Top 10 Games from 2021: No. 8

By rbrown
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Updated: January 6, 2022

TOP 10 NHIAA GAMES FROM 2021
No. 8: Pinkerton 28, Nashua South 21

This didn’t look like a competitive matchup on paper, but the Panthers gave the Astros all they could handle.

Nashua South (1-5) led 7-6 at halftime and found itself in a 21-21 game in the fourth quarter. Pinkerton (5-1) received a huge game from junior halfback Cole Yennaco, however, and escaped Stellos Stadium with a seven-point victory.

Yennaco scored three touchdowns in the game, including a 17-yard TD run that broke a 21-21 tie with 3:59 left. Yennaco also caught a 32-yard TD pass and scored on an 11-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter that helped Pinkerton take a 21-14 lead.

Trailing 28-21, South drove to the Pinkerton 21-yard line, but the threat ended when senior Anthony Terrenzio knocked down a Michael Rutstein pass on fourth down with just over a minute to play.

South opened the scoring on a 34-yard pass from Rutstein to Connor Rowsell in the first quarter. Yennaco’s touchdown catch was the only other TD in the first half.

The Astros took a 14-7 lead on a 4-yard TD run by quarterback Nate Campos plus the two-point-conversion pass to Anthony DeSalvo, but the Panthers responded with a 68-yard TD strike from Rutstein to Rowsell (11 receptions, 188 yards).

After Yennaco helped the Astros take a 21-14 lead, South pulled even on Josh Compoh’s 1-yard TD run and Karsten Lemire’s kick.

Yennaco’s final TD came one play after Campos found Logan Gokey for a 34-yard pass play in a third-and-eight situation.

Yennaco finished the game with 143 yards rushing on 17 carries, and two receptions for 71 yards.

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