Nashua South football hopes to keep momentum going against Manchester Central
The Nashua High School South football team got back in the win column last week, but that doesn’t mean all is right with the Panthers.
South survived the monsoon at Stellos Stadium to defeat rival Nashua North, 30-17, and although the Panthers sit at 2-1 in Division I (3-2 overall), coach Scott Knight still sees a lot of work that needs to be done.
“We had 35 yards of penalties on the first two drives, and that’s not including the amount of yards that were marched off,” Knight said. “We take the opening kickoff to their 30 and then we’re back at our 35. Every time we did something well, we did something to offset it.
“We had a few plays that were broken where a guy goes the wrong way, but we still manage to gain a few yards, so it gives you a false sense of accomplishment. The film shows in a lot ways that we did not execute well.”
This week, South will take on Manchester Central (3-1, 4-1) on Friday in a game that will ultimately determine whether or not the Panthers are a part of the post season.
“If you want to make the playoffs, you win the games you should,” Knight said. “We had a chance at Concord. Everything just blew up in our face and we put ourselves in a bind by losing that game. Then there are those games that are a flip of the coin. That’s the same Friday night. That’s a team that is playoff caliber, so it’s a team we need to beat if we want to stay alive.”
After a blowout loss to Exeter and a narrow win against North, Central rolled over Manchester Memorial, 42-13, last week to get back on track. With a talented corps of experienced players, led by quarterback Riley Cote and receiver Troy Pelletier, Central will test a South secondary that didn’t see much action against the Titans due to the weather.
Cote is second in the state with 897 yards through the air, with most of that going to Pelletier (308 receiving). The only Division I player with more receiving yards than Pelletier is South’s Steven Choate (343).
“You can’t get beat deep,” Knight said. “They’ll line up in power-I and try to control the clock and get first downs. Then they’ll try a play-action, and it won’t just be underneath, but they’ll try to take a money shot. They’ve got some long kids playing receiver who can get behind you. If you allow them to get behind you, they’ll catch it. We need to force them to throw by stopping their runs and if we keep things in front of us, we’ll be all right.”
The Panthers will also need to find ways to get more players involved in the running game. South had success on the ground against North despite having just two players – quarterback Trevor Knight and running back Dymier Hyde – get all of the work.
“It had to do with the weather, we were being a little conservative,” Scott Knight said. “That’s not common for us. It depends on what front we’re facing. We could have six guys get carries.”
South and Central will kickoff Friday night at 7 p.m. at Gill Stadium in Manchester.
