PENACOOK – Friday night couldn’t have gone any better for the seniors on the Merrimack Valley football team.

Not only did they win their final game on their home field, but that 55-22 victory over Pembroke Academy also allowed the Pride (4-5) to hoist the Cloe-O’Brien Bowl trophy for the third straight year and sneak into the Division II playoffs with the eighth and final slot.

MV entered the game with a 3-5 record and also needed St. Thomas and Hanover (both 4-4 entering Friday night) to lose in order to make it in. Fortune favored the Pride elsewhere as well, with St. Thomas (20-14 loss at home to Plymouth) and Hanover (20-17 loss at Manchester West) narrowly losing out on tournament spots.

Senior Reece Clermont led the MV ground game with 153 rush yards on two touchdowns on 14 carries and also caught a 28-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Jack Parris (8-for-11, 191 passing yardsthree TDs) to be named MV’s MVP for the Chloe-O’Brien game, an annual rivalry game between MV and Pembroke to end of the regular season.

Fellow seniors Colby Scheffer (133 rush yards, two TDs on 14 carries; five catches for 127 yards, one TD; 6-yard TD pass) and Mike Heine (two TD catches) also led MV’s prolific offense.

Despite the lopsided score, it was Pembroke’s MVP, senior running back Luke Hanson, who opened the scoring, ripping off a 52-yard run for a touchdown. Hanson ran for 97 yards on nine carries, caught four passes for 26 yards and handled all kicking and punting duties, connecting on a pair of extra points.

Hanson’s score gave Pembroke a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter, but just two plays later Parris hit Scheffer on a 54-yard screen pass for a touchdown and Travis Garcia made the extra point to tie the game 7-7, which is how the first quarter would end.

Clermont and Scheffer both scored rushing touchdowns to extend Pembroke’s lead to 21-7 before Hanson scored from 19 yards out to make it 21-14 with 5:10 left until halftime.

“Our run game was definitely firing on all cylinders,” MV head coach Matt Shaw said. “Tonight went about as well as it could’ve gone for a senior night. We have 17 seniors on the roster; they all had meaningful playing time.”

The Pride employed some trickery late in the half, with Parris pitching the ball to Scheffer, who hit Heine with a 6-yard TD pass to make the score 28-14 going into halftime.

Parris threw another pair of touchdowns in the third quarter, and MV defenders Chris Babonis and Matt Lauren both intercepted passes to keep the ball out of Pembroke’s hands.

MV led 41-14 heading into the fourth quarter. Pembroke senior receiver Treyvon Cannon (31 yards on 15 carries; three catches for 33 yards) caught a 12-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Andrew Fitzgerald (13-for-29, 123 pass yards, one TD, two interceptions) and converted a 2-point conversion pass play to cap the Spartans’ scoring.

The Pride will next play at undefeated Plymouth (9-0) in the Division II quarterfinals this weekend. MV lost at Plymouth, 48-32, on Oct. 26. Although that game was the most points that Plymouth had allowed in a game all season, Shaw expects the Bobcats to be well-prepared for their playoff tilt.

“I think we’re probably going to get a better version of Plymouth than we did a week ago,” Shaw said. “We’ve got to come ready to plan and we need a good week of practice.”