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St. Onge, Astros dump BG

Saturday, September, 03 By David Willis
Staff writer

NASHUA — For three quarters, Pinkerton thoroughly dominated both sides of the ball. But through 35 minutes, the Astros had just a two-point lead to show for their play.

Then, Chris St. Onge struck.

“It was so frustrating to move the ball and not capitalize,” said St. Onge. “But I was confident when the play was called. I knew it could work.”

The quarterback ran a QB keep around the right corner, juked a defender and sprinted 11 yards for the touchdown  2:28 into the fourth quarter that sent defending Division 1 state champion Pinkerton to a 16-0 victory over reigning Division 2 champ Bishop Guertin last night in front of aproximitally 1,200 fans.

“That touchdown really sealed the deal,” said running back Emmitt Smith. “For him to finally score a touchdown was big. Chris isn’t afraid of anyone.”

Through three quarters, the Astros had their way with the Cardinals.

Pinkerton had gained 249 yards, and held Bishop Guertin to just 49 yards of total offense.

But on all three Astros trips inside the Cardinals’ 20-yard line, Pinkerton turned the ball over on downs, leading 2-0 thanks to a first quarter safety.

“We knew we should have put the game away long before we did,” said Smith. “We just couldn’t get past the 10 yard line, but we knew we could.”

But St. Onge was able to keep the key drive alive on a 23-yard pass to Smith on third down. And 10 plays later, he snapped the red zone drout with his 11-yard scamper.

“It was such an adrenelin rush,” said the junior. “Getting into the end zone is the best part of football, and we needed it. It felt great.”

Then, 5:09 later St. Onge finished the scoring, runing the same play 11 yards for a score, running over a defender just before the goal line.

“It hurt,” he joked. “But it was worth it.”

From there, the Astros defense was more than able to keep control.

The Astros allowed BG just 52 yads of offense for he game, including only eight through the air to Robert Fahey.

Senior Brett Liporto led Pinkerton with seven tackles and a sack — along with a massive block on a punt — while Andrew Curran and Matt Madded each added five tackles and Jesse Trottier added four stops. Curran and Branden Rodgers combined to sack Fahey in the end zone for the safety in the first.

Matt St. Onge, Chris’ brother, added the hit of the game when he lost his helmet and was still able to stick the runing back.

“We wanted to hit them and hit them to the whistle,” said linebacker Kevin Davies. “We have almost the same defense back from last year, so we were confident.”

Davies, the 5-foot-11, 230-pound bruiser, rushed for a game-high 112 yards on 18 carries. He ran over at least on Cardinal on nearly every carry, and had the bruises on his arms after the game to prove it. Smith, considerably smaller at just 152 pounds, also brought some power with 103 yards on 11 rushes.

“That was the plan,” said Davies. “Pound, pound and pound it up and down the field. I love it, I love crushing people.”

Desite it being a non-league game, the Astros were still releived to earn the victory.

“We have a lot to work on,” said Smith. “But we are still 1-0 with a shutout. If they allow zero points we’ll win every time.”

Additional stories:

• VIDEO: Pinkerton downs Bishop Guertin in season-opener