High school football playoffs: Londonderry advances with 'ugly, ugly win'
Nov. 13—The statistics favored Merrimack. The final score favored Londonderry.
Despite being held to 129 yards of offense, top-seeded Londonderry advanced to the Division I semifinals by beating eighth-seeded Merrimack 21-7 Saturday in Londonderry.
Merrimack, which had 280 yards of offense, ran 71 offensive plays — 34 more than Londonderry. The Tomahawks (7-4) were 10 of 16 on third down, and had a 20-8 edge in first downs.
"It was an ugly, ugly win," Londonderry coach Jimmy Lauzon said. "I haven't been on this side of things very often. We usually have to play very well to win. All the credit to Merrimack, Kip Jackson and his staff. They were well-prepared."
Londonderry's Andrew Kullman returned the game's opening kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown and Londonderry (9-1) led 7-0 at halftime. Trevor Weinman scored on a 4-yard run in the third quarter, and Anthony Amaro caught a 21-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Drew Heenan with 22 seconds left in the third.
Jack Drabik made each of his three point-after kicks. Weinman also had two interceptions.
Merrimack running back Reimello Hyde scored on a 16-yard run with 8:47 to play. Hyde carried the ball 36 times for 174 yards.
Merrimack quarterback Trent Jackson completed 14 of 28 passes for 111 yards. Heenan was 1 of 6 for 44 yards.
Londonderry will play fourth-seeded Pinkerton Academy in the semifinals.
Pinkerton advanced with a 14-12 victory over fifth-seeded Bishop Guertin on Friday night.
Londonderry beat Pinkerton 31-6 in Londonderry during the regular season. The semifinal matchup will also be played in Londonderry.
"They've been getting better, which is to be expected," Lauzon said. "We'll have to play well to win."
