Mr. Football - D IV Represented by Lebanon's Cody Patch

Congratulations to Cody Patch of the Lebanon Raiders for his nomination for Mr. Football.

Can Cody Patch pull out Mr. Football?

Of course he could. Lebanon's website doesn't post player statistics, so I'm not going to get into his statistics since I don't really have them :) However, unofficially I've seen his video which references the 25 TDs and the over 1,000 yards. We know for a fact due to blowouts against Kingswood, JS, MV, that the starters (including Patch) missed a minimum of 7 quarters of football. Plus it's been reported he was nursing an injury to his shoulder against the first meeting vs. Monadnock and did not play offense at all in that game...another 4 quarters missed.

So, I do not pretend to know how Mr. Football is judged, however, if it's judged on statistics it will be a tough sell down south. The other 4 nominees come from Marquee programs in the higher divisions, they get just as much press as Cody has received this year. The difference being they are getting the press from the guys that vote on this award. Those same guys only get to hear about how great Cody Patch is...or maybe they get to watch some film or maybe see him play once.

Now, lately there have been posts talking about how without Cody, Lebanon might have been 3-6 or 2-7. In my opinion, I can tell you having seen them play a few times this year that their defense was simply too good to lose that many games. However, in an effort to keep it real. There is NO way, Lebanon goes undefeated and IF they made the playoffs they would have lost to this years Trinity team without Patch.

From an offensive standpoint in the Championship game, Cody Patch came out in the second half and put his team on his shoulders and forced his will on the Championship game. He simply refused to lose. Every time I saw this young man play the game, he was all business. He has an uncanny ability to make defenders miss and that ever elusive second gear when he sees daylight. On the defensive side of the ball, I can honestly say in the games I saw, I NEVER remember him missing a tackle. Ever.

What does strike me (and still sticks with me today) is the measure of character that this young man probably has. Lebanon, has just completed their run of 11-0 and brought home the championship (their first ever) to Lebanon...it's chaos on Lebanon's field. People are screaming, bouncing, yelling. All except one kid. Their leader, this kid #20 is off to the side. As the last second ticks down and his teammates are in absolute celebration-mode. Patch can be seen shaking the hand of a crouched over Romeo Masuku from Trinity (who was clearly distraught with his helmet off). For a good 25 seconds, hand on his shoulder, just talking to him.

I remember thinking to myself, what is the measure of kid, to show the kind of character and integrity that Lebanon's Cody Patch showed in that one moment. In the day and age of dances and trash talk and "look at me" and so on. I thought to myself...as the final second, of your last high school football game, perfect 11-0, title coming to Lebanon for the first time ever, 2,000 screaming hometown fans.......and in that second, you decide to spend the next 30, consoling a player from the other team. I don't think there's a word to describe that. Well, not one I can think of.

So, will you win the NH Heisman? I dunno. However, one thing is pretty clear, win or no, I'm willing to bet up in Lebanon, you're already Mr. Football and will be for quite some time. Oh, and  I bet I know who the first person will be to congratulate the winner on Wednesday...and if it ends up being him they'll probably have to wait a while for Cody to go get his award, because he'll be telling the other 4 how great they are first. :) I'm only somewhat kidding :)

Good luck

Let's hear it for D IV!

Mad congratulations to one of my few Facebook friends and your new 2011 Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl Head Coach! Chris Childs the head coach of the D IV Champion Lebanon Raiders.

BTW! about the whole Facebook thing...c'mon guys I feel so left out of the social networking phenomenon make Henry Coachman your Friend already will ya!

Coach Childs will be representing D IV proudly. It could NOT have gone to a more deserving coach. So as not to steal the headline! Read all about it here:

http://www.nhfootballreport.com/

Be sure to come back after and give Coach Childs congrats!!! Good Luck!

D IV All State Selections released!

D IV All State Selections -

1st Team Offense:

Cody Patch Lebanon HS RB
Ryan Geno Lebanon HS OT
Jonathan Roth Lebanon HS QB
Josh Hughes Trinity HS RB
Andrew Lauderdale Trinity HS TE
Ryan Carrier Trinity HS FB
David Mahoney Laconia HS RB
Jake Holmes Laconia HS KR
Raige Hollis Laconia HS OL
Anthony Abbott Laconia HS OL
Blake Bolewski Monadnock Reg. HS RB
Zach Underwood Monadnock Reg. HS OG
JP Cooper Kennett HS OG
Matt Gadomski Kennett HS RB
Nick Massa Kennett HS RB
Nick Reisert Plymouth Reg. HS WB
Taylor Newberry Plymouth Reg. HS FB
Dan Gorman Hanover HS WR
Sam Carney Hanover HS QB


1st Team Defense:

Alexander Morrill Lebanon HS DT
Christopher Barker Lebanon HS LB
Kristian Astwood Lebanon HS DB
Dylan Drew Lebanon HS LB
Micah Morton Lebanon HS DB
Mike Leonard Trinity HS LB
Adam Chambers Trinity HS DB
Jeff Gratiano Trinity HS DT
Doran Logsdon Laconia HS LB
Nick Dragon Monadnock Reg. HS DT
Alex Morin Monadnock Reg. HS P
Logan Spoor Kennett HS P
Adam Dropkin Plymouth Reg. HS DE
Ethan Hinch Hanover HS DT
BJ Smith Kingswood Reg. HS LB
Matt Brewer Kingswood Reg. HS DE
Justin Abbott Merrimack Valley HS DB
Christopher Procum John Stark Reg. HS DE


Honorable Mention:


MERRIMACK VALLEY HS
Dylan Sargent 11 RB
Cody Thurston 10 QB
Connor Dempsey 11 LB

LACONIA HS
Ronnie Steele 11 RB
Kyle Behan 12 K
Steven Kemos 9 FB
Bryan Lanphear 12 CB
Billy Mahoney 11 DE

LEBANON HS
Mark Davidson 11 OG
Chris Henry 11 C

PLYMOUTH REGIONAL HS
Cory Hilton 12 C
Jack Ringlein 12 QB
Brandon Goodale 10 HB
Byron O'Donnell 12 DB
Cole Brooker 11 LB

TRINITY HS
Romeo Masuku 10 DB
Jared Barczak 12 OL
Colin Bouchard 10 OL
Rob Hoaglund 12 RB

MONADNOCK REGIONAL HS
Spencer Bischoff 12 DE
Chris Alexander 12 PK
Jake Goodrich 12 OLB
Corey Brown 12 RB
    
KINGSWOOD REG. HS
Issac Horton 12 RB
Cam Whitcomb 11 DB

KENNETT HS
Nick Irish 12 C
Levi Bescos 12 DT
Tucker Paven 11 DE
Conor McDonald 10 LB

HANOVER HS
John Staiger 12 DE
Carl Keating 10 OLB
Ian Smith 10 OG

JOHN STARK REGIONAL HS
Bryan Wagner 11 WR
David Morgan 12 TE
Robert Dunn 11 DT
Nicholas Lloyd 10 DB

Congrats to ALL on great years!!! I'll compare the HC Picks to these and see how I did later on :)

All State Selections -

I'm continuing to get emails regarding All State Picks.

We're still waiting for the D IV and D VI picks. However, I'm moving all the All State selections into 3 Labels.

I'm going to group the D I, D II, and D III under they're own topic and Label.

D IV is getting it's own Label once the selections are released. After all this is a D IV site...membership has it's priveledges :)

D V and D VI will get their own Label.

Feel free to congratulate the kids on their hard work and achievments! Thanks all and I'll update just as soon as they are released!

D V and D VI All State Selections -

D V All State selections - D VI to come later as they are released.

2010 Division V All-State Team

First Team Offense

Doug Gregory, QB, Kearsarge
Jake McCabe, RB, Kearsarge
Jordy Barthol, FB, Kearsarge
Ben Greenbaum, OT, Kearsarge
Jack MacNevin, WR, St. Thomas
Thomas Baxter, OT, St. Thomas
David Tovey, RB, St. Thomas
Jack Pearl, G, St. Thomas
Nick Hutchings, FB, St. Thomas
Logan Batchelder, QB, Stevens
Cam Blewitt, RB, Stevens
Pat Lavin, TE, Somersworth
Josh Ream, RB, Somersworth
Will Hurley, OL, Somersworth
Casey Soucie, P/RB, Somersworth
Anthony Rennaldi, RB, Campbell
Dan Mak, OL, Campbell
Greg Polish, RB, Bow
Tanner Rathbone, G, Bow
Jamie Ewing, FB, Bishop Brady
Jon Conley, QB, Bishop Brady
Ryan Morris, QB, Sanborn
Kaian Wilkes, QB, Fall Mtn.
Kevin Cooney, FB, Windham

First Team Defense

Jeremy Powers, LB, Kearsarge
Jacob Jones, OLB, Kearsarge
Andrew St. Louis, NG, Kearsarge
Robert Ramirez, DE, Kearsarge
Sam Morgan, S, Kearsarge
Jacob Hewitt, LB, St. Thomas
Sam Truslow, DT, St. Thomas
Brett Lago, DE, St. Thomas
Zach Fitzherbert, CB, Stevens
Zach Knight, LB, Stevens
D.J. Colbert, DL, Somersworth
Bobby Shatinsky, DB, Somersworth
Alan Popovich, CB, Campbell
John Houston, LB, Campbell
Joe Marshall, DB, Bow
Erik Michaud, DB, Bow
Colin Spain, DE, Bishop Brady
Dylan Spence, S, Sanborn
Jon Merritt, LS, Fall Mtn.


Honorable Mention Offense

Ben Gambino, OT, Kearsarge
Parker Hansen, WR, Kearsarge
Austin Monette, RB, St. Thomas
Dylan Ladd, G, Stevens
Cylan Gosselin, OT, Stevens
Justin McCallion, OL, Somersworth
Drew Francouer, QB, Somersworth
Tyler Coughlin, WR, Campbell
Dillon Andrews, RB, Campbell
Alex Foley, RB, Bow
Gregg Froleiks, TE, Bow
Anders Hanson, RB, Bow
Christian Robinson, K, Bow
Matt Woodfin, C, Bishop Brady
Tom Arena, WR, Bishop Brady
David Hemeon, OT, Bishop Brady
Graham Nyhan, TE, Bishop Brady
Nick Carson, OT, Sanborn
Kevin Smith, TE, Fall Mtn.

