LONDONDERRY, NH — Squandered scoring chances and a pair of first-half turnovers were more than Nashua South could overcome, in a 28-13 D-I quarterfinal loss to Londonderry, Saturday afternoon.
Junior halfback Adrian Cruz rushed for 158 yards and three touchdowns to lead the third-seeded Lancers, who rolled up 348 yards of total offense, all on the ground.
Londonderry (7-2) will advance to take on second-seeded Exeter in a semifinal showdown next weekend.
Coming into the game, Nashua South Head Coach Scott Knight knew his club was going to have to play mistake-free football against a team with Londonderry’s talent.
Falling behind 14-0 before ever taking an offensive snap was definitely NOT how the game plan had been drawn up on the white board.
”You can’t dig yourself a hole against a team like that,” said Knight, whose team ended its season at 7-3. “They’ve got great depth and they’ve got great size. We knew we were going to have to play a really good, all-around three-phase game.”
Unfortunately, for the Panthers, that’s not how things worked out over the first six minutes.
Londonderry took the opening kickoff and swiftly marched downfield to take an early lead. Cruz polished off the drive with a one-yard touchdown run.
Before the Panthers ever had the chance to answer, disaster struck in the form of a fumble on the ensuing kickoff. Londonderry pounced on the ball deep in Panther territory.
Londonderry wasted no time taking advantage, with Cruz racing around the end on a sweep for his second touchdown.
It was suddenly 14-0, even as fans were still finding their seats.
Once the South offense was finally given a chance to operate, they moved the ball smartly and fought their way back into the game.
South quarterback Cody Jackson engineered. 65-yard scoring drive, capping it with a 6-yard touchdown pass to Colvin Levesque. Jackson completed 12 of 18 passes for 115 yards.
The two-point conversion try, however, was stopped and Londonderry held a 14-6 lead after the first quarter.
That lead grew early in the second quarter, when Londonderry’s John Inglese took a pitch and scooted into the end zone from six yards out.
But again, South was able to summon a response and make it a one-score game by halftime.
Jackson led the Panthers on a 12-play, 80-yard scoring drive. The drive included a 32-yard run by Levesque on a fake punt and a 31-yard pass from Jackson to Collin Kochanek.
On fourth-and-goal from the 1, Kyle Emmons slammed his way into the end zone to pull the Panthers to within a score , 21-13, at intermission.
But that would be as close as Nashua South would get. Londonderry got some insurance in the third quarter, when Cruz scored his third touchdown, from a yard out, to cap a 92-yard scoring drive, which chewed up most of the third quarter.
South tried to answer again but their drive stalled inside the Londonderry 5-yard line and they turned the ball over on downs.
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