Nashua South football bounces back to beat Nashua North in Turkey Bowl (video)

NASHUA – The Nashua High School South football team started Wednesday night in high gear, but penalties and the weather helped kick the Panthers back into neutral.

All it took was a Nashua North touchdown to start the fourth quarter to wake South up.

After the Titans tied the game at 13 on the first play of the final frame, the Panthers answered with a 78-yard drive, capped by a 30-yard touchdown run by Josh Compoh to put South back in front.

Compoh added another touchdown – his third of the game – in the final minute and the Panthers held on for a 27-13 win over North in the annual Turkey Bowl at Stellos Stadium. It’s the fourth straight win in the Thanksgiving series for South and the 16th time the teams have played on or before the holiday.

“It’s nice to end on a good note,” South coach Scott Knight said. “To let the seniors go out on top is always good. It’s nice for them to leave with a good taste in their mouth. Some of the young guys got in the game and got to see what they can do.”

The Panthers (7-4) jumped out to a two-touchdown lead early. After North went three-and-out on its first possession, South’s Jason Compoh, Josh’s older brother, blocked a punt by Lucas Cunningham to give the Panthers the ball at the Titans’ 24-yard line.

Three plays later, it appeared South quarterback Chris Keefe got into the end zone, but North’s defense stopped him short to give the Panthers a first-and-goal at the 1. The Titans kept Josh Compoh out of the end zone on first down, but the sophomore burst through the line on second down to give South a 7-0 lead.

On North’s ensuing possession, the Panthers recovered a fumble by the Titans’ Edward Bracetty, this time taking over at North’s 25. Five plays later, Zakary Hureau scored from six yards out for South, but the Titans blocked the extra point to keep it a 13-0 game with 6:32 left in the first quarter.

“I thought the way we got out of the gate, I thought this could get ugly real quick,” Knight said. “Then a lot of things happened, a couple of penalties, things like that. Then all of a sudden, you start playing not to lose.”

And the Titans, who had a handful of players in different positions, including senior split end Sam Nicholls making his first start at quarterback, held it together.

“They played hard like they did all year,” North coach Dante Laurendi said. “We put a whole bunch of new things in, some new positions, new kids, and they competed hard all night.

“I didn’t expect anything less because these guys played hard the whole year. It’s one of the things we’ve done great, no matter what the game is, what the score is, the kids continued to compete. I’m proud of those guys.”

North picked up momentum in the final two minutes of the first half, thanks in part to a personal foul and a pass interference call against South. The penalties, and runs by Nicholls, Devin Bracetty and Anthony Greene, helped the Titans move from their 32 to the Panthers 15.

With five seconds left in the half, Nicholls found Cunningham for a 15-yard touchdown pass to make it 13-7 going into halftime.

“It was a big turning point,” Laurendi said. “We kind of got momentum back, do somethings and make some plays. We got back in the game and made it a ball game.”

Midway through the third quarter, a long punt by Cunningham pinned the Panthers deep in their own end, and the Titans forced a three-and-out. The punt by Hureau was short and went out of bounds at the South 32, and North took advantage.

The Titans drove down inside the 5 before the end of the quarter, and on the first play of the fourth, Devin Bracetty scored from four yards out. North missed the extra point to keep the game tied at 13 with 11:58 remaining.

South answered with Josh Compoh’s 30-yard touchdown run and he also ran in the two-point conversion to make it 21-13 Panthers with 7:52 to play, but North came right back.

The Titans started the ensuing drive at their own 42, but faced a fourth-and-1 at South’s 49. Devin Bracetty picked up the first down, and a few moments later, on third-and-1, Greene picked up another first down.

With 1:20 left in the game, North had a fourth-and-7 at South’s 32, but this time, Nicholls’s pass to Cunningham was broken up by Tyler Armeen. The Panthers took over and a few plays later, Compoh scored on a 46-yard run to finish off the game.

“We were playing not to lose,” Knight said. “We got going and took care of business when we had to. They were laying it on the line. I thought their kids played really hard.

“We can take a lot of things we saw the last few weeks into next year. We tried some different guys in different positions and took care of some house cleaning things, so we kind of set the tone. That extra couple of weeks is almost like having spring ball. We have a lot of work to do.”