By Roger Brown
MaxPreps.com
Rick Urda's tenure as Merrimack High School's varsity football coach ended last week, when he submitted his resignation to Merrimack athletic director Andy Krahling.
Urda's Merrimack teams posted a 24-43 record in his six seasons as the program's head coach.
"It's time for a change," Urda told the Nashua Telegraph. "I was part of the program for 10 years. It's time to give somebody else a chance."
Urda spent four years as a freshman coach and varsity assistant at Merrimack before taking over for Chadde Wolfe as the varsity head coach.
"I want to say Rick is a great guy and he did a good job leading the program," Krahling said. "We appreciated the effort."
Merrimack's best season under Urda was 2005, when he guided the Tomahawks to a berth in the Division II semifinals. Merrimack's starting quarterback was suspended days before Merrimack faced Exeter in the semifinals, however, and the Tomahawks failed to advance. That was Merrimack's first postseason appearance since the Tomahawks lost to Manchester Central in the 1995 Division I championship game.
Merrimack has had one winning season in the last 12 years. The Tomahawks were 2-9 in each of the past two seasons.
Krahling said a search committee is being formed and he hopes that a new head coach will be in place before the end of February.
"Football has been a huge part of my life for a long time," Urda said. "But right now I'm going to step back and reassess things."
Basketball: Two Unbeaten Teams Fall
The list of unbeaten basketball teams in the state was reduced by two Friday night, when the Alvirne boys knocked off Manchester Central, 59-38; and the Pinkerton Academy girls upset Londonderry, 42-39.
Max Mahoney tossed in a team-high 16 points in Alvirne's victory, which improved the Broncos' Class L record to 6-1. Central slipped to 5-1.
Pinkerton outscored Londonderry 14-4 in the fourth quarter en route to its victory. The Astros raised their record to 5-3. Londonderry, which entered the week as the only unbeaten team in Class L, fell to 7-1.
Londonderry's loss left three unbeaten girls teams: Gilford (8-0 in Class M), Groveton (11-0 in Class S) and Lisbon (9-0 in Class S).
Six boys teams are still undefeated: Salem (8-0 in Class L), Oyster River (8-0 in Class I), Conant (7-0 in Class M), Prospect Mountain (7-0 in Class M), Moultonborough (10-0 in
Class S) and Wilton-Lyndeborough (8-0 in Class S).
Girls Hockey: Hanover Hasn't Been Tested
Hanover has established itself as the clear favorite to win this year's Division I title. The Marauders are 5-0 and have outscored their opponents by 50-1 this season.
Concord (6-1) is the only other Division I team with fewer than two losses. Concord's loss was an 8-1 setback against Hanover.
Lebanon (5-2), St. Thomas (4-3) and Berlin (4-3-1) are among the other teams that will be battling for playoff spots this season. Four teams will advance to the postseason.
