High School Football: Pelham, Souhegan will battle for Division II crown
Nov. 17—PELHAM HIGH SCHOOL defeated Souhegan 28-21 during the regular season. A rematch will take place Saturday (1 p.m.), when the Pythons and Sabers will compete in the Division II championship game at Bedford High School.
Scan the box score from the first game between these teams and one thing jumps out: Souhegan's inability to move the ball on the ground.
Souhegan ran the ball 10 times for minus-6 yards that night. Souhegan's JJ Bright, a 1,000-yard rusher, was held to 4 yards on five rushing attempts.
"I was certainly surprised at how ineffective we were at running the football," Souhegan coach Robin Bowkett said. "I thought we'd be able to run the ball more.
"That's what you need to do in New Hampshire football, and really football anywhere. Can you stop the run, can you run the football and can you win the turnover battle? We didn't do any of those three the first time we played them."
Top-seeded Pelham (11-0) ran for 217 yards on 51 carries in that first meeting, but also hurt the Sabers through the air. Pelham quarterback Jake Travis tossed two touchdown passes in the first half, a 26-yarder to Alex Carroll and a 40-yarder to Jake Cawthron.
Fourth-seeded Souhegan (10-1) made it a 21-21 game on a 40-yard TD pass from quarterback Romy Jain to Connor Cassidy plus Joe Bernasconi's point-after kick, but Travis regained the lead for Pelham when he scored on a 3-yard run with 32 seconds to play.
"What I was impressed by was how dominant they were up front, especially on the defensive line," Bowkett said. "They do such a great job of getting off the ball, getting off blocks and just being violent. You can make a case that's how their defense is from the front seven to the back end. They were everything as advertised as far as what you saw on film.
"If we can establish the run a little bit more and stop the run a little bit better — especially on first down — that's going to help us out a ton. And then just eliminate big plays. I think we've given up three, maybe four passing TDs all year, and two of them were in that first game against Pelham."
Souhegan receiver Madux McGrath and Pelham fullback Ethan Demmons were the other offensive stars in that game. McGrath caught eight passes for 119 yards, and Demmons rushed for 119 yards on 24 carries.
Pelham, which won the Division III championship in 2020 and 2021, enters Saturday's game with the state's longest winning streak (29 games).
"Can we match their physicality in all three phases of the game?" Bowkett said. "I think if we can do that, then we have a great shot at winning the football game."
Londonderry ended a 22-game losing streak against Pinkerton Academy in 2019, and the Lancers haven't lost to the Astros since then. Londonderry has prevailed in the last six meetings, including a 31-6 victory in Londonderry earlier this season.
Pinkerton will have a chance to end that streak when it meets Londonderry in Saturday's Division I semifinals in Londonderry.
Pinkerton coach Brian O'Reilly said turnovers have been a problem for the Astros in recent meetings between the teams. Fourth-seeded Pinkerton (10-1) turned the ball over three times (two fumbles) during their regular-season loss to top-seeded Londonderry (10-1) this year.
"And they all came at inopportune times," O'Reilly said. "We have to stop turning the ball over when we play them. We also allowed a kickoff return for a touchdown, which feels like a turnover."
The game features the No. 1 team (Londonderry) and No. 2 team (Pinkerton) in the Union Leader Power Poll.
"I thought we did some good things defensively in that game to cause them some problems," Londonderry coach Jimmy Lauzon said. "At the same time, they did have some self-inflicted wounds. We had short fields and capitalized on it.
"I remember that feeling well. That's how it used to be for us when (the series) was flipped."
Pinkerton leads the overall series 35-14-0.
"They're the defending state champs because they're the complete package," O'Reilly said. "Offense, defense, special teams. We'll have to play well in all three phases."
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Sixth-seeded Timberlane (9-2) and 10th-seeded Bedford (8-3) will meet in the other Division I semifinal, which will be played tonight (7) in Plaistow.
Although the Owls are not a one-man team, Bedford coach Zach Matthews said the Bulldogs will have to do a good job defending Timberlane quarterback Dom Coppeta. In addition to being one of the state's top passers, Coppeta is Timberlane's leading rusher (134 carries for 659 yards).
Coppeta rallied his team from a 14-point deficit with seven minutes to play in last week's 29-28 upset of Exeter. He scored from a yard away to pull the Owls within a point with 37.8 seconds remaining and then added the two-point conversion to complete the scoring.
He completed 8 of 11 passes for 193 yards and two touchdowns and also ran for 59 yards in the win.
"He's willing to put that team on his back, and I would say that's the biggest thing that impresses me when I watch him on film," Matthews said. "The arm strength is evident. Sometimes when plays break down, it may not look traditional, but he makes it work and he makes a play for his team. He's definitely the head of the snake."
Timberlane wideout Jaden Mwangi has caught a team-high seven TD passes this season, including two in the quarterfinal victory over Exeter.
If Timberlane and Londonderry each prevail this weekend, the Division I championship game will feature last year's Division II champion (Timberlane) and last year's Division I champion (Londonderry).
"The thing that stands out about them is their resiliency," Matthews said. "They believe in each other. You can tell they believe in their quarterback. They're in situations where a lot of other teams would probably pack it in and call it a season and they just keep grinding and keep battling. You have to make sure you put them away because they're not going to quit."
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The Joe Yukica Foundation's annual Jeff Francoeur Huddle will be held Dec. 1 at the Falls Event Center, La Quinta Inn & Suites, 21 Front St. in Manchester. All NHIAA football coaches (all levels) and football officials are invited. You can register on the Yukica Foundation web site: https://www.joeyukicafootballfoundation.org/
