The Concord High football team came up just short of a Division I playoff spot last year. Like two yards short.
That’s what the Crimson Tide needed to score a late touchdown against Nashua North, which had come back in the fourth quarter to take the lead. But Concord couldn’t manage those last two yards, and even though the Tide won it’s last two games to finish 5-4, it wasn’t enough.
The good news for the 2016 Concord team is that the lessons learned last fall can be put into use this fall.
“We only had 12 seniors last year, so a lot our younger guys got a good amount of playing time,” Coach Eric Brown said. “We’re coming back fairly experienced.”
Some of the key experienced players, like senior quarterback Christian McClellan, didn’t play in the Tide’s final preseason tuneup, a 22-0 loss to Manchester Central. So even though Brown would have liked more points in that scrimmage, he wasn’t truly disappointed.
“We had a hard time throwing the ball, our quarterback was out and one of our receivers was out, but we played pretty well even if the score didn’t indicate it,” Brown said. “We did come out of it concerned that we didn’t make big plays when we needed to, but we saw plenty of positives.”
McClellan broke a knuckle on his left (non-throwing) hand, but he’s expected to be ready for Friday night’s opener against Pinkerton Academy. McClellan started the final two games last year and helped the Tide to a pair of wins as they were fighting for a playoff spot – 52-42 at Keene and 17-14 against Alvirne.
Brown will ask McClellan (6-foot-4, 205 pounds) to do multiple things in Concord’s spread offense, but the senior’s best weapon is a strong arm. When it comes to the running game, the Tide will lean on senior Kevin Suarez (5-9, 195), who has been hurt for much of the past two seasons but is healthy and thriving now.
“He’s had a great preseason,” Brown said. “He’s not a flashy runner, he’s got decent speed, but he’s a real hard runner, he hits the hole hard, and he gets north and south, which we like.”
And senior running back David Tumani (5-5, 155) is a good complement to Suarez.
“(Tumani) is a little scat back that finds the holes,” Brown said. “He’s coming off an injury, I don’t know if he’ll be ready for Friday, but it’s kind of a nice 1-2 punch that we can give teams with Kevin running really hard and then David is a little flashier and a little quicker.”
There’s also a host of slot backs that will gain rushing yards for the Tide – juniors Gavin Moody and Matt Burke and seniors George Tarwo, Chris Munnell and Liam Connolly. Moody is also a versatile enough athlete that he can split out and join a talented wide receiver group that includes senior captain Reid Ljungholm, senior Chandler Paradis and junior Spencer Burgess.
“That’s the strength of our team, the skill guys,” Brown said.
The coach is also happy with the play of his offensive line – senior left tackle and captain Ben Roy (6-3, 220), junior left guard Sean McCready (5-9, 185), junior center Alex Buteau (5-10, 230), junior right guard Tim Schneible (6-3, 240) and senior right tackle Cody Hardy (6-2, 275). Schneible and Hardy started all of last season and Buteau started some games.
“The line is really coming together, they’re doing a good job,” Brown said. “That was one of the strengths against Central. We relied on our running game and we ran it pretty well, so that was a positive we took away.”
Many of those players will also play in the defensive front, which has looked like another strength for the Tide during the preseason. When Concord is in a 4-4 front, Hardy and Schneible will be the tackles with Roy at one defensive end and either Ljungholm (6-3, 215) or Dylan Burbank (6-2, 210) at the other end. Jack Lovelien, a 6-1, 230-pound junior transfer from Spaulding, will also be in the mix at tackle. And when the Tide is in a 3-4 front, Hardy will man the nose.
The linebackers are a hard-nosed and experienced group with Munnell and Connolly on the outside and Tarwo and Buteau on the inside.
“They’re really moving well and getting to the ball,” Brown said. “They’re a very coachable group.”
The secondary has Paradis and junior Liddon Ling at the corners and Burke at safety. Moody and Burgess will also likely see time in the defensive backfield.
For Concord to avoid missing the playoffs for a second straight year, Brown believes his team needs to excel in the run game, both stopping it and using it to gain yards. And that will start on Friday night at Memorial Field against Pinkerton.
“I think if we’re going to get beat by Pinkerton, I’d like to get beat through the air,” Brown said. “That will prove to us that we can stop the run and hopefully make them do things they don’t like to do.
“Offensively, we need to establish the run. It’s no different than any other year … We’re a spread offense, but it’s a downhill, power running game, that’s how we think. We run the ball as much as anybody, we just do it a little differently.”