkhanis, who threw a backward pass to Williams on the far sideline. “What’s supposed to happen was a forward pass with three laterals and we have a screen set up on the backside,” Robie said. “The wide receiver on the right should have been running a post in, but he was too far outside. There was a kid standing right there waiting for (Williams) and he did his job.” It was just one more missed opportunity on an afternoon full of them for the Titans. “We held them to 14 points,” Robie said. “They didn’t do a whole lot against us, but they did enough to win. It wasn’t meant to be today and that’s high school sports. It feels awful, but that’s how it is. You have your opportunities and we didn’t take advantage today.”