DERRY, N.H. — As Pinkerton’s Jamie Isaac flew down the sideline, past the crowd, on the way to his third touchdown of the day, a leather-lunged fan in the stands could be heard summing up the thought of everyone in attendance.
“Oh my god, Jamie!” the fan bellowed.
No one was going to argue with that.
The senior caught a 54-yard touchdown pass, ran for a score, returned an interception 62 yards for a TD and, if not for a desperation lunge tackle, would have had a punt return touchdown as well, in Pinkerton’s 44-13 thumping of Concord on Friday night.
“I think this game takes the cake,” said Isaac with a laugh. “I think this is the best game I’ve ever had as an Astro. It just feels good to showcase what I can do, and what the whole team can do.”
Isaac, playing on a torn tendon in his ankle that cost him two games before returning last week, certainly didn’t look hobbled on Friday.
The running back finished the night with four catches for 106 yards and six carries for a game-high 62 yards — playing just over one half due to the lopsided score — while also making five tackles and knocking down a pass from his cornerback spot.
“It’s so amazing throwing to Jamie,” said Pinkerton quarterback Aiden McDonald. “He’s so fast. Just get him the ball and let him do what he can do. He can make so many plays. It felt just like the Londonderry game, where we made some big plays (three connections for 83 yards and two TDs).”
Isaac started his huge day on defense, when he snagged a pass that had been tipped in the air and sprinted down the away team sideline for the 62-yard score.
“I saw the ball coming my way,” he said. “I was in position to pick the ball if it wasn’t tipped, but then I saw it get tipped and I thought, ‘Even better!’ I went up, grabbed it then made a few people miss to get the score. It was my first pick-6 since last year.”
A possession later, he went into the end zone again, sprinting around the left corner and cruising 21 yards for a score.
“That felt good,” he said. “I trust my blockers on the outside, they made a few awesome blocks, and I took it in.”
Isaac then added his third score with 6:30 left in the half, when McDonald fired an absolute dart into his hands along the home team sideline, and he sprinted in for a 54-yard TD.
“We’ve been working on that play for a while,” said Isaac. “We knew it was going to be open. I trust my QB to get me the ball, and No. 14 threw me a perfect one an I got in. We know what we can do in the passing game, an we showed it today.”
Also sizzling on Friday night was McDonald at QB.
The junior completed 9 of 10 passes for 197 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for a 6-yard score. His TD pass to Isaac was pretty, but his over-the-shouder TD throw to Camren Dillon was even better.
“I told the linemen give me 1.5 or two seconds,” said McDonald. “When you have a wide receiver like Cam, you just have to throw it up. It felt good to throw the ball around a little today. As a QB you love the chance to do that. It was really fun out there today.”
The Astros defense did the rest, limiting Concord to just 69 yards of offense and no scores through three quarters — the first TD was on a kickoff return — before the Pinkerton reserves entered the game in the fourth quarter. James Caruso had a sack and a fumble recovery and Brendan Carney had an interception.
“We feel great,” said McDonald. “Everyone on this team is hungry right now. We can’t wait for next week, then the tournament.”
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Pinkerton 44, Concord 13
FIRST QUARTER
P — Jamie Isaac 62 interception return (John Pappas kick), 1:59
P — Safety, punter kicked ball out of end zone after bad snap, 1:04
SECOND QUARTER
P — Isaac 21 run (Pappas kick), 11:21
C — Tim Fahnbulleh 78 kickoff return (Colby Nyhan kick), 11:08
P — Aiden McDonald 6 run (Pappas kick), 8:43
P — Isaac 54 pass from McDonald (kick failed), 6:30
THIRD QUARTER
P — Pappas 26 field goal, 6:47
P — Camren Dillon 40 pass from McDonald (kick blocked), 0:41
FOURTH QUARTER
C — Colin Savard 1 run (kick failed), 9:16
P — Ryson Michaud 84 kickoff return (kick blocked), 9:02
INDIVIDUAL STATS
RUSHING: Pinkerton — Jamie Isaac 5-62, Ben Quintiliani 4-17, Brady Spellman 5-43, Ryson Michaud 6-10, James Caruso 2-7, Jimmy Knudsen 1-0, Aiden King 1-0, AJ Scholz 1-10, Spencer Colburn 1-2, Landon Bennett 1-(-3), Aiden McDonald 4-(-1)
PASSING: Pinkerton — McDonald 9-10-0, 197
RECEIVING: Pinkerton — Isaac 4-106, Camren Dillon 2-58, Michaud 3-33