DERRY — As one of only nine seniors on the roster, Pinkerton senior co-captain Luke Somers feels responsibility to set an example for the younger Astros.
"It feels good to be a leader on this team," said Somers. "We've worked really hard and I think we're getting better."
Before a crowd of about 1,800 fans on a sunny afternoon, Somers certainly set the tone in the third quarter yesterday as the Astros opened their season at home with a resounding 42-15 non-league victory over Timberlane.
With Pinkerton clinging to a 10-0 halftime lead, Somers swept left, got a nice block before making a nifty cut and then — after shaking a tackler at the 10-yard line — sprinted 70 yards for Pinkerton's second touchdown of the afternoon.
"That was a beautiful play," said Pinkerton coach Brian O'Reilly. "Luke got a good block right in front of me and then made the most of it."
That set the tone for an overwhelming second half that included five Pinkerton running touchdowns — two on counter plays of 78 and 18 yards by intriguing junior Emmitt Smith (5 carries, 147 yards) and TD runs of 20 and 21 yards by flashy freshman Manny Latimore (5 carries, 69 yards), who also had a 30-yard scoring run called back by a penalty.
By the time all the numbers were added up, which included 124 yards of hard running by aggressive junior Kevin Davies in the first half, Pinkerton had amassed an astounding 543 rushing yards, including 425 by underclassmen.
The performance, which was orchestrated by sophomore quarterback Chris St. Onge, made some fans start thinking about future seasons. But not O'Reilly.
"There's no doubt we're going to be good next year, but that's not what this is about," he said. "We're worried about this year and we've got some work to do. I thought we played just OK today.
"Our counter play really worked perfectly in the second half, our backs looked pretty good and we did some nice things on defense. But we made a lot of mistakes (which included 10 penalties for 100 yards) and our special teams play was terrible.
"We're really a work in process, that's the best way of putting it. But I think we can win with these young kids."
Also, while the defense — led by Davies at linebacker — played well, it softened a bit in the third quarter and felt the loss of sophomore Matt St. Onge, who left the game with a knee injury earlier in the quarter.
Timberlane, which had no first downs and just 27 yards total in the first half, rode the hard running of Nick Lawrence in the third quarter. He gained 75 of his 108 yards in the third frame and scored the Owls' first TD of the season on an 8-yard scamper.
But that made the score only 24-7, at which point the Astros responded with three more scores, including two by the reserves.
The Owls scored their final touchdown late when reserve quarterback Evan Bidgood took advantage of a fallen Pinkerton cornerback and hooked up with Ricky Gulezian on a 33-yard scoring strike.
"I thought we did pretty well at times, and I liked the way Nick ran the ball in the second half," said Timberlane coach Kevin Fitzgerald. "But their speed was impressive and got the better of us in the second half."
Pinkerton 42, Timberlane 15
Timberlane (0-1):0 0 7 8 — 15
Pinkerton (1-0):7 3 14 18 — 42
First Quarter
P — Kevin Davies 6 run (Ryan Coombs kick), 6:56
Second Quarter
P — Coombs 22 FG 1:14
Third Quarter
P — Luke Somers 70 run (Coombs kick), 9:52
P — Emmitt Smith 78 run (Coombs kick), 4:29
T — Nick Lawrence 8 run (Jarred Diorio kick), 2:34
Fourth Quarter
P — Smith 18 run (kick failed), 11:55
P — Manny Latimore 20 run (run failed), 8:12
P — Latimore 21 run (kick blocked), 4:53
T — Ricky Gulezian 13 pass from Evan Bidgood (Gulezian pass from Bidgood), 1:43
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING:
Pinkerton (46-543) — Mike Mazzola 6-16, Emmitt Smith 5-147, Kevin Davies 10-126, Chris St. Onge 7-17, Luke Somers 6-112, Manny Latimore 5-69, Corey Beck 1-2, Tyler Calderone 3-26, Brett Connal 1-(-1), Matt Madden 2-29
Timberlane (32-118) — Nick Lawrence 18-108, Nate Lawrence 8-(-9), Luke Ouellette 2-8, Zach Kliska 3-10, Anthony Gillis 1-1
PASSING:
Pinkerton — Chris St. Onge 0-4-1, 0 yards
Timberlane (4-11-1, 72 yards) — Nate Lawrence 2-7-1, 26 yards; Evan Bidgood 2-4-0, 46 yards
RECEIVING: T — Ricky Gulezian 2-46, Jarred Diorio 1-20, Dane Doulames 1-6
By the numbers
543 — Rushing yards by Pinkerton
425 — Rushing yards by Pinkerton underclassmen
118 — Rushing yards by Timberlane (108 from Nick Lawrence)
11 — Rushing yards by Timberlane underclassmen
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