Honorable Mention Defense

Dustin Kaubris, LB, St. Thomas
Jake Pickett, DT, St. Thomas
Dylan Tenney, CB, Stevens
Matt Garrison, LB, Stevens
Joe Tarr, LB, Stevens
Brody Horning, DL, Somersworth
Brenden Lennon, DB, Somersworth
Dan Driscol, CB, Campbell
Jarred Bretton, LB, Campbell
Ricky Bailey, LB, Bow
Riley Johnson, DT, Bow
Sam Girard, DT, Bishop Brady
Dylan Howard, LB, Sanborn
Ryan Bentley, DT, Fall Mountain
Scott Priestley Jr., OLB, Windham

                                           DIVISION VI ALL-STATE TEAM 

FIRST TEAM OFFENSEMatt Dean (Gilford) Fullback
Harrison Wade (Newport) Fullback
Zach Nason (Farmington) Offensive Line
Jake Ford (Franklin) Offensive Line
Brandon Demo (Gilford) Offensive Line
Jacob Harper (Gilford) Offensive Line
Hayden Jurius (Inter-Lakes) Offensive Line
Zach Lynch (Newfound) Offensive Line
Josh Stout (Newport) Quarterback
Zack King (Epping-Newmarket) Running Back
Brandon Murphy (Gilford) Running Back
Shannon Tucker (Newfound) Running Back
Jordan Riberdy (Winnisquam) Slot Back/Running Back
Brian Pickowicz (Franklin) Tight End
Nick Sullivan (Newport) Wide Receiver/ Running Back
 
FIRST TEAM DEFENSE   Mike Seaman (Epping-Newmarket) Defensive Back
Nick Rousseau (Franklin) Defensive Back
Eli Stockwell (Gilford) Defensive Back
Matt Descoteaux (Winnisquam) Defensive Back
Ryan Carr (Gilford) Defensive Line
Tanner Quinney (Inter-Lakes) Defensive Line
Logan Merritt (Newport) Defensive Line
Josiah Ward (Newfound) Defensive Line/Linebacker
Kyle Pratt (Winnisquam) Defensive Line/Linebacker
Mike Stone (Franklin) Linebacker
Connor Donovan (Inter-Lakes) Linebacker
Ryan Coleman (Mascoma) Linebacker
Bryan Chapman (Newport) Linebacker
Tyler Secorsky (Raymond) Linebacker 

SECOND TEAM OFFENSE   Malcom Benavides (Gilford) Fullback
Shawn Downes-Rule (Newfound) Fullback
Gary Williams (Farmington) Offensive Line
Mike McClean (Franklin) Offensive Line
Alec Boucher (Gilford) Offensive Line
Isaac Billin (Inter-Lakes) Offensive Line
Chris Sanborn (Mascoma) Offensive Line
Justin Beauchaine (Newport) Offensive Line
Connor Smith (Franklin) Quarterback
James Seager (Gilford) Quarterback
Brendan Hogan (Newport) Running back
Devin Burnham (Newport) Running back
Austin Healey (Farmington) Slot Back
Trevor Chapin (Winnisquam) Tight End
Dustin Jarosz (Epping-Newmarket) Wide Receiver
Sixto Garcia (Franklin) Wide Receiver
Matt Esancy (Raymond) Wide Receiver
 
SECOND TEAM DEFENSE   Willie True (Inter-Lakes) Defensive Back
Greg Beaulieu (Newport) Defensive Back
Jeff Lang (Raymond) Defensive Back
Doug Woodhams (Franklin) Defensive Line
Kevin Kosoriek (Mascoma) Defensive Line
Sam Nelson (Newport) Defensive Line
Zeb Swenson (Newport) Defensive Line
Jake Sottile (Winnisquam) Defensive Line
Robert Mcglouthlin (Epping-Newmarket) Linebacker
Mitch Jurius (Inter-Lakes) Linebacker
Fisher Bourbeau (Newfound) Linebacker
Cole Boone (Newport) Linebacker
Joe Tremblay (Newport) Linebacker
  
SPECIAL TEAMS   
James Piper (Newfound) Gunner
Dan Espo (Epping-Newmarket) Kick Returner
Zach Ellis (Newfound) Kick Returner/Punt Returner
Devon Morang (Franklin) Longsnapper
Kevin Paynter (Raymond) Punt Returner
Ronny Bean (Gilford) Punter 

Updated.

All State Selections for D I, D II, and DIII have been released as per NHFootballReport. Read them all here!

Division 1 All  State selections:

First Team defense
Tim Croteau, DL, Nashua North
Mike Mazzola, DL, Pinkerton
Jesse Trottier, DL, Pinkerton
Joel Pacheco, DL, Nashua North
Troy Mansfield, DL, Londonderry
Joe DiPalma, LB, Salem
Sam Graham, LB, Man. Central
Kevin Davies, LB, Pinkerton
Ben Mills, LB, Man. Central
Luke Somers, DB, Pinkerton
Derek Paradis, DB, Nashua South
Sean O'Gorman, DB, Londonderry
Anton Marinchik, DB, Nashua North

First Team offense
Keith Farkas, QB, Nashua South
CJ Woods, WR, Concord
Jahmar Gathright, WR, Nashua North
Nillson Basora, WR, Nashua South
Mike Lorenz, TE, Salem
Brad Tiernan, OL, Exeter
Zach Hunnewell, OL, Nashua North
James Murphy, OL, Nashua North
Andrew Ivas, OL, Salem
Johnny Bieren, OL, Nashua South
Max Jacques, RB, Salem
Jerickson Fedricks, RB, Salem
Emmitt Smith, RB, Pinkerton
Chris Dennis, K, Nashua South

Second Team defense
David Losacano, DL, Concord
Addison Nye, DL, Man. Central
Jim Kelly, DL, Exeter
Wilson Pena, DL, Nashua North
Iam Torres, DL, Man. Central
Conor McCann, LB, Concord
Steven Dwight, LB, Man. Memorial
Devin Blais, LB, Nashua North
Dan McCormick, LB, Nashua South
Cody Dalton, DB, Man. Memorial
Andrew Curran, DB, Pinkerton
Matt Cannone, DB, Salem
Tyler Nolet, DB, Man. Central

Second Team offense
Brandon Karkhanis, QB, Nashua North
Eric Muite, WR, Nashua North
Lucas Reynolds, WR, Man. Memorial
Junior Brown, WR, Man. Central
Nick O'Hagan, TE, Man. Central
KK Halliburton, RB, Man. Central
John Spivey, RB, Exeter
Armand McCrae, RB, Nashua South
Adam Morin, OL, Exeter
Tim Coy, OL, Nashua North
Joe Hamilton, OL, Londonderry
Alex Hadik, OL, Pinkerton
Nick Marquis, OL, Nashua South


D II All State Selections:

FIRST-TEAM OFFENSE
GR. # POS NAME SCHOOL HT. WT.
12 77 C Dan Folger Bishop Guertin 6'3" 210
12 13 QB Steve Cuipa Bishop Guertin 6'2" 180
12 2 SE Ian Seawards Dover 6'0" 165
12 22 RB Corey MacKoul Dover 5'9" 167
12 75 OT Don Morse Dover 6'1" 266
11 70 OG Eric Miller Dover 5'10" 225
11 10 WR Jimmy Boulay Keene 6'0" 170
12 60 C Matt Ammann Keene 6'1" 220
12 53 OT Taylor Russell Keene 6'3" 285
12 31 RB Brody Williams Merrimack 6'2" 172
12 20 RB Nick Lawrence Timberlane 5'11" 175
12 5 QB Steve Cronan Winnacunnet 6'2" 205
12 11 RB Mike Trainer Winnacunnet 6'0" 210
12 15 TE Sean Dolan Winnacunnet 6'3" 190
12 58 OG Mark Lariviere Winnacunnet 6'0" 215
12 8 SE Matt Sullivan Winnacunnet 6'2" 195
12 25 PK Ben Fee Winnacunnet 5'11" 180

FIRST-TEAM DEFENSE
GR. # POS. NAME SCHOOL HT. WT.
12 32 LB Jon Baldwin Alvirne 5'11" 190
11 37 DL Jim Carver Bishop Guertin 5'9" 171
12 47 LB Jim Kemos Bishop Guertin 5'8" 190
11 25 DB Brody Smith Bishop Guertin 6'0" 175
12 8 LB Nick Corbett Dover 6'1" 185
12 44 DL Kyle Wilson Dover 6'2" 230
11 79 DL Matt Brown Dover 5'9" 224
12 5 DB Tyler Slanetz Keene 5'11" 165
12 74 DL Tyler Baulier Merrimack 6'3" 240
12 55 LB Jimmy Bigwood Merrimack 6'1" 200
11 16 DB Aaron Martin Manchester West 6'3" 200
12 76 DL Shawn Ham Spaulding 6'4" 325
12 36 DL Dan Diodati Timberlane 6'2" 220
12 6 DB Jarred Diorio Timberlane 5'10" 170
12 10 P Nate Lawrence Timberlane 5'9" 170
12 10 LB Mike Sullivan Winnacunnet 6'2" 200
1 77 DL Spencer Cutting Winnacunnet 6'1" 245

HONORABLE MENTION
OFFENSE/DEFENSE

GR. NO. POS. NAME SCHOOL/GR. NO. POS. NAME SCHOOL
12 83 TE Dan Connolly Alvirne/12 56 LB Ryan Vigeant Alvirne
12 11 PK Ryan Card Bishop Guertin/12 8 P Nick Pyzocha Bishop Guertin
10 50 OT Andrew Crane Bishop Guertin/10 33 DL Blake Boudreau Bishop Guertin
11 54 OG Jay Krzyston Bishop Guertin/12 22 LB Kyle Remillard Bishop Guertin
11 44 RB Alex Eaton Bishop Guertin/10 4 LB Kevin Kiczuk Bishop Guertin
11 9 TE Kyle Karaska Bishop Guertin/11 16 DB Bob Fahey Bishop Guertin
11 3 QB Tyler Zabkar Dover/12 53 DL Mike Lyons Dover
10 7 QB Lucas Luopa Keene/11 2 DB Ben Galanes Keene
9 21 RB Alex Parenteau Keene/12 58 LB Dillon Belletete Keene
12 6 RB Chris Lacroix Keene/12 50 DL Dustin Rivard Manchester West
12 83 PK Eric Haas Keene/12 4 DL Kyle Barka Merrimack
12 33 RB Chrys Bouchard Manchester West/12 24 DL Mike Giampietro Merrimack
12 32 RB Chris Smith Merrimack/12 40 LB Cody Gladstone Merrimack
11 21 RB Jackson King Merrimack/12 66 DL Jeremy Naquin Spaulding
12 7 QB Zach Harris Merrimack/12 44 LB Alec Clement Spaulding
12 8 WR Chase Distasio Merrimack/11 22 DB Nate Zriny Spaulding
11 72 OT Sam Prive Merrimack/12 52 LB Ryan Murphy Spaulding
12 56 OG Stephen Lagana Merrimack/11 63 DL Matt Myers Winnacunnet
12 32 RB Morgan Fowler Spaulding/12 52 LB Rob Chooljian Winnacunnet
12 80 TE Jordan Woodill Spaulding  11 45 LB Mitch Lapiere Winnacunnet
11 79 OT Brian Hassard Timberlane/10 70 DL Christian Dyer Winnacunnet
10 79 OT Jordan Cutting Winnacunnet     
12 21 RB Brett Taylor Winnacunnet     
12 80 SE Grant Hamel Winnacunnet     


