NORTH ANDOVER – It’s a new era for Merrimack football…sort of.
2023 marks the first season that the Warriors can compete in the FCS postseason now that the “dead period” from tournament competition after the move to Division 1 expired. In 2022, Dan Curran’s squad came up one game short of an NEC title, but made loud and clear statement that the build up was over and now they have every reason to believe the program will be back in that spot again this year.
On Friday night, it felt like September Friday Night Lights when the Warriors held their spring game in front of an impressive crowd thanks to the weather. For about an hour and a half, Merrimack went through individual periods and some competitive periods as they would in practice before entertaining those on hand with a scrimmage. The “blue” team (offense) beat the “white” team (defense) 28-27 using a scoring system for big plays on either side of the ball.
“It’s been a productive spring,” said head coach Dan Curran. “We’re fortunate that we only had one serious injury and luckily, that’s something where that individual has been cleared for camp. So, yeah, anytime you get through spring with minimal injuries and you get a lot of good work on both sides of the ball, getting guys reps to develop and then having the ability to develop those young guys, it’s certainly a positive spring when you can accomplish all those things.
“Really happy with where we’re at…excited and happy with the growth of the younger guys in the program.”
Here are the sights, sounds and thoughts from a productive night in North Andover…
-Lots of recruits on hand from New Jersey, Massachusetts and a few other states. Coach Curran took time to speak with each of them and their parents at midfield following the final breakdown for the team this spring.
-After some individual periods like any other practice, the competition ramped up early with “call outs” when Curran would yell out a name and a matchup. Whether it was linemen on linemen, backs out of the backfield against linebackers or wide receivers trying to beat DB’s outside, every rep was highly emotional. The defense ended up winning the period.
-Once team stuff started it was Gavin McCusker back under center to open things up. Merrimack has some talented receivers back in Jelani Mason, Donovan Wadley and LJ Robinson, just to name a few. In the backfield it was junior Tyvon Edmonds getting the first crack.
-Defensive lineman Chiebuka Aduaka made his presence known early, exploding through the line for a sack with great speed. He could be a menace for opponents this season.
-Pat Conroy and H-back Luke Kelleher are going to be valuable red zone threats again this season, with Conroy in particular poised for a big season.
“I’d say the main goal was just to get better,” Conroy said of the spring season. “Work on what we built last year and hope to be in the same position we were in last year. Just get better every day.”
-The quarterback competition behind McCusker is going to be interesting, with Justin Lewis, John Perry Jr., Malakai Anthony and John Griffith all getting reps on Friday night.
-Early on, senior running back Camari Glasgow should some shiftiness with a few nice cuts. Could be a sneaky weapon for the Warrior offense this season.
-Red-shirt freshman linebacker DJ Fraizer made a nice play inside the 15 to disrupt an RPO in the backfield.
-On the next snap, sophomore DB Jabari Echols picked off a pass at the goal line before being mobbed by the rest of the “white” team.
-There is some serious size up front on both sides of the ball for Merrimack, but one guy in particular stands out above the rest and it’s 6’6,” 308lb. Nick Reimer on the O-line. If Merrimack wants to run the ball this year they can probably just get behind him and go. Dude’s powerful and towers over almost everyone.
-After Anthony hit Wadley for a deep ball, he was quickly sacked by linebacker Kendal Sims who was seemingly in the backfield on the snap.
-Edmonds scored the game’s first “touchdown” with a short run after multiple attempts inside the five. Junior Liam Davis attempted and hit the first PAT.
-Griffith hit Jack McManus with a deep ball late in the scrimmage, setting up a TD throw to redshirt-sophomore Ajahn Rue. Junior Kevin Hennessy hit the second PAT.
-There was a lot of good open field tackling consistently throughout the night by the Merrimack defense. Flying around to the ball.
-Right around 8:30, the teams met at midfield to shake hands to a round of applause from about 2-300 people that were on hand.
Overall, this was a very productive night for the Warriors and it’s clear that everyone has one goal in mind this year: Show the FCS world that Merrimack is here to stay.
“I don’t think we ever felt that we were just on the come up,” added junior D-lineman Nick Lenon. “I feel like we’ve definitely showed the country and the conference especially that we’re here. Now, it’s only up.”
