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# Turnovers gave Nashua North football momentum to roll to win
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/turnovers-gave-nashua-north-football-momentum-to-roll-to-win/
- Published: 2020-10-26T13:00:11.000Z
- Updated: 2020-10-26T13:00:11.000Z
- Description: There were a lot of things for the Nashua High School North football team to like after Friday night's 36-7 win over Londonderry. The Titans had three players rush for over a hundred yards, they kept the Lancers' in check for most of the night, and they cut down on the drive-killing penalties. But p
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Division I, football, Londonderry, Nashua North, NH High School Sports Insider, slider, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

There were a lot of things for the Nashua High School North football team to like after Friday night's 36-7 win over Londonderry.

The Titans had three players rush for over a hundred yards, they kept the Lancers' in check for most of the night, and they cut down on the drive-killing penalties.

But perhaps the biggest key to North's win was the turnovers. Although it was just a 2-1 advantage in turnovers, both of the Titans' takeaways came at critical moments in the game.

"Big momentum swings," North coach Dante Laurendi said of the takeaways. "To be able to go up two scores, and then stop their drive, after their opening to the second half. That was huge for our defense. We did a good job stopping momentum and then making some big plays."

The first turnover came from an unlikely place. After the Titans (3-0) had taken a 6-0 lead on an 8-yard touchdown run by Jayden Espinal (126 yards rushing), the Lancers (3-2) looked to answer starting at their 29-yard line.

On second-and-14, Londonderry tried to set up a screen pass, but North defensive lineman Liam Novak stepped in front of the running back to intercept Dylan McEachern's pass. The short return gave the Titans a first down at the Londonderry 13, and two plays later, Curtis Harris-Lopez (147 yards rushing) scored from 4 yards out and then ran in the conversion for a 14-0 lead.

The touchdowns came just 1:27 apart and had North rolling on both sides of the ball.

"Liam’s pick, being lineman, you don’t see that all of the time," Harris-Lopez said. "That gave us momentum. We just kept moving on with it."

Harris-Lopez added a 1-yard touchdown run before the end of the half and the Titans took a 20-0 lead into halftime, with the opening kickoff coming their way to start the third quarter.

Or so they thought.

Londonderry's Zach Fawcett executed an onside kick to open the second half and the Lancers recovered at the Titans' 45-yard line.

"We needed a spark badly," Londonderry coach Jimmy Lauzon said. "Our coverage team has been so-so this year and they have good returners. I said what are we talking about, a difference of 10 yards if we don’t get it. I figured we should take that chance."

It paid off, as McEachern hit Fawcett for a 44-yard touchdown on third-and-9 to get Londonderry back in the game. On North's next drive, the Lancers got their own lineman interception, as EJ Donovan picked off a screen pass by Harris-Lopez and brought it back to the Titans' 25.

After converting on fourth-and-7, the Lancers faced a third-and-goal at the North five, but McEachern wasn't able to handle the snap and the ball landed on the turf as North's Max Ackerman burst through the line. The Titans' senior fell on the fumble, ending Londonderry's threat, and two plays later, Harris-Lopez raced 80 yards for a touchdown and a 28-7 lead.

"We knew they’re dangerous on special teams," Laurendi said. "Coach Lauzon has always done a good job making special teams dangerous. That was a big swing right there, so to be able to stop them and come back from that, that was very big."

In addition to the big offensive games from Harris-Lopez and Espinal, Isaac Smith also rushed for 103 yards and Devin Bracetty added a 32-yard touchdown run to open the fourth quarter. As a team, the Titans ran for 455 yards, averaging over 11 yards per carry.

The defense gave up 229 yards, allowing just 75 in the first half, and for the third time in three games, didn't allow a point until after halftime.

"We needed it against these guys," Laurendi said. "They’re very good and they give you so much to prepare for, in every phase of the game. The kids stepped up. We played a little bit better with the penalties than we were. Not much, but a little bit, and that helped. We had guys step up and make plays."