D III All State Selections:

First Team Offense
QB: Mike Luks, Souhegan, Sr.
QB: Quinn McCann, Portsmouth, Sr.
QB: Josh Ellsworth, Pembroke, Sr.
QB: Jon Queen, ConVal, Sr.
RB: John Forte, Milford, Sr.
RB: Collin Pellerin, Hollis/Brookline, Jr.
RB: Jordan Garron, Bedford, Jr.
RB: Tim Schaffer, Pelham, Sr.
SE: Matt Schagrin, Souhegan, Sr.
SE: Brendan McKenna, Souhegan, Sr.
SE: Aidan O'Leary, Portsmouth, Sr.
FL: Chris Chininis, Souhegan, Jr.
OL: Matt Keefe, Milford, Sr.
OL: Robert Boivin, Hollis/Brookline, Jr.
OL: Matt Poisson, Goffstown, Sr.
OL: Jared Orazio, ConVal, Sr.

First Team Defense
DL: Ryan Bullard, Souhegan,Sr.
DL: Riley McCarthy, Portsmouth, Sr.
DL: Rick Holt, Portsmouth, Soph.
DL: Sean Banks, Pembroke, Sr.
LB: Colin Ginnard, Souhegan, Sr.
LB: Nick Hession, Souhegan,Sr.
LB: Matt Feeney, Portsmouth, Jr.
LB: Matt Scott, Milford, Sr.
LB: Brian Liamos, Hollis/Brookline, Sr.
LB: Nathan Ferenczhalmy, Hollis/Brookline, Jr.
LB: Sam McClain, Bedford, Sr.
LB: David Cannone, Bedford,Soph.
LB: Josh Devriendt, Goffstown, Sr.
DB: Nick Kepka-Calvetti, Souhegan, Sr.
DB: Eric Dwinnell, Souhegan, Sr.
DB: Max Goodreau, Milford, Sr.
DB: Justin Walsh, Bedford, Sr.
DB: Brandon Shea, Goffstown, Sr.

Honorable Mention
Souhegan: Kyle Beaulieu, Sr., OL; Ian Coulter, Sr., OL; Chris Almeida, Sr., FL; Jake Kenneddy, Soph., OL; Terry Dugdale, Jr., DB; Barry Ewing, Jr., DL; Alex Price, Jr., LB

Portsmouth: Sam Marousek, Sr., SE; Mitch MacFarland, Sr., DL; Mark Stillman, Sr., DL
Milford: Jack Micozzi, Sr., OL; Connor St. Gelais, Sr., TE; Ben Smith, Soph., DL
Hollis/Brookline: Zac Mignault, Jr., OL; Glenn Morgan, Jr., OL; Sean Conners, Jr., DB; Taylor Landry, Sr., DB

Bedford: James Caparell, Soph., QB; Jeremy Nault, Sr., OL; Nate Harrington, Jr., DL; Mike Gardiner, Soph., PR

Goffstown: Cam Finn, Sr., OL; Mal Shea, Sr., LB; Caleb Cejka, Sr., DB; Dan Considine, Sr., DL; Zach McCormick, Jr., LB; Chris Garrison, Fr., DB

Pembroke: Darryl Holland, Sr., SE; Blake Beauchesne, Sr., RB; Joshua Collier, Sr., DB
ConVal: Jake Bacon, Jr., SE; Brendan Moffitt, Sr., LB; Jeremy Doubleday, Soph., DB
Pelham: Joe Perrone, Sr., RB; Warren Greenhalgh, Sr., DE

Thanks for a great 2010 season, to everyone who had visited this site!

Folks, I started this site, 11ish weeks ago in an attempt to give some recognition to a Division of New Hampshire football that has been overlooked (along with D V and D VI) in the statewide media. This site will go over 10,000 hits today and that is just fantastic. Thank you to EVERYONE of you who visits and reads my ramblings...you've given this old guy more than 1 smile over the past couple months.

I'll continue to update Posts with news around NH Football during the off season. Specifically though look for the following:

Player Highlights:

 I have received several emails from guys letting me know they'll be sending me links to their highlights on Youtube when they're up. So, check the Player Highlights from time to time and remember you can email new links to:

ftballnh@gmail.com

Subject should read Player Highlights and please include name and team. 

Announcements Label:

Also, I know that some teams tend to pick next year's Captains or they have special Announcements and Awards and so on this time of year. So, I've created an Team Announcements Label. If anyone wants to give a special note or Announcement make note of this Label over to the right. This can be any comment you want...maybe announcing new Captains, or a Freshman's first letter. Whatever you want. Just be sure to post the Team along with the Announcement itself.

All State Picks -

When they are announced I will post the All State picks under their own Label and open it up for positive comments and congratulations.

Facebook -

I've got a Facebook page that I will update as new Posts or Player Highlights are added. You can Friend me if you want to get these updates, just go search for Henry Coachman http://newhampshirehighschoolfootball.blogspot.com/.

Lastly, I'd like to thank all 10 teams of D IV NH Football. This site has been visited by someone from basically every team in the division at some point, as you spread the word, more and more people will get to read about the kids that make this game that we love, so great! Maybe next season we'll get 100,000 hits :) Or since I know there's already a D VI website, maybe we get into D V as well. Long time between now and then though!

If you want, please feel free to comment below, consider this a guestbook, sign in and let us know where you're from, just initials and team/town are fine  :) !

In any event, thanks again! Until next time...

D IV Team Announcements -

Got new Captains, new Coach, get your first Varsity letter or do you just long for next years football season to start?! Post your positive Team Announcements or Comments here!

D IV, D V and D VI Champions!

Just a quick congratulations to your champions! Shout them out!

D IV - Lebanon Raiders

D V - Kearsarge Cougars

D VI - Newport Tigers

D IV Championship showdown - Lebanon overcomes 14-0 deficit to stay perfect and win their first ever State Championship 24-14. Congratulations to your new D IV CHAMPION Lebanon RAIDERS!

The sign read Barker, Patch, Drew, our Trinity. Next to it was another that said Welcome to RAIDER NATION. Well, it took a while for the Lebanon Trinity to get going but when they did, they did it in style, as the Raiders defeated the visiting Pioneers in convincing fashion, in front of a thousand plus strong, Raider Nation presence. But it didn't look very promising at the get go.

Trinity got off the bus, and got off quick. They opened with the ball and proceeded to march 60+ yards down the field in convincing fashion. Capped by a 2 yard Rob Hoaglund TD as he pounded up the middle. A failed 2 pt conversion left the Pioneers up 6-0 with 6+ minutes left in the 1st quarter. The Raiders then received the ball and despite a nice 12 yard pass and catch from Roth to Micah Morton were forced to punt around midfield. The Pioneers then proceeded to methodically pound the ball with Hughes, Chambers and Hoaglund sharing carries throughout. Ending with a 3 yard plunge by big Josh Hughes for the TD. The 2 point conversion was converted with a sweep off the left side by Adam Chambers. Trinity up 14 - 0. The Trinity cowbells were clanging and their crowd was roaring. But that was the end of the scoring for the visiting Trinity Pioneers.

Taylor Sanborn grabbed the ensuing (squibbed) kickoff and plowed into the careening Pioneers giving the Raiders excellent field position at midfield with 5 minutes to go in the half. The Raiders then shuffled carries to Chis Barker and Cody Patch including a nice 25 yard scamper through the middle by Barker, who might have scored were it not for a TD saving tackle by Pioneer LB Andrew Lauderdale. Raider ball inside the Trinity 5 yard line. After a couple attempts at pounding it in, Barker then put the Raiders on the board on a sweep from 2 yards out. Justin Judd's PAT put the Raiders on the board 14-7.

Trinity had a nice little drive going before the half, however, the Lebanon D was able to tighten up and force a 4th down punt pinning them deep inside the 5 yard line. They took a knee to end the half. It was never close after that.

The second half was entirely the Raiders. Lebanon started with the ball and after a short gainer and a monster stuff by Josh Hughes as Barker tried moving off Tackle, Roth connected with Micah Morton again on 3rd and long to convert the 1st down. Patch then had 3 successive carries chewing up 18 yards. Roth then connected with Cody Pelletier on a 10 yard pass to keep the drive moving. On the very next play, Patch found a hole up the middle and barrelled 7 yards into sprinting Pioneer safety Romeo Masuku and an epic collision. As both players continued to chug the rest of the teams picked a side and a scrum ensued, pushing the ball a further 5 yards down the field.

On the very next play the Raiders caught the Pioneer D sleeping and gave the ball to FB Dylan Drew (his first carry of many on the day) who pounded the ball 12 yards down field inside the Trinity 10. 2 Plays later Patch skirted through the interior of the Defense diving into the end zone for the TD. Judd's PAT good, 14-14.

The Pioneers took over on the Raider 35 yard line. On their first play from scrimmage in the second half Chambers got the pitch and was absolutely leveled by LB Dylan Drew for a 5 yard loss. 2nd play from scrimmage, DL Alexander Morril met Hughes as he was getting the handoff and dropped him for a 2 yard loss. 3rd play resulted in Goldstien's first pass attempt of the game sailed over the head of Chambers. 4th and forever from their own 28 the Pioneers lined up for their second punt of the game. As the ball was snapped Chris Barker and Mark Davidson fired off the line and Davidson soared through the air blocking the punt of Trinity kicker Carmen Giampetruzzi. Phil Hwang recovers the ball on the Pioneer 6 yard line. On the next play Patch dove into the endzone with Chambers on his back to put the Raiders ahead for good. PAT good 21-14 Raiders and Raider Nation was rocking.

