Dover, Spaulding and Exeter off to strong starts in Division 1 East football. Here's why.

Three Seacoast teams are near the top of the seven-team Division I East through the first six weeks of the high school football season,

Dover, Spaulding and Exeter are all 4-2 on the nine-game season, while Timberlane, at 4-1, is in first place. All four teams are causing great interest in how each other will fare as the season goes on.

Dover, Spaulding, and Exeter all suffered their second losses of the season on Friday. Dover lost at Manchester Central in the final minute of play, Spaulding lost at Merrimack, and Exeter lost at home to Bedford.

For Spaulding and Exeter, it was their second straight loss.

"Bill (Ball) has a great squad over there at Exeter, and obviously Eric (Cumba) is doing nice things at Dover," Spaulding head coach Kevin Hebert said. "It's good to see Seacoast teams are doing well right now. Hopefully, that will continue."

Timberlane, which won last year's Division II state championship, is scheduled to play at Goffstown Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.

More: Dover's Grube deflects pass in end zone, seals victory over Portsmouth/Oyster River

Dover head coach Eric Cumba said it's great from a fan perspective to have three Seacoast teams have a share of first place.

More: Dover football's season-opening quarterback call pays off with win over Winnacunnet

"Every Friday night from here on out is going to have pretty critical games in the race for the East," Cumba said. "To have that level of balance and parity across the top of the conference is good, and is going to provide fun environments on Friday nights going forward."

The only matchup between the three teams was Spaulding and Dover, which saw the Red Raiders handle their biggest rival, 36-23 in Week 4. Dover will host Exeter on Friday, and Spaulding is scheduled to visit Exeter in Week 8.

More: Spaulding football scores 30 unanswered points, downs rival Dover in Division I clash

Here is a deeper dive into the teams.

Blue Hawks are flying high

Last year's record: 7-3, lost to Winnacunnet in Division I semifinals.

More: Exeter football edges rival Winnacunnet as fourth-quarter field goal breaks scoreless tie

Exeter is still a run-heavy offense and teams are still struggling to stop the multitude of backs who can carry the ball for the Blue Hawks. Those backs include Ethan Moss, Desmond Rugg, Michael Dettore, Aidan McGinley and Bradley Richards.

More: Ten Teams in Ten Days: Can Exeter football keep its championship trend going?

"We've got some depth there and we're going to need it moving forward," said Ball, who last led the Blue Hawks to the Division I championship game in 2016 and to its last state title in 2012.

The connection between quarterback Evan Pafford and big tight end Ryan Graney is still there when defenses over-commit to the run.

"Pafford is the guy who makes it all go," Ball said. "He's a really good quarterback and has a calm, steady influence back there and never gets rattled in any situation. He's been terrific."

More: 20 Seacoast football defensive players to watch in 2022 from 10 high schools

Additionally to the 25.4 points per game Exeter is putting up, the defense is holding opponents to 15.4 points per game.

Portsmouth/Oyster River head coach Brian Pafford still sees Exeter, along with Timberlane, as the teams to beat.

"Exeter is super disciplined and plays straight up defense," Pafford said. "They don't make mistakes."

More: 20 Seacoast football offensive players to watch in 2022 from 10 high schools

Exeter's first loss of the season came in Week 5 at Timberlane, 27-23.

Remaining Schedule: at Dover (4-2), Spaulding (4-2) and Manchester Memorial (1-3).

Red Raiders rolling

Last year's record: 0-9, didn't qualify for Division I tournament

With Spaulding's 36-13 win over Alvirne in the season opener, the Red Raiders immediately surpassed last year's season win total.

More: Ten Teams in Ten Days: Here's why Spaulding football team believes a win could come early

Now with four wins under their belt, the Red Raiders are making sure they stay on track to keep adding more wins in the second half of the season.

The road to being near the top in Division I East all starts with hard work, Coach Hebert said.

"It starts in the offseason with some of these guys; kind of changing the culture and the climate" Hebert said.

And a lot it can be attributed to the way Spaulding has approached the offense this season. A good example comes from running back Emmett Colby's 177 yards on the ground in last week's 27-26 loss at Manchester Memorial.

More: 15 surprise standout players for Seacoast high school football. Who's on the list?

"We changed schemes offensively, our offensive coordinator has done a tremendous job," Hebert said. "We're a running team, and we've got to try and start finding that identity."

Defensively, Spaulding has held its own as only three of its six opponents have scored more than 20 points (Dover, Manchester Memorial, Merrimack), and on average, is allowing 15.8 points per game.

"I am happy to see what Spaulding has been able to do," said Winnacunnet head coach Ryan Francoeur. "I know Coach Hebert has worked really hard over there."

The highlight win, and maybe evidence to point to show the Red Raiders are the real deal, was defeating Dover; a game Dover won 45-0 last season.

"Beating Dover here was a big victory for us in the sense of being able to play with a team that gave it to us last year," Hebert said.

Hebert said Spaulding has now become the "hunted" instead of the hunters, and with that, the mentality has to change.

In a new position as the hunted, how can Spaulding stay at the top of the division and make a playoff appearance?

Hebert said it's going to be about being consistent.

"It's about playing clean, playing smart and doing your job," Hebert said. "Every week is going to be a dogfight from this point on, and we kind of know that going into this thing."

Remaining Schedule: Timberlane (4-1), at Exeter (4-2), Winnacunnet (0-5)

Green Wave finding its flow

Last year's record: 5-4, didn't qualify for Division I tournament

Bedford (three) is the only team in all of Division I that has more shutouts than Dover's two. The Green Wave shutout Winnacunnet and Portsmouth/Oyster River. Dover's first loss of the season came at Spaulding.

"(The Spaulding loss) was one of those nights we didn't play well and Spaulding played a great game, and just pretty much flat out beat us," Cumba said. "We bounced back (against Portsmouth) pretty effectively last week. We just have to make sure we put together (good games) week after week."

Surprisingly, as the season opener was approaching, Cumba was still unsure of who was going to be the starting quarterback, but junior Ryder Aubin earned the spot and his two touchdowns in the win over Winnacunnet proved that Aubin was the right choice.

He hasn't slowed down since. Aubin scored on the ground and threw a touchdown pass to Brett Davis in 14-0 win over Winnacunnet. Through Dover's six games, Aubin has thrown for eight touchdowns and ran for seven.

"(Aubin) gives you problems," Portsmouth head coach Brian Pafford said of the Dover quarterback. "He's a hard runner and he's grasped that offense phenomenally well. He throws the ball well, and he keeps them in every game."

Though Dover is scoring just over 21 points per game, Cumba said the defense is what has stood out the most through the first half of the season.

"We've gotten better every week in different ways," he said. "What I've seen in this group from day one to today, week by week and day by day, is that we've found ways to get better at some of the little things that's going to be pretty productive for us in the long run."

Cumba added the importance of health.

"We have to make sure we stay healthy," he said. "We have to make sure we're talking care of ourselves both on and off the field, and understanding what the task at hand is each week, and putting all of our energy and focus into that one week."

Francoeur said this could be Cumba's best season at Dover.

"He's been doing a great job over there at Dover, and I would say what they're doing this year is as impressive a job you will see especially considering they lost a huge part of their offense."

Remaining Schedule: Exeter (4-2), at Timberlane (4-1), Nashua North (5-0).

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Dover, Spaulding and Exeter football all off to strong NHIAA D1 starts