DERRY, N.H. — The goal was clear for the Pinkerton Academy football team, from the earliest practices in the August heat.
On a chilly November night, the Astros made it a reality.
The defending champions are heading back to the Division I title game.
“This means everything, because this is where we want to be,” said running back/defensive back Brady Spellman. “Tonight we showed everyone what we could do. This is such a rush of adrenaline. We battled for this, and now we’re here.”
No. 3-seeded Pinkerton delivered a totally dominant effort in all facets of the game, rolling past rival No. 7 Salem 28-0 in the Division I semifinals on Friday night, earning its second straight trip to the Division I state title game.
“We’re all so excited,” said fullback/linebacker Joe Osayna. “This is what we’ve dreamed of doing since the very start of the season. Even though we lost a lot of talent from last year’s team, we knew that we could run it back. This feels like something we were meant to do this season, and we’re ready for a battle next week.”
The Astros (8-3) will play for their second straight state title next Saturday, when they face top-seeded Bedford (11-0) in the Division 1 title game (1 p.m.) at Stellos Stadium in Nashua. The Bulldogs beat Nashua South in the other semifinal.
“We came out today with intensity, and we just need to bring that same intensity into the state title game,” said running back/defensive back Ryson Michaud. “This has absolutely been our goal since the start of the season. If you’re going to play, you should play to win, and we came to play today and we got the win. Everyone did an amazing job, and we pulled it off.”
Pinkerton wasted no time setting the tone, forcing a three-and-out, then marching 63 yards on seven plays — including carries of 18 and 20 yards by Spellman, who finished with a game-high 136 rushing yards — as Michaud punched in a 4-yard go-ahead touchdown.
Michaud opened the second quarter with an interception, setting up a 20-yard Osanya touchdown run. A possession later, Michaud went into the end zone again on a 50-yard touchdown pass from Aiden McDonald.
“The interception felt like a big play,” said Michaud. “My defensive line put some good pressure on the quarterback, and he threw it up. One of the guys tipped it and I went and got it. On the touchdown, I saw the defensive player in the corner of my eye, I caught a great pass from Aiden and got into the end zone.”
From there, it was all about Pinkerton’s defense.
The Astros allowed Salem’s prolific rushing attack just 67 yards in the first half while they took command of the game, and surrendered just 131 ground yards and 178 total yards for the game.
Their biggest stand came in the final mine of the first half, as Salem marched to the Pinkerton 9-yard line. Aiden Chapman had a tackle on first down, Jordan Ball made the stop on second down, James Caruso had a sack on third down, and a pass on fourth fell incomplete.
“We were able to get multiple guys to the ball on every play,” said Osanya, who led the winners wth 10 tackles and added the final touchdown of the day, a 2-yard run. “They have some really shifty runners, especially Jordan Zannini, so we needed more than one tackler at a time. We were physical, and we stuck to the simple things and got the win.”
Michaud’s pick was the first of four turnovers forced by the Astros. Ball recovered two fumbles and Noah Rao added an interception of his own for the second straight week — in the end zone to squash Salem’s final scoring drive. Caruso and Spellman — who had eight tackles — each added one sack and combined on another, while Chapman registered as sack of his own.
“The turnovers really hurt us,” said Salem coach Steve Abraham. “They really hurt. We made too many mistakes. One team’s going to win, and one team’s going to lose, but we never gave up and kept battling until the end.”
Now, the Astros will look to make it two straight state titles, a year after snapping a 10-year drought.
“It’s going to be wild,” said Spellman.”Bedford is a great team, and we know it’s going to be a dogfight. It’s going to be a great game. It’s going to be fun. We can’t wait.”
Pinkerton 28, Salem 0
Division I Semifinals
FIRST QUARTER
P — Ryson Michaud 4 run (John Pappas kick), 5:35
SECOND QUARTER
P — Joe Osanya 20 run (Pappas kick), 7:35
P — Michaud 50 pass from Aiden McDonald (Pappas kick), 5:59
FOURTH QUARTER
P — Osanya 2 run (Pappas kick), 9:13
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Pinkerton — Brady Spellman 16-136, Joe Osanya 5-29, Ryson Michaud 4-17, Jordan Ball 1-1, Jimmy Knudsen 2-13, Bentley Blais 1-0, Connor Tharrett 2-8; Salem — Aidan Shikrallah 10-57, Cole Salkovitz 5-28, Jacob Beaudry 4-19, Jordan Zannini 8-18, Van Mason 10-23
PASSING: Pinkerton — Aiden McDonald 3-4-0, 88; Salem — Mason 3-9-1, 47
RECEIVING: Pinkerton — Michaud 1-50, Spellman 1-20, Ball 1-18; Salem — Jack Marconi 1-36, Salkovitz 1-16, Shikrallah 1-(-5)