Masuku took the kickoff 20 yards out to the Pioneer 30 yard line for decent field position, but they would not answer. A slew of Raiders led by Roth, Morril, Geno and Henry stocked up the line collapsed on Hughes at the line of scrimmage. Morril went solo on the next play and smothered Hughes for a 2 yard loss. Chris Henry then came barreling in from D End to swat Goldstein's 3rd down pass attempt. Time running down, but Trinity pinned deep in their own end had to punt.

The Raiders took over at their own 45 yard line. They went back to Drew again who went untouched and was finally brought down 13 yards later by Masuku. A couple runs by Patch and Roth kept the drive going as the Raiders plowed into Pioneer territory again. The Raiders then went for it on 4 th and short and Pioneer End Tristian Theroux came up big with a 4th down tackle as Patch attempted to shoot off tackle. Pioneer ball on their own 35 yard line 8 minutes to go in 4th quarter.

Hoaglund then drove around the edge for a 5 yard gainer. On the second play Hughes was met by Drew at the line of scrimmage for no gain. Chambers was then stacked up by Henry, Patch and Geno forcing 4th and long and a Nice punt. It looked as though Chris Barker was on the sideline at this point with a stomach issue of some kind and was replaced by Judd.

Raider ball at their own 20 time ticking down. Pioneers needed a stop. Patch 2 yard gain, Drew 2 yard gain and then a back breaker. Facing 3rd and long, Roth (who did not throw an incompletion this day) connected with Judd over the middle for a 25 yard pass and a Raider 1 st down. Then it was Patch 10 yards, Drew 5 yards, Patch twice for 5 yards a pop, Drew twice for 3 yards a pop, driving deep into Trinity territory. This continued, Patch, Drew, and so on until 1st and goal. The Trinity D would not surrender though. Lauderdale met Patch off tackle on first down and Theroux made a TD saving tackle on Drew forcing a Field goal attempt. Judd was perfect on the day, including the game sealing Field goal with under 3 minutes to go. Raiders up 24-14.

On their next possession the Pioneers attempted two passes both incomplete. Hughes took it up the middle for a short gainer, and Mark Davidson left no doubt about the Raider's victory by dropping Goldstein with a sack on 4th down, allowing the Raiders to take a knee and with it, their first ever D IV Championship and perfect 11-0 season.

NOTES: Patch rushed for 2 TDs and over 100 yards again this game. Drew, Morril, Davidson, all had huge games defensively. In fact the second half the Raider Defense was simply suffocating allowing Trinity maybe 10 yards of offense. Roth did not throw an incomplete pass the entire game. Every pass (and they were all 3rd and long) was complete and they were great catches (Morton, Judd, and Pelletier).

Josh Hughes, Rob Hoaglund, and Chambers all had great 1st halves running the ball. Hughes was a force in the first half led by that monster Trinity line. Throughout the day Masuku, Hughes and Theroux were making plays, in fact for his part Masuku had (from my vantage piont) MANY TD saving tackles, the kid was simply everywhere and played his tail off. Congratulations on a wonderful season Trinity!

Congratulations to your new D IV Champion Lebanon Raiders, you finished your dream season in style!

D IV Championship - HC's Keys to the game - and my picks for the 3 Title games.

Yes I know these are obvious. But hey, there are no more games to review and we need something to talk about :)

Trinity -
    Offensively
        In my opinion Trinity did a nice job in their first meeting with Lebanon. They actually mixed the pass up more than usual to compliment their running game and had a few opportunities for big plays off the pass, that they were just unable to execute. Now, it's not clear to me if this was by design or if it was due to the defense putting them in a position where they felt calling a pass was the best way to go, however, I say stick to what got you here. Run the Ball.
        Control the line of scrimmage. On their 94 yard scoring drive, it seemed as though the O-Line was really exerting their will on what must have been a tired defensive front of Lebanon. Establish this early and maintain it and you'll be okay.
        If you're going to pass, execute.
        Lose the jitters early. Based on the numbers I saw travel to watch the battle for 9-0 down in Manchester, I can only imagine how many people will be at the Championship game at home in Lebanon. There fans are rowdy (that's a good thing in football) and you're gong into a hostile environment. You have the experience, you've been in a game like this before, take a few plays, shake the jitters get down to business.
    Defensively
        They played well defensively in game 1. However, it is safe to say, there was a bit of shell shock at play (especially in the 2nd half). No one, this year (and probably last) had been able to move the ball effectively against the Trinity D. Get over it, Lebanon is going to score and they are going to get yards on you, they didn't go 10-0 for no reason. Relax and play your game, forget the last play, there's a new one to deal with.
        Stack the box. On numerous (I'd call them big) runs, the defense was spread a bit to wide for my taste. Lebanon seems to like to runs most plays up the gut. They have a good line just like you, so it's not always going to be enough to simply rely on your D Line and ILBs to make plays, get them some help inside. You're quick enough to get outside when needed.
Lebanon -
    Offensively -
        Get it going early. Set the tone and score first. Establish a presence up front and work your way outside. Fire up the troops and let them bang away at the line of scrimmage and give that powerful Trinity front something to think about.
        Patch, Patch, Patch. It's his senior year and last game of a superstar season. Let him explode as often as possible and finish in style. Give him 30 carries if needed, but let him have every opportunity to help bring a Title home to Lebanon and champion your dream season in front of the home town crowd.
        Catch every ball thrown to you. Receivers. Lock down the football, when Roth throws (and we've seen Lebanon is not afraid to throw the ball) bring it in.
    Defensively -
        You MUST attack the line of scrimmage. In my opinion Lebanon's Defense (while it was outstanding) in the first meeting, sat back and rode the line initially and waited for the football to show up. That's fine to do against the Trinity Offense since they make it so very difficult to find the football. However, this allowed Trinity to cut away yardage bit by bit. Lebanon's defense came up big with turnovers, big 4th down plays and of course the tide turning stop on the attempted 2 point conversion. But I'd like to see them more aggressive this time around.
        Be ready for the pass. If you play like you did in the first meeting, Trinity is going to be forced to shift their gameplan, and if they go up top to Lauderdale, he's a big target, so you'll have to be in position to make a play.
        Find the football. I said this the last time around and it's much easier said than done. The misdirection and sheer size differential between the Trinity O Line and their backs makes it incredibly difficult  to locate the football.
        Lastly use the home town crowd to your advantage. Lebanon Fans you will need to FEED the Beast. The skill sets (for the most part) are not so far apart regardless of who you are playing and certainly these teams are close to one another. I'd wager that half of what they do on the field is driven by how much adrenaline they've got going at that point in time. The crowd in this game will be the 12th man on the field for Lebanon.
       
Overall -
    Well, unfortunately, for Trinity you're kind of in a no win situation. You come into this game still the favorite in most people's eyes, even though you were defeated in Manchester. You're clearly bigger, your offense continues to roll (even if you don't come out on top), Defense is extremely sound and were it not for a couple miscues in game 1 you could very well well be the 10-0 team. In all the articles I've read and comments that are posted, people just expect you to win this game. I keep drawing the example of Friday Night Lights, and the Pioneers being big bad Dallas Carter. Obviously they are not bad, but they are BIG and have a polished squad who will be gunning to mar the perfect record and bring home their 2nd consecutive title back to Manchester.
   
    Lebanon is basically in a Win/Win situation. NOBODY saw this season coming. Everyone labels them the best story in NH Football this season, the cinderella story :) They've defeated a slew of teams that they've never beaten before, Ever. Made the playoffs for the 3rd time Ever and the 1st time in 6 ish years. Hosting your first playoff game, winning your first playoff game, hosting your first championship game, and lest we not forget your first undefeated regular season while playing in NH Divisional football. Even if you were to bring home the runner up trophy, you are no doubt heroes in your community and an inspiration to small town football teams across the state of NH. You are my Permian :)
   
    Regardless of what happens on Saturday, both of these teams should be commended for all the hard work they've put in this year and no doubt over the summer and off season. They are both teams deserving of the title and I almost hope for a tie :) However, there must be a winner and a loser and as such I've consulted with the Spirits one last time this season and my picks for the Championship games this weekend are:
   
    D VI - Gilford will contain Josh Stout and Brendon Murphy will explode Gilford wins 32-21.
   
    D V - Unfortunately, this game will not be as close as the first one. Kearsarge over St. Thomas  28 - 14.
   
    D IV - The spirits have told me that they think Trinity is too good and too well coached to be beaten by the same team twice in one season. However, football fan in me thinks these kids from small town NH have one more game in them. The fan base will be the difference in this battle. Lebanon goes 11-0 and defeats Trinity 21-20.

Head Coach Player Picks - 2010 Season

Okay, so let me start by saying, the Head Coach selections below are just my opinion. I obviously hold no clout anywhere, but with the season now at a close for most teams, here are my guesses at who will be D IV All State selections. I'll tell you straight out, I saw Kennet, Kingswood, MV and Stark play only one time. So obviously when the REAL selections are made they will all have players on this list that I don't have. The players below have caught my attention with their statistics, play and leadership on the field.

Some of the picks are pretty obvious based on the seasons they have had, I've listed those players first under my Locks section. Others who have had great seasons who I think have a shot at All State or Honorable Mention have been listed under Offensive and Defensive sections accordingly.

Finally, if I've missed someone that you feel deserves recognition, please comment with their name, position and whatever detail you have. Like I said, I'm a fan and I haven't seen every game, so I'm sure I'm going to miss players. Relax and don't take it personal. However, I WILL NOT POST ANYTHING NEGATIVE about any kid, this is not about that...so don't bother commenting negatively on any of these guys because it won't be posted. Positive comments ONLY. Thanks and congratulations to everyone on a great year of D IV football, regardless of what team you played for :) Without further ado:

Head Coach's anticipated Offensive All State Selections -
      
        Locks - These are the selections I think are no brainers based on performances I've seen.
      
