Grassini throws for 9 touchdowns in Merrimack football’s win over Pinkerton
Kip Jackson knows his Merrimack High School football team has several offensive weapons.
DERRY – Kip Jackson knows his Merrimack High School football team has several offensive weapons.
Quarterback Justin Grassini decided to showcase all of them Friday against Pinkerton Academy.
Grassini threw for over 500 yards and nine touchdowns, three each to Joe Eichman, Justin Weiser and Danny Vanecek, as the Tomahawks defeated the Astros 68-29 for their first win over Pinkerton since 1995.
“We were really confident going into this game,” Grassini said. “We know we can pass and run. I wasn’t expecting to do that, but it’s great that we were able to come out like that.”
The Merrimack senior completed 24 of 36 passes for 509 yards, with seven of his touchdown passes coming in the first half. Eichman, who caught all three of his touchdowns in the first quarter, finished with 10 catches for 197 yards, while Weiser caught seven balls for 138 yards and Vanecek had six catches for 156 yards.
“It’s something we’ve been building toward,” Jackson said. “We have a lot of weapons. We have a really good offensive line that nobody really talks about.”
The nine touchdowns is likely a single-game state record, as Merrimack (6-1) led 49-20 at halftime. It’s the most points scored in a half against Pinkerton and one of the worst defeats in program history. The loss also ends the Astros’ chances at making the playoffs, something that hadn’t happened since 2002.
“We have a young secondary made up of sophomores who don’t tackle well,” Pinkerton coach Brian O’Reilly said. “I’m sorry to say I’m not shocked it happened (Friday). If you don’t tackle well, and you have to tackle in space, then you’re asking for trouble.”
Aiden Goujon was 9 of 24 passing for 200 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions, as Nico Buccieri caught a 76-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter and Ty Hicks had a 30-yard scoring reception that made it 49-29 with 7:45 left in the third quarter.
But Pinkerton (3-4) struggled to move the ball early, and finished the first quarter with just 11 yards of offense and didn’t pick up its first first down until the final play of the quarter.
Merrimack looked like it was going to score on its first possession, but on second-and-goal from the Pinkerton 2, Grassini fumbled and the ball was recovered by the Astros’ Michael Faragi. But the Tomahawks forced a three-and-out, and on the first play after a Pinkerton punt, Grassini hit Eichman for a 40-yard touchdown.
Pinkerton punted again on its next possession, but on the next play, Ryan Auger intercepted a Grassini pass and returned it 41 yards for a touchdown, tying the game at 7.
The Tomahawks responded by scoring on their next two possessions, needing just four plays and 1:05 to go 62 yards and find the end zone on a 25-yard pass from Grassini to Eichman. Merrimack then took three plays and 29 seconds to go 57 yards, capped by a 5-yard touchdown pass from Grassini to Eichman to make it 21-7.
After another Pinkerton punt, Merrimack went on an eight-play, 67-yard drive that ended with Grassini dropping a throw over Weiser’s shoulder, hitting his receiver in stride, for a 25-yard score.
“We just gave the receivers the chance to get the ball and they just ran down the field and did their thing,” Grassini said. “I love spreading the ball out and getting it to every guy. I trust them all to catch a pass, get in the open field and score a touchdown.”
Buccieri’s long catch-and-run for a score two plays later made it 28-14 Merrimack, but the Tomahawks scored twice in less than three minutes to go up 42-14 with 3:17 left in the first half.
Terrell Hicks capped an 11-play, 87-yard drive for Pinkerton with a 7-yard touchdown run to pull the Astros within three scores, 42-20, with 42.1 seconds left in the half, but Merrimack needed less than 20 seconds to get in the end zone again to stretch the lead to 49-20.
Pinkerton recovered an onside kick to open the second half, and the Astros got the ball down to the Merrimack 13-yard line, but Goujon lost a fumble at the 10. Two plays later, Grassini was called for intentional grounding in the end zone, giving the Astros a safety and the ball.
This time, Pinkerton was able to take advantage, scoring on a 30-yard pass from Goujon to Ty Hicks.
“When we didn’t go down the first time and score, it was disappointing, but then we played some decent defense and got it back again and wound up scoring,” O’Reilly said. “At least we showed some fight.”
Three touchdowns by Merrimack in the final 5:49 of the third quarter put the game away.
