Which team will have the edge when fourth-seeded Pinkerton Academy (10-2) meets third-seeded Londonderry (8-3) in Saturday’s Division I championship game at Exeter High School?
That’s the question we asked former Windham coach Jack Byrne and Salem coach Steve Abraham, each of whom coached against both the Astros and the Lancers this season.
Pinkerton advanced to the title game by beating 13th-seeded Merrimack (38-14), 12th-seeded Windham (14-6) and top-seeded Bedford (27-13). Londonderry had a first-round bye, and then beat Nashua South (28-13) and Exeter (31-28).
“Londonderry’s speed can’t match Pinkerton’s,” Abraham said. “Pinkerton was the fastest team we faced all year, especially with Isaac (halfback/defensive back Jamie Isaac) back. They can hit you on the edge and they can hit you in the passing game with that speed.
“I’m leaning toward Pinkerton in this game because I just think Pinkerton’s speed and a healthy Morrison (halfback/defensive back Matt Morrison) and Isaac is too much for anybody. Morrison has great patience, but his zero to 60 is the best in the league.”
That said, Abraham added that it’s very easy to also make a strong case for Londonderry to come out on top Saturday.
“They’re resilient,” he said. “They have the pedigree — this is five out of six years they’ve been in the championship game, and four in a row. They are bigger and more physical, and when Jimmy (Londonderry coach Jimmy Lauzon) needs a play, Ogden (quarterback Sam Ogden) is the difference. They beat Exeter because he fake pitched it to (Adrian) Cruz and pulled it back on a counter twice for long runs on the last two drives.
“(Ogden) might be the hardest player on the field to tackle. He doesn’t have the speed that Morrison and Isaac have, but I think he’s the most elusive person in the game. And he can beat you in the air, so what are you going to try to defend? And Londonderry is just so big. They can beat you so many ways.
“Defensively, I think they’re pretty equal, but their strengths are in different areas. Londonderry is better up front, it’s equal at linebackers, but the secondary … I think that’s Pinkerton.”
Quarterback Aiden McDonald completed 8 of 15 passes for 151 yards and three touchdowns when Pinkerton beat Londonderry 38-15 during the regular season. McDonald also scored on a QB sneak.
Isaac caught two of the TD passes (25 and 41 yards) and Camren Dillon caught the other one (41 yards).
Ogden was 11 of 21 for 122 yards and tossed a 15-yard TD pass to Ethan Wheeler in the loss. Ogden also rushed for 49 yards.
“If I was either coach, I’d have to have a few things that they haven’t seen, because they see me all the time,” said Byrne, who resigned once his team’s season ended. “You have to have a few of those things without confusing your own team. So be ready for a few wrinkles, and then after that, it’s being a little bit conservative. It’s seeing who can make the first mistake.
“You got there and you’re going against a team you know. Why would you do something that has the potential to be a giant mistake early? If you’re going to make an all-in move, you have to be calculated when you do it.
“I don’t think there’s anybody around who’s faster than Morrison, and Isaac is probably the closest, but you can tell Ogden is a winner. He just finds a way to make things happen. The biggest thing I saw from the Londonderry running backs this year is they turn a 2-yard run into a 4-yard run. They move the chains so well.
“I think both teams are where they deserve to be.”
53rd meeting
Saturday’s game will be the 53rd time Pinkerton and Londonderry have met on the football field. The Astros have a 36-16-0 edge in the series.
This is the second time the teams have faced each other in a championship game. Pinkerton beat Londonderry 21-0 in the 1993 Division I championship game, which was played at Londonderry High School.
“We played there even though we had a better record than they did and we beat them during the regular season,” Pinkerton coach Brian O’Reilly said. “Back then, Division I had three conferences and it was predetermined where the championship game would be.”
Pinkerton running back Matt Jordan rushed for 108 yards and a touchdown in that game, and finished that season with 1,719 yards rushing and 38 TDs, which gave him 4,087 yards rushing and 76 touchdowns during his Pinkerton career. His career rushing total and career touchdowns were both state records at the time.
Something’s different
Londonderry coach Jimmy Lauzon on preparing for a game where the teams are so familiar with one another: “It really is a play-to-play chess match. In Week 4, they played a different defense against us than they played against everyone else. We always seem to get something a little different from them. It’s easy for their offense and defense to give us things that we haven’t seen before.
“We gave them a bunch of extra possessions in the first game. I hope we can play a cleaner game and control the things we can control. We have to be the more physical team.”
The record
A Pinkerton victory Saturday will give O’Reilly 357 coaching victories, which is more than any other NHIAA football coach, past or present. Last Friday’s 27-13 victory over Bedford in the Division I semifinals gave O’Reilly a 356-130-0 career record. Former Plymouth Regional coach Chuck Lenahan retired with a 356-70-1 record.
Lenahan said he was going to make every effort to be in attendance Saturday.
O’Reilly became Pinkerton’s head coach midway through the 1978 season. He has guided the Astros to 11 state championships.
Huddle up
The 2024 Jeff Francoeur Huddle will be held Tuesday at The Falls Event Center at The Hampton Inn in Manchester. Doors open at 5 p.m. and the event will begin at 5:30 p.m.
The coaches of the four NHIAA championship teams will be honored, as will the NHIAA Official of the Year and the Most Improved NHIAA team. Food and drinks will be provided. There will also be a cash bar. Dress is casual.
All NHIAA football coaches are encouraged to attend. NHIAA officials and college coaches are also invited. Those who plan to attend are asked to register on the Joe Yukica/New Hampshire Chapter of the National Football Foundation website: joeyukicafootballfoundation.org.
The pick is in
And finally ...
This will be the 13th playoff game between the Astros and Lancers. Pinkerton has won seven of the first 12 postseason matchups, but Londonderry has prevailed in each of the last four. In the 12 seasons when the teams have met twice, the team that won the first meeting also won the second game 11 times. The exception came last season, when Pinkerton earned a 24-20 victory during the regular season and Londonderry won 42-7 in the semifinals.
For many years Pinkerton was the bigger, stronger team and Londonderry was smaller and quicker, but the opposite is true this season. Perhaps the biggest question entering this game is this: To what extent will Pinkerton’s speed be a factor? Will Morrison and Isaac produce big plays for the Pinkerton offense or will the Astros have to work hard for everything they get?
Pinkerton went to the air when it beat Londonderry during the regular season, and it will come as no surprise if the Astros use a similar blueprint Saturday (assuming the weather cooperates).
Ogden should be a major concern for the Pinkerton defense. Ogden is a good passer, but may be even more dangerous when he runs the ball. Ogden has plenty of playmakers around him, and let’s not forget that Londonderry has two Division I linemen up front.
The Lancers will arrive in Exeter with a plan, and that plan will give them a chance. As in so many big games, the winner will be the team that turns in the better effort on defense.
Prediction: Pinkerton 21, Londonderry 17.
Last week: 3-1
2024 record: 234-52