        Cody Patch - Lebanon - RB - There can be little debate here. Anyone who has seen him play has found themselves just shaking their head at things this young man can do on the football field.
        Sam Carney - Hanover - QB - despite his team's tough luck record, there can be little debate that Sam is the man! Mobile, great vision, good arm.
        J. Roth - Lebanon - QB - As the general of a primarily running team, has shown he's more than able to throw when called on..and does so with accuracy and discretion and has shown exceptional decision making.
        Josh Hughes - Trinity - RB - Not a whole lot of dance to his style, he just smacks you in the mouth and keeps on trucking...a North/South guy with good speed and exceptional power. He could go Defensively as well, but I think he'll be recognized for the running game he had this year.
        Ryan Geno - Lebanon - OL - Geno had an outstanding year on both sides of the ball but I think will be recognized for his skill on the O-line.
        Blake "the Bus" Bolewski - Monadnock- RB - Outstanding year running the ball. No brainer All State selection.
        David Mahoney - Laconia - RB - Break out year for this sophomore. Will be fun to watch as he gets older.
        Nick Massa - Kennett - RB - Another sophomore standout. Powerful runner will be fun to watch. Largely responsible for Kennet's early season run.
        Brandon Goodale - Plymouth - RB - Good season for this sophomore. Another standout in the class of 2013.
        Jeff Gratiano - Trinity - OL - This kid is the real deal. No question here.
        Billy Mahoney - Laconia - OL - Solid Lineman who had a great year despite being briefly injured.
        M. Gadomski - Kennett - Had a solid year and deserves recognition.
        R. Hoaglund - Trinity - RB - one of the 2 speed guys.
        Adam Chambers - Trinity - RB - the other of the speed guys, though he could go defensively.
      
        May go All State or Honorable Mention Offensively.
      
        Jake Holmes - Laconia - RB
        Jacob Goldstein - Trinity - QB
        Ian Harris - Laconia - WR
        Jack Ringlein - Plymouth - QB
        Isaac Horton - Kingswood - RB
        S. Bednar - Monadnock - QB
        Dan Gorman - Hanover - WR
        Cyrus Rothwell-Ferraris - Hanover
        Taylor Newberry - Plymouth - RB
        Justin Abbot - Merrimac Valley
        Jared Barczak - Trinity - OL
        Chris McCarthy - Trinity - OL
      
      
      
Head Coach's anticipated Defensive All State selections - 
      
        Note to Kennett, Stark, Kingswood, I'm sure that you will have players on this list, when All State selections are released.
      
        Locks - it will be very surprising if these guys are not All State selections.
      
        Doran Logsdon - Laconia - LB - A Beast in the middle #42 was the mainstay of the Lacnia Defense.
        Tony Havonglasan -Laconia - LB - Solid defender.
        Raige Hollis - Laconia - DL - Force in the middle, aggressive and emotional leader on the field.
        Chris Barker - Lebanon - LB - Fast aggressive on the outside and makes great reads and finishes tackles.
        Dylan Drew - Lebanon - LB - Another of the 2013 class. A flat out Playmaker in the middle of the Raider Defense. Very fun to watch this kid.
        Andrew Lauderdale - Trinity - DE - An absolute monster on the defensive side of the ball.
        Kristian Astwood - Lebanon - DB - might be the hardest hitting DB in D IV.
        Alexander Morril - Lebanon - DL - Another All State Year despite being injured early on.
        Dylan Sargeant - MV - A real playmaker who stands out on a struggling team.
        Ryan Carrier - Trinity - Injured in the last game, a defensive force and should be recognized.
        Nick Dragon - Monadnock- DL - Hits like a truck.
        John Staiger - Hanover - Great Senior year for this 2 way starter.
        Romeo Masuku - Trinity - Quick strong Good tackler
        Nick Reisert - Plymouth - LB  Very good Senior year.
      
        May go All State or Honorable mention -
      
      
        Mike Leonard - Trinity
        Cole Brooker - Plymouth
        Will Horan - Plymouth
        Mark Davidson - Lebanon
        Chris Henry - Lebanon
        Micah Morton - Lebanon
        Jake Poulin - Monadnock
        Ethan Hinch - Hanover
      
        NOTE: #80 from Stark might get in as well. He made some big plays when I was able to watch them, if anyone has the name to go with the number please let me know.
      
Before anyone comments...yes I know that the defensive list is dominated with Lebanon players and the Offensive list is dominated by Trinity players. However, if anyone has seen either team play, this list rings true. Trinity in reality has very few (if any) weak spots, they just don't. Literally they are strong at every position. The same is true of Lebanon's defense, it's difficult to find a weak position.

Like I said, I'm sure there are others and I may edit this list as I review notes and the year, however, this list should be fairly solid and is just my opinion.

Ultimately, the above players all had great seasons and deserve to be recognized. Again, if you'd like to recognize a player that was left off this list, perhaps from one of the teams I wasn't able to see very often, that's the great thing about blogs, feel free to Comment away :) Just be positive!

D IV Championship game -

Well, with all the talking done and the preliminaries out of the way, we get to see what everyone has been talking about since around Week 7. Trinity and Lebanon in (as it's so affectionately called) the SHIP. Trinity was able to defeat a tough Laconia team over the weekend while Lebanon locked down "the Bus" and defeated Monadnock at home. Congrats to both Laconia and Monadnock on great seasons this year.

On to the championship game...round 2. While Lebanon came out on top in the first match up and convincingly defeated the Huskies over the weekend. This is NOT a done deal. Make no mistake, the precision with which they run their Double Wing causes problems for defenses. It doesn't matter how much film you watch, when it's run correctly it can be one of the toughest Offenses to stop. And what's more, they've got to deal with Josh Hughes running the ball. Hughes has a established himself this year as a workhorse. When he gets a head of steam he will run you over. Most of their stuff is coming off-tackle or up the middle in your grill. Defensively, they will miss Ryan Carrier, and I know it's been said many times on this site and others, we wish you a quick and speedy recovery and look forward to seeing you next year. Word has it they've shifted 6'7 Lauderdale to LB, which should give them a different look defensively. The Raiders come into the game mostly healthy as well. Patch and Barker both had big games against Monadnock and will look to have a repeat performance this Saturday. Senior Jon Roth also had a big game both on offense and Defense picking off a pass and getting in on numerous tackles.

In the end though, I expect that this game is going to be an all out slugfest just like before. Trinity will be gunning for payback that much is a certaintly, the question will come down (as it did in their last meeting) to who can control the line of scrimmage. While Trinity is bigger, Lebanon did a nice job opening holes in their first matchup and pursuing the play defensively. They'll need to do that again to finish perfect. I can't wait! More on this match up as we get closer. Thoughts...

Semifinal Playoff Shout outs!

Post em here...

Round 2 Trinity @ Lebanon for the D IV Championship !

Every great fight, warrants a second fight. We'll get to see that as #2 seed Trinity (on the merits of their win over Laconia) will travel to Lebanon next Saturday to battle the Raiders for the D IV championship. The Raiders sealed their trip with their first ever playoff win, in their first ever playoff game and earned the right to host their first ever championship game with a 35 - 7 victory over Monadnock. More later....

D IV, D V, D VI playoff picks -

First let me start by saying that a while back I had some requests for and had talked about doing some kind of player ranking for D IV. It doesn't look like that's going to happen. Having said that, I've had the chance to see every team at least once and most of them multiple times over the course of the season. So, next week I'll be consulting with the spirits of football yore again for their All State selections and post a thread to that subject!

Now on to this weeks match-ups. For overviews of the 2 playoff games this week see my comments on each game under the D IV Commentary category. Last week, we went 4-1 in division and 3-2 out of Division leaving us at a respectable 7-3 for the week and overall for the season at a healthy, 47-23..not too bad. Once again, I've had the Spirits of Football Yore put their playoff hats on and come up with the following picks for this weeks playoff action!

D IV -

Monadnock @ Lebanon - It will take a quarter or so for Lebanon to get past the playoff jitters. I expect that the "Bus" Bolewski will leaving it all on the field on Saturday and will have a big game. The Huskies will give it to him all day long and he'll put up big numbers. In the end though, the Raider defense will do what they've done all year and rise to the occasion and move on to the championship game. Lebanon wins this one 32-14.

Laconia @ Trinity - The question in this game for Laconia will be their ability to play unselfish defense. They will have to do this to stop the Pioneer offensive machine. If they can do that and get some output from Mahoney, Steele, Holmes and Lanphear they'll keep themselves in this game. If not, Hughes, Hoaglund, will chunk away yardage behind a wall of bodies led by Gratiano and Rainey and it will be a long day for the Sachems. The spirits tell me this will be close game...Trinity on top in OT 20-14.

D V -

Somersworth @ Kearsarge - Doug Gregory is the best all around player in D V and he showed why last week when they outlasted the Saints in 3 OTs. He'll come up big in this one Kearsarge will win in convincing fashion 44-12.

Stevens @ St. Thomas - After a tough loss on the road last week, the Saints need to regroup. Can they rebound after having your perfect season broken in such a tough fight. The Spirits tell me if they win this game they could get some payback in the championship. But I'm going against the spirits on this one. I think the Cardinals are up for this game. Batchelder is going to have a monster day and the Cardinals will shut down the ever dangerous Macnevin and pull out the upset 32-28. You heard it here first :)

D VI -

Newfound @ Gilford - Newfound has had a great year, but they seem to struggle somewhat when playing the tougher teams of the division. Gilford has the best back in D VI in Brendon Murphy and he will shine this day. Gilford wins big 38-16.

Franklin @ Newport - The Tigers have been on a mission this year. They take that mission one step closer to fruition as they defeat Franklin in a tight one 21-20.

Thoughts...

D IV Playoffs Part 2 - Lebanon Raiders (9-0) hosts Monadnock Huskies (5-4) -

At the beginning of this season, with Plymouth riding the nation's longest winning streak and power programs like Laconia and Kennett gearing up for 2010 grind you'd have found few people outside their local towns that gave Monadnock and Lebanon a real chance at making the playoffs. At best you'd hear them mentioned as the "teams to watch" or "outside chance". Yet, here we are, with both teams playing in November, making a run at the D IV Championship. One of them riding an undefeated regular season record of 9-0.

