Monadnock, Campbell football teams to continue rivalry in Division III playoffs

Nov. 3—SWANZEY — Take a look at the score of the first matchup between the Monadnock and Campbell football teams.

Now erase it from your memory.

Monadnock's 52-8 rout of Campbell back on Oct. 8 means next to nothing come Friday night, when the teams will play again in the semifinals of the Division III bracket. Kickoff for the semifinal game is at 6:30 p.m. at Monadnock Regional High School in Swanzey.

"Regular season is over," said Monadnock head coach Rob Lotito. "We accomplished what we wanted to accomplish there, now we're on to step two. We're excited about the things we accomplished, but without winning a playoff game, I don't think it means anything. The kids know that, and they're excited about it."

Monadnock finished the regular season with an 8-1 record, while Campbell sits at 7-2.

In that first matchup between the two teams, senior Jack Lorenz — who shifted from the line to the backfield midseason — ran for more than 300 yards and five touchdowns. Lorenz was quick to credit the offensive line for his record-setting day.

"I really owe that game to the O-line," Lorenz said. "It takes everybody to be blocking. When everybody hits their blocks, we can put anybody on this team back there and they can run like that. It takes everybody — and it's going to take everybody again."

Senior Joe Lotito anchors that offensive line at center and recognized that if the Huskies want to beat Campbell again, the blocking needs to be up to par. Open up the holes, and let the deep backfield take care of the rest.

"We just have to play tough," Lotito said. "Put our hands in the dirt, look at the guy across from us face to face and hit him as hard as we can. Block him out of the play.

"I don't think [the first game] changes anything," Lotito added. "Whether we lost to Campbell by 50 or beat them by 50, we'd go into this game with the same mindset. We're going to put our hands in the dirt and play and hit them as hard as we can."

Monadnock has had three running backs that have done significant damage this season. Led by senior Ethan Brown — who finished the season with 1,107 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns — the Huskies rushed for 3,181 yards throughout the season. Lorenz has been a big part of that with 864 yards of his own, as well as senior Ethan Jarvis, who ran for 653 yards this season.

Those three guys — as well as sophomore fullback Brandon Bernard and the offensive line — are going to be key pieces for the Huskies on Friday night.

"Can't overthink it," Brown said. "We beat them before and we're going to do what we can do to beat them again. Can't change too much because of playoffs."

If the Huskies can run the ball efficiently, they might just run their way right into the championship game next week.

"We have to block. We have to get the guys up front doing what they do," said Coach Lotito. "They're a big part of what they do. If they do their job, our guys will run through it and make it happen."

Campbell is led offensively by running back Scott Hershberger. He ran for 1,772 yards and 22 touchdowns this season. In the first matchup between these two teams, Monadnock held him to just 28 yards.

Coach Lotito said he hopes to contain Hershberger to 100 yards on Friday. That might sound like a lot, but there's no doubt Hershberger is one of the best backs in the division.

"He's a good running back," Coach Lotito said. "You have to contain him. If he runs for 200 or 300 yards, that's not good for us."

Jackson Kanaley serves as Campbell's quarterback, and he can run too. He has 297 yards and four touchdowns on the ground this season.

Both teams like to run the ball hard, which usually means the game will be a battle in the trenches. Expect the same on Friday.

"I think it's going to be a backyard, fistfight game," Coach Lotito said. "It's going to be two teams going at it. The second and third best teams in the conference, and it's going to be that."

Needless to say, Coach Lotito and the Huskies aren't expecting the scoreboard to look the same as it did on Oct. 8. Lotito described that first matchup as a "perfect storm," which culminated in the blowout. A combination of Lorenz playing at another level and physical blocking in the trenches made for the lopsided score.

"They're not as bad as what we made them look, I'm telling you that right now," Coach Lotito said. "They're a good football team and they're angry. They're coming up here angry and we know that. ... We're not going to take this thing lightly whatsoever."

"We know that the Campbell we played last time isn't what they're capable of," said Lorenz. "And we are ready for what they're capable of."

Campbell head coach Glenn Costello said his team has a "24-hour rule" — meaning the team forgets about the result of the previous week within 24 hours — and that certainly applied after the week 6 matchup.

"That game was four or five weeks ago," Costello said. "I think we've moved on as a program."

A long, strong rivalry

Monadnock and Campbell have gone head-to-head many times over the last couple of years, often with significant implications on the line, which has turned the matchup into one of the premier rivalries across the state.

"Every time we face this team, it doesn't matter how good each team is, it's always a good game because each team is playing with everything they've got," Lorenz said. "It's just exciting and I love it and I know the team loves it."

The teams met in the 2017 D-III championship game with the Cougars coming out on top. It was an undefeated season that year for the Cougars.

They met again in week 8 of the 2018 season. With Campbell on a 17-game win streak, dating back to the previous championship season, Monadnock beat them to end the streak. The teams met again in that year's championship game — a rematch of the 2017 title game — and the Huskies got the best of Campbell once more.

In 2021, Campbell beat Monadnock during the regular season to all but end the Huskies' playoff hopes.

Earlier this season, Monadnock beat Campbell to practically lock in the No. 2 seed and home field advantage in the playoffs.

"It's always a big game," said Coach Lotito. "We played back-to-back championship games. It was just exciting. ... It's just a natural rivalry that's happened between us and Campbell. It just always seems to be a big game. ... It's going to be that type of game. I just hope that our kids recognize it and can deal with it and know that it's a great rivalry game."

"I look at the state of football of the past six or seven years, and I would put this rivalry up there with anything that's going on," Costello said. "It's a physical, old-school football game where whoever plays the hardest usually is the winner on that day."

On Friday, the teams will meet again with everything on the line.

"This is what we've been working for all year," Brown said. "There's not really anything else for football except for a championship. We're going to try everything we can to get there."

"We're going in with the mindset that nothing else really matters about the season," Lorenz said. "Everybody knows that. Everything is set a 0-0 for playoffs. We know Campbell is going to come in punching, so we have a fight on our hands."

Chris Detwiler can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1411, or cdetwiler@keenesentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter @Chris — Detwiler.