By Ryan O'Connor
Staff Writer

For the first time since 2000, New Hampshire Division I high school football will have a new champion.

Top-seeded Pinkerton Academy of Derry defeated the four-time defending champions in the 2005 state semifinals on Saturday, Nov. 12, 20-7.

The Astros. 13-point win avenged a 48-17 state title game loss to the same Queen City program just one year earlier.

"I thought it was a great season," Central head coach Jim Schubert said. "We had a lot of young players in the program. We lost six kids last year who started for us both ways and they are all playing college football, so it's been tough to replace them.

Although Central had a tough day offensively, Cory Wright (center, No. 86) managed to make his way into the end zone with 2:22 remaining in a 20-7 Pinkerton win. Wright finished the game with 19 carries for 51 yards. (Bruce Preston Photo)

"I'm not making any excuses, but when you play at this level you need senior leadership, and you need to be able to move the football," he added. "We had a difficult time moving the football this year, and we had a difficult time playing defense at times. We're a pretty good football team, but we got beat by a very good football team."

Defeating Pinkerton last year, Central won its fourth straight D-I crown. Moreover, the last team to win as many consecutive championships was Pinkerton, when it dominated D-I in the early and mid 90s.

"We've always had a great rivalry with them over the years," said Pinkerton senior running back Steven Boyle. "We just wanted to come out and set the tone, and get over the hump to get back to where we were in the early 90s."

Central didn't make Pinkerton's task easy, as both teams played a tight, scoreless first half.

However, that scoreless tie quickly gave way to a second half filled with points.

On the first play of the third quarter, the Astros recovered a botched kickoff return on Central's 20-yard line. From there, Pinkerton punched the ball in with five consecutive rushing plays, including a fouryard touchdown run by Boyle, his first of two scores.

But the Astros' excitement was short-lived when team captain John Sughrue sustained an injury that called for an ambulance.

According to Pinkerton athletics director Robert Royce, tests for any broken bones or spinal damage were negative, and although unconfirmed, a concussion was suspected. Sughrue, he added, was sent home from the hospital on Saturday night.

"I think that it gave them more of a spark than hit them hard," Pinkerton coach Brian O'Reilly said of his players reaction to the injury. "It wasn't a case of 'What are we going to do now?' It was a case of they wanted to win it for John."

Pinkerton eventually increased its lead to 20-0, before Cory Wright scored with just over two minutes left in the game.

O'Reilly said he was never concerned about the outcome.

"We expected to (win), and that's not arrogant," he said. "We're the No. 1 seed and we beat them last time, 31-21, (on Oct. 22). "This wasn't one of those, 'Oh my God, we beat Central' games. We beat them when we needed to.

"I'm not gonna tell you that I didn't come into this game thinking that as the defending four-time state champions they weren't bringing everything that they had," O'Reilly added. "We by no stretch of the imagination thought that this game was over before it started ... There was no surprise at halftime with the tied score. Our defense did a great job, but give (Central) credit. They fought right to the very end. They could have easily folded up and gone away, but they didn't. They made it interesting right to the very end."