So, let's start with what everyone is calling 'the story of NH football'. The Lebanon Raiders, that no one had heard of until this season. Well, they've heard of you now. Before I begin, let me just say in my own defense, that good 'ol HC has been riding the Raider bandwagon since week 3 or 4 and  I've been paying them props ever since. Raiders get and have been getting their love from HC. Everyone else is just late to the party :)

Offensively, the Raiders bring a lot to the table. Primarily they run out of the Wing - T, but give you multiple looks from the Offensive side of the ball. They don't have the biggest O-Line, but every one of them comes to play and does their job every single play. Alexander Morrill and Ryan Geno anchor the line and these guys will move bodies wherever they need to. Logan DeFelice and Mark Davidson are warriors in the trenches. Chris Henry is the Center and is exceptionally quick at this position. Taylor Sanborn will line up at tight end and when he's not blocking has a great set of hands and is a big target that Roth has been known to throw to. Overall, rarely will you see one of these guys walking from the off-side of a play. They chase the play to the other side of the field and look to make a block if the RB happens to back cut. The little things that make a 'good' O-line 'Great'.

Behind them you have John Roth, a big, strong QB with a good arm and who doesn't make mistakes. He's quick for his position when called on to run and is not afraid to throw solid blocks to help spring his RBs. You'll see Pelletier and Morton at wide out, both have good speed and hands to match. Lebanon is not afraid to throw the ball. They will throw short and medium range passes and will also let Roth take a shot deep every now and again. Their backfield consists of Drew (FB) an in your face, run you over type of RB. Chris Barker who has a fast, aggressive style to his running and has a second gear that allows him to break the big play. Their workhorse is Cody Patch. Patch is electric. He'll get the ball 20+ times and if you don't wrap him up, he will burn you and do it in a big way. He's strong, has great vision, and is exceptionally difficult to bring down.

Defensively, the Raiders shine. They don't miss many tackles and subsequently don't give up many big plays. Teams have had some success sustaining drives this year, only to see them falter when they get in the red zone. Their front four are as good as they come, Davidson and Henry attack the edges, while Geno and Morril clog the middle. They have 3 of the best Linebackers in D IV, in Barker, Drew and Patch and their cover guys Judd, Astwood and Morton are solid, big hitters in the secondary.

Monadnock -

The Huskies come into the playoffs as the 4th seed (5-4) coming off a tough loss at home against visiting Laconia. Don't let the record fool you though, the Huskies played Lebanon very tough in their first game and were it not for a plague of penalties may have come out winners in their first meeting against the Raiders.

Offensively, the Huskies run out of a base wishbone offense but will also throw different looks at you. They have a massive O-Line. These guys are big, physical, and disciplined in what they do. Their line that is led by Zach Underwood and Nick Dragon (who is 300+ pounds) and make no mistake these guys will move you upfield. Brandon Wilfore (250), Nick Skrocki (250), Nick Patterson round out their front line and these guys mean business. Perhaps not as quick as some other teams, they have the size and strength to go toe to toe in the trenches with the best of them.

Leading the team at QB is Bednard. Forced into the starting role early on in the season due to injury, the sophomore has begun to find his stride.

Running behind the line is Blake "the Bus" Bolewski. What a Senior year this kid has had. Surpassing the 1000 yd mark for the 2nd straight year, he's rattled off almost 750 yards and (I think) 12 TDs in the last 4 games. His low center of gravity combined with his strength, speed and vision make him exceptionally difficult to tackle. Like Patch, if you don't wrap  him up, he will make you pay. Accenting Bolewski out of the backfield is Corey Brown. Defenses need to be careful not to focus to much on the Bus, or this kid can bite you as well. He's got good speed, great feet and can get to the edges welll.

Defensively, the O-Line shifts over to D-line and can really cause a bottleneck inside. They typically run out of a 4-4 Defense, so it should be fun to see who wins the battle on the line. If the Monadnock D can get penetration, Lebanon could be in for a long day. Clogging up the middle is going to mean they'll have to go outside where Linebackers Bolewski and Patterson have had success chasing down ball carriers. The one thing I can see where the Huskies need to have some caution is in the secondary. Teams have had some success throwing on them this year.

All in all, this shapes up to be a great game in Lebanon and if last weeks game at Trinity was any indication I can only guess how many fans will be packed at Raider field as they host their first home playoff game in ...um well, that would be EVER! Good luck to both teams! Thoughts...

D IV Playoffs 2010

Well, it came down to 6 teams fighting for spots in the playoffs. In the end the seeding ended with Lebanon (9-0) locking down the #1 seed. Trinity at (8-1) as the #2, Laconia at (7-2) at #3 and Monadnock (5-4) as the #4 seed respectively.

This seeding means that Lebanon will host Monadnock and Trinity will host Laconia this upcoming weekend. We'll preview the games in separate posts.

First, the Laconia / Trinity matchup
    Two great teams with outstanding coaches face off on Saturday as the Sachems travel to Manchester to face the Pioneers. The 2 and 3 seeds battle for a spot in the 2010 championship game. In the regular season, Laconia allowed the Pioneers 284 yards of offense compared to 46 yards of their own. And yet even with those lopsided numbers, the Sachems held the lead midway through the 4th quarter due to outstanding special team play. Ronnie Steele (we love this guy) ran back a kickoff for a TD, Holmes ran back a Punt, Mahoney blocks a punt, Steele then scores...it took a Goldstein to Lauderdale pass with just over 6 minutes to go, to seal the victory for the visiting Pioneers that night. What a game...
   
    Laconia:
   
    You hear it a lot from football fans,  "Get the Offense on the field to give the D some rest!". In D IV that just doesn't matter as most of these kids go both ways and teams have minimal substitutions. What does matter is momentum, adrenaline, that feeling you get when you're so amped up you can't even speak or you might throw up. Well you get the point. The Trinity offense has a tendency to simply beat that feeling right out of you. They take your momentum, your adrenaline and like a chemist out of a cartoon show, they convert it into energy to feed their double wing machine.
   
    In this game, the key for the Sachems will be figuring out how to stop the Pioneer double wing and get their offense on the field to rack up a little yardage of their own. It won't even necessarily matter if they score right away, but the kids NEED to know they can move the ball effectively against the Pioneers defense. This will keep them up, amped, and able to dig deep and play defense much more effectively when the time comes. In order for them to be effective, the backs need to hit holes quickly. This Pioneer D is no joke. When a hole opens, it is typically only momentary. So, when it appears, Mahoney, Steele and Holmes need to get through to the second level.
   
    Also be patient. The Pioneer D is big, fast and intimidating. They won't give up a big play all that often...so don't look for one. Take the 3 yard gain, line up and do it again. Maintain control of the ball, stay focused and put sustained drives together. Scoring will come.
   
    Laconia has the weapons to come out on top in this game. Mahoney has really matured into a go to type RB for the Sachems. He is quick tenacious and has the speed to break the big play. Steele is back and healthy as is Jake Holmes. Briggman runs his offense well and has shown the ability to throw the ball well in the past few games. The O-line is back and healthy and with Mahoney and Hollis opening holes for you, the Sachems have the tools to come out on top on Saturday. 
   
    Defensively, team, team team. One guy will not and cannot stand-out defensively against the machine that is the Pioneer Offense. It will take a team effort, all 11 guys on each and every play, going hard until the whistle. Those of you who have seen a double wing offense run properly will know that it is simply a mess. That's not an insult, it's simply what it is, smoke and mirrors, controlled chaos by design, and the Pioneers run it like no one else in D IV. 
    They will mis-direct, ball fake with their RBs going in three different directions, while Goldstien rolls out and throws the ball, but wait, he doesn't have the ball...Hughes has it and he's 25 yards up field with a safety riding his back being dragged along for the ride. If it's not that, then it's one side of the line looking at 5 guys wall blocking while the back jogs behind waiting for an opening.
   
    IMO, first, you need everyone to be fearless and unselfish. Find the football and when you do, sacrifice yourself to stop the mack truck that's coming your way. Meet the blockers with force and conviction while your teammates pursue from the back side. It's imperative to chase the play from the back side...and they need to do it at full speed whistle to whistle. Don't assume the RB is down, everybody tackles and chases until they hear the whistle. The Pioneer backs (in particular Hughes) are not going down easy. Finally be patient. They will get their yards, but if you play tough and close down in the red zone, you will be okay.
   
    Trinity:
   
    The key for Trinity will be to forget last week and do what you've done all year. There are so many story lines here that could effect the mentality of a successful team,  (winning streak broken, no longer undefeated, etc...). Get your heads right, be mentally tough and stay on course.
   
    Offensively, keep on trucking. Gratiano, Rainey, Lauderdale and company will simply smack you in the mouth and move your butt downfield. This line will hit you, move you where they want, and move on to the next guy. They're big quick and as fundamentally sound as they come. The Pioneers won't throw many looks at you. They run an A formation Double Wing set, with some slight variations every now and again, and while I'm not a fan of the double wing, these guys run it to perfection. If you've ever watched the Pioneers play, you will  have found yourself (more than once) following the play and then giggling to yourself when you realize the back you're following doesn't have the ball and half the defensive is tackling/chasing him with reckless abandon. 
   
    Goldstien knows the offense and runs is incredibly effective in what he does. He hides the ball well, follows through on ball fakes and has decent speed when called upon to keep it. Hoaglund and Chambers provide speed out of the wing positions while Hughes will pull most snaps as the FB. Hughes is the power guy, and he has decent speed, but his low center of gravits and the power in which he runs make him very difficult to take down. The Pioneers must hold on to the football, especially in the Red zone.
   
    Defensively- they've been extremely good on Defense all year. They must account for the loss of Ryan Carrier on Defense in this game. Carrier was a leader and a beast at inside backer and his presence inside will be missed by the Pioneers. M. Leonard will most likely fill in and will need to step up to the challenge. That said the battle on the line should be epic, with Hollis and Mahoney banging with the likes of Gratiano and Lauderdale it should be fun to see how this unfolds the second time around. Thoughts...
   

Week 9 Shout Outs!

1. We'll give 3 shout outs this week. First, here at Head Coach headquarters, we love heart. Monadnock has an outstanding RB in "the Bus", however, after dropping their first 2 contests of the season and losing their starting QB (also for the season)  these guys sucked it up and have battles all year and put themselves in a position to do something special and make a run at the championship. Big props to the Swanzey warriors. Go getem Huskies!

2. Lebanon fan-base. I've seen a lot of high school games. The number of fans that you brought to the contest on Saturday Night was in a word "impressive". You get props from HC!

