By Chris Paul
After coming up just shy of another state championship in 2022, the Lancers varsity football squad made a very convincing case that the team would be back in the division race with an resounding win over Concord High School during their Friday night, Sept. 1, home opener.
The Lancers squad looked very solid on both sides of the ball in their 41-14 victory over the Crimson Tide, getting 350 total rushing yards, 60-passing-yards, six sacks, and just one turn over. The one downside to the game was the 75-yards given up on penalties.
Concord had the ball to begin the game, making it to the LHS 30-yard-line, where on fourth down, junior Devin Boles made his first sack of the game.
Following the turnover on downs, the Lancers offense tallied nine plays and 63-yards for their first touchdown of the year.
Quarterback, Conor Williams, connected with Matt Carroll for a 13-yard pass TD completion and Blake Thompson followed that up with the extra-point.
Concord quickly followed up with their second drive and their first touchdown of the season after just three plays, on a 64-yard run to pay dirt. Getting by the defense on the right side.
Londonderry quickly responds to regain the lead with Sam Ogden taking the QB spot and running the ball to the end-zone on the first snap, for a 65-yard touchdown run.
Concords third drive of the game featured sacks by Boles and Tyler Miles, resulting in a punt to start the second quarter.
The only scoring by either side in period two was after a lengthy drive by Londonderry that ended with Alex Villa, as quarterback, dropping back to throw a 23-yard pass completion to Seth Doyon in the end-zone.
After halftime, LHS scored two times in the third and once in the fourth for the convincing win.
At 6:37, in the third, quarterback, Sam Ogden, handed the ball off to Carson Palma, who busted through Concord’s defense to the end-zone with a 22-yard touchdown.
After three plays and a punt by Concord, LHS made it 34-7 at 4:40 in the third when Jake Schena got the fifth touchdown of the game with a 52-yard running play to pay dirt.
Concord got their second TD of the game to end the third with a one-yard run by Colby Nyhan.
The final touchdown came from Alex Villa, who ran the ball in from the 20-yard line and Blake Thompson got the extra-point.
Londonderry used four quarterbacks in the game. Cam Brutus, Villa, Ogden, and Williams combined for 60-yards in passing with four completions on nine attempts.
Williams led the team in rushing with 97-yards in and Carlson Palma had 87-yards on four runs.
Doyon led the team in receptions catching two for a total of 20-yards. Boles had an 18-yard catch in the second half.
Boles also led in tackles, tallying six with two sacks. Adrian Cruz and Ty Parsons each finished the night with four tackles.
LHS will travel to Chelmsford High School in Massachusetts next week for an out-of-conference game against the Lions and return for their second home game on Sept. 15 against Manchester Central, who lost their home-opener 44-7 to Alvirne High School.