CONCORD, NH – Competing on Thursday night is unusual in varsity high school football.
And, indeed, last night’s football game between Concord High School and Manchester Memorial High School was an unusual affair.
Though Concord (4-1) won, 21-12, the final result was still in doubt heading into the last few minutes of the contest.
In between kickoff and the final seconds, the game saw five turnovers and two onside kick attempts, in addition to some gritty, physical football on both sides.
The first half was mostly uneventful, with Concord carrying a 7-0 lead late in the second quarter before Memorial fumbled near midfield and the Crimson Tide scored on a deep pass on the next drive to extend their lead to 14-0.
Memorial then fumbled the ensuing kickoff return, only to intercept the ball when Concord attempted another pass to the end zone on the next play, but the Crusaders were unable to find the end zone in the first half.
The second half was a different story.
“Honestly, our kids just went back to basics,” said Memorial head coach Robert Sturgis. “They were a little too geeked up to start the game and they weren’t really focused on the basics they’ve been working on for eight weeks now, so at half time, we reminded them when we’re executing our basics, we’re one of the best teams in the state.”
After a strong defensive stand, Memorial switching things up at quarterback with Collin Beaulieu taking over under center, and he ended up running in the Crusaders’ first touchdown of the night from three-yards out after he and running back Mo Olanweraju pushed the team down the field.
“They gained some momentum and started really relying on their dive,” said Concord head coach Jim Corkum, “and credit to them and their offense, because that really started sucking in our outside linebackers and all of a sudden, that’s opening up their option.”
A botched snap on the point-after attempt, however, led to kicker Brady Harrison being forced to pick up the ball and trying to run it in himself, but he was stopped just short of the goal line.
14-6.
Memorial intercepted a pass on the next drive and drove back down the field where Beaulieu was able to punch the ball in on a 4th-and-goal from the one yard line early in the fourth quarter. The two-point attempt fell short though and the Crusaders found themselves down, 14-12, with 7:43 remaining in the contest.
Concord did its job the next drive, eating up clock before converting a 4th-and-8 from the Memorial 23 to extend its drive and then found pay dirt three plays later and converted the extra-point to go up two scores.
Memorial made a valiant effort late, highlighted by a 28 yard reception to Joel Gomez and a 27-yard run by Beaulieu, but a tipped pass in the end zone resulted in a Tide interception, and the hosts were able to run out the clock from there.
“It’s a win, but it’s not a win we feel great about,” said Corkum. “We didn’t play our best football tonight.”
Of course, Memorial had something to do with that.
“They’re a very physical team, they’re well coached, they were ready and they took away some of the things we do well,” said Corkum, “and that type of offense, they didn’t give up on it, they didn’t stop and they made some adjustments to their line and blocking scheme in the second half and their kids responded and they were able to move the ball on us, so I’m just glad we were able to come out of here with a win tonight.”
Now, with the playoffs in sight, Memorial (4-1 in state play), enters the final stretch of the regular season, with a road matchup against 6-0 Exeter looming on Oct. 18, followed by 4-1 Winnacunnet on the 26th and 0-6 Timberlane to close the regular season on Nov. 1.
“We expect to win every game we’re here,” said Sturgis. “We wouldn’t show up in practice and play as hard as we do if we didn’t expect to win. I know Exeter is a really good team, Winnacunnet is a really good team, Timberlane is a really good team, but every time we put on the pads for game day, we expect to come out here, play Crusader football and come out on top, some way, some how.”
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