NH High School Football: Pinkerton-Londonderry is an unrivaled rivalry
Sep. 21—HERE'S one thing that separates the Pinkerton-Londonderry football rivalry from most other NHIAA rivalry games, regardless of the sport: When the Astros and Lancers meet on the football field, both teams often have realistic hopes of winning the championship that year.
That's certainly the case this season. Londonderry, the No. 2 team in the Union Leader Power Poll, will play at No. 3 Pinkerton Friday at 6 p.m. Both teams are 3-0 overall, although one of Londonderry's wins came against Chelmsford, Mass., and doesn't count in the NHIAA standings.
Although Salem (3-0) and Windham (2-1, 1-1 NHIAA) may feel otherwise, the Pinkerton-Londonderry winner will have the inside track with regard to securing a bye for the Division I playoffs. The first-place finisher in each of the three Division I conferences will earn a bye.
"Honestly it's the same thing as last year," Pinkerton coach Brian O'Reilly said. "When you look at the way the playoff situation runs and the fact that whoever wins would have to lose two games to somebody else. So the reality is the winner of this game, this year, last year, two years ago, is going to be one of the top seeds. And the loser can run the table, which we almost did last year after we lost to them, and can at best be the fourth seed.
"So it's either one of the top seeds or No. 4. If you're No. 4, there's a good possibility you're going to play the best team to get to the championship game. So from a seeding point of view, it's an important game."
It's an important game for plenty of other reasons as well, Mack Plaque bragging rights among them.
"To be honest, I have not thought of it like that," Londonderry coach Jimmy Lauzon said when asked about maintaining the best position to earn a bye. "The message to the team was we've got some tough games coming up. We have a 3-0 team (Pinkerton), a 2-1 team (Windham), a 2-1 team (Nashua North) and a 3-0 team (Exeter) coming up. It's going to be a nice little gauntlet to see who we are.
"I'm not fixated on the bye. It would be nice, but it didn't do us all that well last year, and I know the other two teams (that earned byes) got bumped out (in the quarterfinals). It's not that I don't want the bye, but it's about peaking at the end. We didn't peak at the end last year."
There was a time when Pinkerton dominated the rivalry, but the tide has shifted. The Astros had won 22 in a row until the Lancers broke the streak in 2019. Although Pinkerton has a 35-15-0 edge in the series, Londonderry will enter Friday night's game having won the last seven meetings, including a 21-7 victory in last year's Division I semifinals.
"It's been a game that's been tough for us over the years," Pinkerton halfback/defensive back Caden Michaud said. "They're going to be tough again this year.
"We saw them play against Concord. They have a big defensive front, so we're looking to use our speed against that."
Pinkerton has a balanced backfield that features Michaud, fullback Ryan Catineau, halfback Matt Morrison plus quarterback Tim Hersom, who can pick up yards on the ground as well. The Astros have scored 136 points in their three games.
"I have a running football team that can throw the ball and play good defense," O'Reilly said. "That's what I expected I was going to have coming into this year. And I have as much speed as I've ever had in the backfield. It doesn't mean I haven't had faster (running backs), but those two kids (Michaud and Morrison) are pretty good."
As Lauzon pointed out, Pinkerton has an experienced offensive line as well. The Astros will need to be sturdy up front since Londonderry's Ty Miles, a two-way tackle, is among the top players in the state.
"You can pick and choose your year," Lauzon said. "There's different storylines in each, but I definitely felt like last year we outplayed them up front. We're gonna have to do that again. If you're going to beat a team like Pinkerton or stay with them you have to win it up front. And with these guys, you have to contain them, too. So you can't just do a good job inside. You have to do a really good job outside.
"Michaud's also a real threat on special teams ... punt return, kick return. He's just a complete football player. He's really a game-changing player."
Londonderry has scored 129 points in its three games, and is coming off back-to-back shutouts against Chelmsford (41-0) and Manchester Central (47-0). The Lancers also have a breakaway threat in running back Jake Schena.
"We haven't been in a tight game yet," Lauzon said. "I think you really find out who you are through tough games. Through adversity. Close games. What I know about our team is they're willing to be physical."
O'Reilly said he treats the week of practice leading up to the Londonderry game like it's any other week, even though it clearly isn't.
"You just play because it's a Pinkerton-Londonderry game," he said. "Trust me, I don't need to explain to the kids the math of it. They'll be ready to play. Londonderry will be ready to play."
Weekend's other rivalry games
Winnacunnet (0-3) at Exeter (3-0): These programs first met in 1924. Exeter won 3-0 last year and has a 60-34-2 edge in the series.
Spaulding (0-3) at Dover (1-1-1): This is the state's oldest public school rivalry. These teams first played in 1906, and Dover leads the series 70-48-8.
Bedford (3-0) at Goffstown (1-2): At least one of these teams usually has the talent to make a deep playoff run. This year that's Bedford, which is the top-ranked team in the Power Poll. The Bulldogs own a 10-7-0 advantage in the rivalry.
Nashua South (0-3, 0-2 NHIAA) at Nashua North (2-1): This doesn't have the intensity of Bishop Guertin-Nashua in the old days, but these two public schools have produced some entertaining matchups, like South's 43-42 win in 2021. The Panthers hold a 22-13-0 edge in this series.
It's not a rivalry game, and it won't count for either team in the standings, but tonight's contest between Souhegan (3-0 in Division II) and Timberlane (1-2 in Division I) will offer some intrigue nonetheless. The Sabers haven't been challenged in Division II and will be stepping up in class, so to speak, to face a Timberlane team that was hit hard by graduation after reaching the Division I semifinals last season.
The matchup became possible when Lebanon announced that it wouldn't be playing a varsity schedule this season. That left Souhegan with a bye week that matched Timberlane's bye week.
"They're a very good opponent for us," Timberlane coach Kevin Fitzgerald said. "They're good. Our kids know they'll have their hands full."
Souhegan and Timberlane last met in the 2020 Division II semifinals, when the Sabers advanced with a 31-7 victory. The Owls returned to Division I after the 2021 season. This will be the first of two matchups between Division I and Division II teams this season. Nashua North will play at Milford on Oct. 27.
Concord running back Elia Bahuma injured his left knee in the first half of last Thursday's 28-14 loss to Salem and did not return. Earlier this week, Concord coach Jim Corkum said via text message that Bahuma is scheduled to have an MRI that will determine the extent of the injury.
Bahuma, a senior, is among the top running backs in the state, and entered the season as a strong candidate to win the inaugural Yukica Player of the Year Award. He rushed for 1,536 yards and 22 touchdowns last season.
Concord is scheduled to play at Manchester Central tonight. ...
According to Trinity coach Rob Cathcart, Monadnock Regional has forfeited tonight's scheduled game at Trinity because of a staph infection outbreak among the Monadnock players. Trinity improves to 4-0 in Division III with the forfeit. Monadnock drops to 2-2.
Last week's column noted that the Sept. 9 game between Bishop Brady and Winnisquam ended with seven minutes to play in the fourth quarter because of extreme heat, although Winnisquam coach David Allar said he did not agree with the decision. Bishop Brady was leading 22-16 when the game ended.
Several other games played that weekend were postponed by lightning and not completed. Thanks to Steve Hall of the New Hampshire Football Officials' Association for providing the National Federation of High Schools rule regarding games ending early.
NFHS Rule 3-1-3 states:
"A period or periods may be shortened in any emergency by agreement of the opposing coaches and the referee."
Hall said the referee would typically defer to the coaches' decision if they were in agreement.