3. Ryan Carrier - this kid was a load in the first half of Sat nights game on both sides of the ball...a real champion. He was helped off the field with a concussion early on in the second half. These injuries are serious business at any level, especially in our young adults. We wish you well Ryan and may you have a speedy recovery!

Let's hear your shout outs!

Week 9 Recap -

What a weekend of Football. First let me start by touching on a D V game. Kearsarge outlasted St. Thomas in OT and QB Doug Gregory was simply outstanding. Great job by both teams!

In D IV action Hanover ended their season on an up note with a 42-7 victory over MV. Nice to see the Marauders finish out like this. For Carney, Staiger, Hinch and the other seniors on this team, this was their last game in a Marauders uniform, but who knows maybe we'll see them playing in college somewhere.

Laconia defeats the Huskies in Swanzey to take 3rd seed 37-27. Backed by another outstanding performance from Sophomore star David Mahoney, the Sachems withstood a comeback from the revitalized Huskies and pull out a victory on the road. Laconia will travel to Manchester to take on the 2nd seed Pioneers in a rematch of their tough regular season contest while the Huskies will head to Lebanon to take on the 1st seed Raiders.

Plymouth finishes the season at 5-4 after defeating John Stark 33-12 to end their season. Plymouth will look to the future as they should again have a strong unit next year, with both Newberry and Goodale returning for their Senior and Junior years respectively.

Kennet wins big over Kingswood 44-0. The Eagles rebounded to close the season off strong putting up big points combined with an impressive defense, shutting out Kingswood. They too will be strong next season bringing back a slew of young talent not the least of which is Nick Massa who established himself as a legit RB this year.

Finally Lebanon defeats Trinity in what many would call an upset (hey I got it right :)) in a slugfest of 2 quality teams on Saturday night 14-6 to set the 1 and 2 seeds in the division. See my recap posted/edited yesterday for more on this contest.

So now the table is set #1 Lebanon will host #4 Monadnock on Sat while #2 Trinity will host #3 Laconia. We should see some good competitive football this weekend to decide who will play for the D IV championship. More later...

Trinity/Lebanon there can be only 1! Lebanon is 9-0!

**Edited after some sleep...**

It was a defensive struggle all night long. That sounds weird to say when both teams combined for almost 600 yards of offense, however, if you were there, you know what I mean. In the end, the Raiders improved to 9-0 in the Regular season finale for these 2 D IV heavyweights, outlasting the Pioneers in a big 14-6 victory at Gill stadium in Manchester.

But what a game. The first half of the game was a stalemate with neither team really able to get a whole lot going. Yardage-wise, initially it seemed as though the Pioneers had a slight edge offensively in the opening half, but would start getting the Offense moving and would shoot themselves in the foot with a costly penalty, killing the momentum. They did have one shot to get on the board early but came up empty as a 32 yard FG attempt fell short.


Now I don't want to make it seem as though they were moving with ease....the Raider defense was stingy tonight. In what has been their staple all year, then bent a bit but did not break. At halftime it was 0-0.

The second half was a bit different. The Raiders opened the second half with the ball. On the second play from scrimmage, Patch took off on what appeared to be a 20 plus yard gain ending as he hurtled (and yes that's the word) what looked like 4 feet over the defender. The officials flagged him for hurtling putting the Raiders in a deep hole. Not to be dismayed he followed that run with runs of 25 and then 30 yards ending it with a touchdown run 5 yards, up the middle in the 3rd quarter to give the Raiders the lead. After the PAT is good, it was 7-0 Raiders.

The Pioneers then put together an 8ish minute drive consisting of 16 plays and 90+ yards, taking them well into the 4th quarter. RB Josh Hughes (160 + yards and 1 TD) then answered with 4 minutes to go in the 4th quarter, punching in a 5 yard TD to get the home team on the board. However as they have done all year, they opted to go for 2 points and the lead with 4 minutes to go in the game. But the Lebanon D came up big, getting good penetration and stacked Hughes up, stuffing the attempted 2 point conversion and maintaining the lead for the visiting Raiders 7-6. 

The Raiders then took the ball 65 yards in 5 plays 4 runs by Patch and 1 by Drew and quickly answered as Patch found paydirt with his 2nd TD on an 18+ yard (2nd) TD run. After the PAT it was 14-6 Raiders with 3 minutes to go. The Raider D then shut the door on the Pioneers as Mica Morton picked off a Goldstein pass on 4th and long, allowing the Raiders to take a knee to end the game by running the clock out.

I'm not going to mention any names defensively. Suffice it to say this was truly a team effort from the defensive side of the ball for both teams. Every single player on both teams made plays this game. I would be willing to bet a lot of money that every players name was called out multiple times during this contest. It was a true defensive struggle between two heavyweight teams. If this was a preview of the championship game, I can't wait. Congratulations to both teams on outstanding seasons! And to the Lebanon Raiders for a perfect regular season of 9-0.

Interesting notes:

** FB/LB Ryan Carrier was helped off the field after a collision with (OL) Alexander Morril and did not return. We hope he is okay and wish him well.  

** One poster on the site had commented in an earlier thread, voicing concerns about how many of the Lebanon faithful would show up to support their team. If last night's contest was any indication, fear not. It's my  estimate that the visiting Raider fans numbered well over 400 plus in attendance. They were loud and rowdy and had I not known better, I would have thought this was a hometown, old-fashioned rival game...rather than a contest where the visiting team travelled 70 + miles.

**Trinity will host Laconia next weekend and Lebanon will host the Huskies in the first round of the D IV playoffs.

Week 9 picks and thoughts -

Week 9 has 2 major games on the slate in the Division. Trinity hosting Lebanon and Monadnock hosting Laconia. See the post below or go under D IV Commentary for thoughts on those 2 games. While the rest would appear to be fairly straight forward picks, some are or could be very important. Aside from the above mentioned games:

Hanover is hosting MV - While both teams will not be in the playoffs this year, it is the last game of the year. Hanover will be looking to builld some momentum looking forward to next season as this young team continues to improve on a tough luck kind of season. I've said it all along. This is a playoff caliber team that has had it's share of bad luck, timing or miscues over the year. A play here or there and this team could well have found itself right in the November chase. MV will look to finish strong as they have struggled this season and will look forward to a fresh start next year. We like the Dylan Seargent kid go get'em in Hanover and finish strong!

Stark visits Plymouth - Stark has a young team and a new system. They will get there, just not this year. A good showing against a polished football team like Plymouth would go a long way toward building this program back up in the offseason. For Plymouth, this is still a must win. You can only ever control games you are playing in. Technically speaking Plymouth is not out of the playoffs yet. If they win here, and both Monadnock and Kennet lose. Plymouth is in as the fourth seed at 5-4 since they beat Monadnock in the regular season. 

Kennet hosts Kingswood - A must win for Kennet. Similar to the above, if Kennett wins and Monadnock loses, again, my interpretation of the NHIAA rules are that Kennett would be in even in a 3 way tiebreaker. See my rather long response to a posters question about this very scenario. I think it was in the Week 8 recap or one of those posts. Just a thought here, how good would Kingswood have been if Tate J. (I don't want to butcher his name) had stayed at Kingswood? He is a gifted QB and the Knights missed him this year. We wish him well and all the Knights good luck in their final game of the year!

With that out of the way, the spirits were rock solid in Division last week, not so much when we drifted out of division. Last week I was a perfect 5-0 in Division and 1-4 out of division leaving me at 6-4 for the week, and 40-20 for the year. I've consulted once again with Spirits of football yore and they have assured me that they will do better out of division this time around :)

First in D IV:

MV @ Hanover - Marauders do not lose this game - Carney, Staiger and crew go out in syle 40 - 7.

Stark @ Plymouth - Generals just don't have enough firepower. Bobcats win at home 28-6.

Knights @ Kennett - The struggling eagles need to win this game, but they should not take the Knights lightly. Kennett wins 14-6.

Laconia @ Monadnock - Hmmm it's a tough one, the Spirits tell me that Laconia is of the opinion Lebanon will lose vs Trinity and they want a first round matchup with Lebanon, which means they WANT this game. Monadnock is in a WIN and your In. This will be a battle...a battle that the Huskies will win at home 30-28.

Lebanon @ Trinity - Well, I don't really need to set this up. No one anywhere gives Lebanon much of a chance. Trinity has kids from all over, Lebanon is a smallish city in mid northern NH. I've seen them both and I think that Trinity is more athletic overall, but this Raider team just somehow seems to always pull out a win. I'm calling (what most feel would be the upset in this one), Lebanon over Trinity 22-21 at Gill for bragging rights (albeit temporarily if they meet in a couple weeks) and the #1 Seed. More to the point, I think it will be a 21-14 game, Leb will score to make it 20-21 and they will go for 2 and the win...and get it. I know, I know, but hey that's what the Spirits tell me :)

Out of Division:

In D VI - Gilford hosting Newport - both at 7-1, not after this week, Newport wins on the road 28-21.
In D V - Huge game...and I will be there. St Thomas @ Kearsarge - 2 Undefeated teams slugging it out for the #1 spot. This one could go either way, there simply is no favorite. When in doubt go with the Home Team Kearsarge wins 14-6. 
In D III Portsmouth @ Bedford - Porsmouth wins this one on the road 32-14t wind
In D II - Keene @ Winnacunnet - Keene wins 28-7.
In D I Pinkerton @ Central - Pinkerton wins 32-7.

Thoughts?

Big Games Week 9 Trinity/Lebanon and Monadnock/Laconia -

Two really big games this weekend. First the Heavyweight Title fight as Lebanon travels to Trinity. Both teams are at 8-0. They have defeated the same teams. Both squads have shown that they can come from behind to win games. Trinity did this when they played Laconia and came from behind to win it with minutes to go.

The other big game is Monadnock hosting Laconia. - If you look at their records, Laconia is riding a 4 game win streak, they are healthy (mostly) and come to Monadnock having already clinched a playoff spot. The Huskies need this win. They are riding a 3 game winning streak and their All State running back Blake "the Bus" Bolewski is frankly in a zone. Coming off a huge 6 TD 200+ yard performance last week, the Huskies will need a workman-like game from him this week again.

So, let's try to break this down if we can.

