Moss scores three TDs as ClipperCats eclipse 40 points for second time this season

PORTSMOUTH – It’s certainly not common when a high school football game starts on one night and concludes the next.

But both Portsmouth/Oyster River head coach Brian Pafford, and Winnacunnet counterpart Ryan Francoeur had prior experience in this unique situation for these Division I rivals.

Portsmouth and Winnacunnet returned to Tom Daubney Field Saturday to play the second half of their Division I game that was suspended at halftime on Friday due to lightning.

Portsmouth took a 14-0 lead into the second half, and scored 28 points in the final 24 minutes, earning a 42-0 win over the Warriors. Portsmouth is now 2-0, while Winnacunnet is 0-2.

More: Week 2 Football: Spaulding falls to Timberlane; here's what happened in other games

“We played Nashua South, probably seven or eight years ago,” Pafford recalled. “We were down by two at the half, and lost by 30.”

For Francoeur, it happened when he was an assistant under former Winnacunnet head coach Ron Auffant.

“I don’t know how many years ago it was, but we had a similar situation in a game at Dover,” Francoeur said. “The same thing happened then; so, definitely a unique situation for sure.”

Here are five takeaways from Portsmouth’s second straight win which it scored 40 or more points.

Moss continues to lead ClipperCats

After opening the season with a 40-point showing against Spaulding, Portsmouth continued to march up and down the field in Week 2, scoring six touchdowns. Three of those touchdowns came courtesy of versatile senior Angus Moss.

Moss caught five passes for 116 yards, and had touchdown catches for 40 and 32. He also had a 40-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.

“(Moss) can do it all,” Pafford said. “He can run, he can run the jet, and if we put him at tailback, he could run tailback. It’s not just that though, he’s the leader on our team. He knows the team game. If you watch him, the best thing he does is block on the perimeter. He’s phenomenal at it. He’s a 100% real player. He’s a team player, and that’s what he brings to our team, that’s the value he brings.”

ClipperCat senior scores twice in less than two minutes

Portsmouth senior Nick Smith, on a third-and-14 play, hauled in a 38-yard scoring strike from Aidan Thomas. Smith’s touchdown gave the ClipperCats a 28-0 lead with 9:10 left in the fourth quarter.

Three plays later, Smith intercepted a Riley McDaniel pass and returned it 42 yards for the pick-6 and extending the ClipperCat lead to 35-0 with 7:18 left.

“Nick was in the slot last year and we moved him to the outside this year,” Pafford said. “Every ball he caught last year was over 15 yards. If he can get behind and come back on the ball, he’s going to catch it, and that’s what he did today. He isn’t going to lose those 50/50 balls, he just doesn’t. So we put him out there and let him do what he does best, and today he made it happen.”

Pafford said with so many weapons that Portsmouth has, Smith is almost the forgotten man out there.

“He’s somebody that no one really pays attention to,” Pafford said. “That happens because we have everybody else, but he still can make stuff happen. Five years ago, he probably would’ve been one of the kids teams had to key on, and teams can’t key on him now. So, if it’s single coverage, unless the guy is 6-foot-5, I like our chances out there with him.”

Connors lines up against friends, former teammates

Brooks Connors spent his first two seasons at Winnacunnet, before transferring to Portsmouth late in the summer for his junior season.

Connors carried the ball six times for 23 yards, and caught one pass for five yards in the first half against his old team. He didn’t carry the ball or get targeted for a pass in the second half.

“It was just another game for me,” said Brooks, a two-way starter at running back and linebacker for the ClipperCats. “Obviously, playing against your old team is going to be something, but at the end of the day it’s just another game.”

Connors said he was ‘definitely glad’ this game is now behind him.

“I love all those guys off the field, but when it’s game time, it’s game time,” Connors said. “It’s going pretty good right now, we’re going to keep rolling and see how it goes.”

Winnacunnet freshman hits the trifecta

Last Saturday, Winnacunnet freshman Jaxon McDonald played wide receiver in the program’s JV game. On Thursday, he played quarterback in Winnacunnet’s freshmen game against Portsmouth. On Friday, he was back out at wide receiver with the varsity, and was back there Saturday.

“He played in all of our three games this week,” Francoeur laughed. “We didn’t even know what he would be like out here (at varsity). We think he has a really bright future. He definitely showed that he wasn't lost out there and that he belonged to be out there with the guys.”

McDonald caught a 10-yard pass on Winnacunnet’s first play of the game on Friday. He then caught two passes on Saturday, the first for 14 yards, the second for 18.  “The one thing I'd say about (McDonald) so far is that he has a lot of football savvy,” Francoeur said. “I can tell when I am talking to him that he understands what we’re trying to do. He’s a good athlete overall. I think it would be difficult for a lot of kids to do what he’s doing, but he seems to be doing OK with it so far.”

Warriors suffer second straight shutout

The Warriors opened the season with a 35-0 loss to Dover, and now have been outscored 77-0 in their two games.

Francoeur, despite looking for the first points of the season entering Week 3, remains upbeat.

“We know the situation we’re in,” he said. “We’re improving as a football team. We’ve faced two top-10 teams so far, and that’s a big task. I thought the kids played hard last night, and they played hard today, too. Sometimes the ball doesn’t bounce your way. I know people will see the score and it won’t reflect everything that’s happened, but our kids fought hard.”

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Portsmouth Oyster River blanks rival Winnacunnet in D1 football