GAME 1

Trinity vs. Lebanon -

Pioneers - Offensively the Pioneers hold an edge here. They have the #1 Offense in the league by far. Their Offensive line will methodically fire off the line of scrimmage as they patiently move the ball down the field and chew up the clock. The end result of this is less time for the opposing offense to be on the field leaving no room for 3 and outs when their opponents get their chance with the ball. In this Division, this effect is compounded by the fact that most teams have the bulk of their players clocking time on both sides of the ball, causing frustration and fatigue to become a major factor...especially late in the game. Defensively they are just (if not more) difficult to deal with. That same line is so big and strong, they simply clog up gaps in the line and makes running inside a trial of monumental proportions. Their linebacking core is quick and hard hitting and is, in my opinion second only to their opponent this week. Ultimately, as they have shown all season long, this is not an easy team to come from behind on..backed up by the fact that no one has done it yet this year. They get up on teams and keep the pressure on throuout. We've all heard the names before: Chambers, Hughes, Hoeglund, Gratiano, Lauderdale, Leonard, Masuku, and Goldstein should and will be All State considerations.

Lebanon - A surprise to some teams this year, the Raiders come into this game 2nd in Offense and 1st in Defense (albeit by a small margin). In as much as Trinity's line is big, Lebanon's is by no means small. They are fundamentally rock solid in what they do. They open holes for their backs and get to the second level to lock down linebackers. The end result of this is their potential for the big play. Lebanon has the best rb in the state in Cody Patch. He is having another All State caliber year and will hit holes quickly and simply makes defenders miss tackles. He has a second gear and if you don't wrap him up, when he sees daylight , he will take the ball to the house. From the Defensive side of the ball, the Raiders simply get it done. Their defensive backs are so fast, they almost dare you to throw on them. They tackle well and hit with a vengeance. Their Linebacking core is fast on the outside and punishing in the middle and is again imo, the best in the league. Their D Line while by no means small, is very fast and if they get hands on, will make the tackle. You've also heard the names before: Patch, Barker, Drew, Roth, Geno, Morrill, Judd, Henry will all be All State considerations this year.

The Game:

Trinity -

Offensively, the keys to the game for Trinity will be whether or not they can impose their will at the line of scrimmage in the same way they've been able to do to other teams all year long. If they can, it will be a very long day for Lebanon. Their running backs have been putting big numbers up behind their blocking this season and they are looking for this continuity to repeat itself Saturday night. They typically run out of a tight A formation double wing set, so, if the Lebanon Defense sits back or out wide on them, they will march up the field taking chunks of yardage at a time, play by play.

Defensively - Stop the big play. They will drop some bombs on the backs and this defense knows how to tackle. The key for them is not to give up the big play. Lebanon as 2 similar backs in Patch and Barker, they can make you miss and really either one can break the big play if you don't finish the tackle. Their full back (Drew) is big, strong and is a punishing runner but will look to run you over rather than go around you. Wrap up and pursue the play, especially when they go outside. Lastly, don't ignore the pass, while they aren't necessarily a throwing team, Roth is very accurate and has shown the ability to go deep and mid-range with precision this year.

Special teams - Don't give up the big one. If anything has, this has been a sore point for Trinity this year. Mistakes on special teams almost cost them a game they otherwise dominated, at Laconia.

Lebanon -

Offensively, the keys to the game will be patience...and your Defense. You will have a game plan and will have no doubt done your homework. Stick to it. The battle in this game will be on the line. Chew up yardage and the clock with sustained drives. If this happens, the Trinity Offense will be off the field and subsequently will not be testing your defense. If Lebanon's lineman rise to the occasion, this can happen. Also, I think it will be key to keep the score close or get up on Trinity early. Teams have not been able to score all that often on the Trintiy D. Show that you can move the ball consistently against the Pioneers D (even if the end result is not a score). Don't worry about the big play and it will come. Get your dangerous backs into space where they can make plays.

Defensively - Bring it. You're on the road, in the biggest game your school has seen (possibly ever). That is until next week :) Shake the nerves quickly, as this Offense will not give you opportunities to "get off the bus". Be ready and know your assignments and do what you've done all year. Make plays. The D Line doesn't have to control the line of scrimmage here. Again IMO, they need to create chaos at the line, get penetration, read blocks and hit gaps to  disrupt plays. Make their runners change direction and dance and you're speed will win the day. Lastly, get off the field. Get stops early and get your offense the football.

This game is tough, it could be a close tight game...or it could be another blowout. My guess is that it's going to be a nasty dogfight. These 2 teams are coming to this game expecting to win. They expect to play each other in 2 1/2 weeks for the championship. Either way, I can't wait for Saturday night.



GAME 2

Monadnock hosting Laconia - a match up that could determine a playoff birth for the Huskies. Win and your in 3rd place, lose and (I think) your out due to the 3 way tie break rules with Kennett and Plymouth (assuming they both win this weekend). Kennet would then slide in as the 4th seed. That said let's talk:

Laconia - Offensively they're clicking. Riding a 4 game win streak coming into this game, they're hitting their stride. Steele is back, Jake Holmes  and along with the emergence of sophmore David Mahoney, they have more than ample weapons on offense. Their line is big and physical and able to move the defense off the ball. They run the counter very effectively  and if they get through to the second level their backs have break away speed. They are mainly a power running team who will look to smack you in the mouth and step on you as they make their way to the end zone. Defensively, they stack up well with most teams in D IV. They are tough up the middle with big Raige Hollis off the nose and Doran Logsdon at ILB. Holmes, Steele, Mahoney and Mahoney (not the law firm, we are referring to Billy Mahoney) will also go both ways. Holmes will roll coverage with the best of them as a DB. This Laconia team's only losses come against Trinity and Lebanon. They had big wins against Plymouth and Kennet and will now look to do the same against an apparently reborn Huskies team. You know the names: Hollis, Steele, Holmes, Mahoney, Logsdon will get All State consideration.

Monadnock - Early losses to Plymouth and Lebanon set them back at 0-2 to start the season. The Huskies have pulled it together and have apparently found some consistency going 5-1 in their last 6 games with their only defeat coming at the hands of Trinity. All State standouts Nick Dragon and "the Bus" Blake Bolewski lead a Huskies team that now finds themselves knocking on the door of the playoffs. Their offense is obviously driven by their running attack. Bolewski has absolutely hit his stride the last few games (including 6 TDs last game). Defensively they are also very tough. Consistency seems to be the key for the Huskies as they move forward potentially into the playoffs. Look for Dragon and Bolewski to be All State again this year and Cory Brown and Jacob Dubois have been raising eyebrows of late as well.

The Game:

Laconia-

You're on the road, clinched a playoff spot. You have a line anchored up by some darn good lineman, the likes of Hollis and Mahoney and you're stacked in the backfield with the likes of Steele, the other Mahoney, and guy by the name of Holmes. The team you're playing is going to be scratching and clawing at every play, and giving you everything they have for 4 quarters (or they should be), so what do you do. If you're Laconia, I think you run it down their throat. I think the Sachems set the tone early and run everything up the gut and wear those big Husky Linemen down. Bring the Defense in nice and tight and then run one of those sweeps they run so well to the outside. If the Sachem line can take charge like this it might just get in the heads of the Huskies and wear them down both physically and mentally.

Defensively, Stop THE BUS...if you let him get a rythm going, it's going to be a very long night in Swanzey. The Huskies are not afraid to throw the ball and they have tall targets. This may mean Holmes is going to have to put his jumping shoes on or light them up when they catch it. One of their strong points on D is Logsdon at ILB, he's big, nasty (I mean that in the best way possible), and will love to light you up. If he throws a bomb or two on the Tight end running the quick slant or a receiver coming across the middle (watch out). Obviously the key will be Bolewski though...if you can stop him or at least contain, you will be giving your team a chance.

Monadnock-

Offensively - Not much to say here. Coach...ride the Bus. Let the D key on him all they want. Give him the ball and let him go. A number of teams have had some success running on Laconia. If you can get through the line to the second level you can find success. Second, Throw the ball, while the Sachems have excellent corners, you can pick on their size. If you can get the ball up to your big receivers you can have success. Lastly bring your discipline. This Monadnock team may very well have defeated Lebanon earlier in the season were it not for (I don't recall teh exact number) but I believe it was near 200 yards in penalites. That cannot happen this game. Focus boys, this one's for the playoffs.

Defensively - If you key on Holmes, Mahoney is going to burn you. If he doesn't, watch out it could be Steele. Briggeman can throw it with some success, so you can't rule it out, but if you can get the Sachems to where they are throwing the ball, I like your chances. The key for the Huskies is really going to be controlling the middle and forcing calls outside. You must control the Middle against the Sachems, if you force them wide, your defense will do well chasing their backs East and West.

I think this game is going to overtime. Flat out...maybe even 2 OTs. This should be a barn burner. Period.

Good luck to all teams this week! Discuss...

Love your Lineman!

There isn't any running back anywhere that's going to do anything without a solid line blocking for you!! They are the unsung heroes of any football team. As a poster brought to my attention, they never get props!

To the warriors in the trenches...this posts is shout outs for lineman only O or D, post em here!!

Week 8 Shout Outs!

Put your Week 8 Shout outs here! We'll mention Cody Patch from Lebanon, 4 Tds in the 2nd half to go with 150+ yards...rallying the troops to come from behind against the Bobcats!

D IV Week 8 Recap

 Edited 10/25/2010 Please note: This site is dedicated to NH D IV High School Football. It's goal is to promote and give some attention to the teams and players that put their hard work and effort into playing the game that we all love. So along those lines, I will Approve any comment that promotes a player for a job well done. Even a kids first Varsity rep is a BIG deal for some kids and will be posted.

I will also Approve comments that are submitted that would be considered "trash talk" such as my team is better than yours, etc.....while it's not my thing, I guess there's a place for it if you feel the need to, and in the spirit of football they will be approved at my descretion.

HOWEVER, I WILL NOT approve any negative comments about any player or player's name or player's number,  ever. That's not what this site is about, so don't bother submitting them. 

What an exciting week in D IV. The Hanover Marauders beat Stark 55 - 7 to improve to 2-6 on the season. Monadnock dominated MV increasing their win streak to 3 as they now prep for a very important Week 9 home game vs Laconia (more on that in an upcoming post)...and a suddenly struggling Kennett team drops an incredibly important game at Laconia which has pushed them to the brink.

Trinity defeats Kingswood in impressive fashion 48 - 6. This improves their record to 8 - 0.

Lebanon starts out flat, but rebounds in the second half to come from behind to beat Plymouth 28 - 21 to also improve to 8 - 0.

Assuming that Kennett will rebound this upcoming week and defeat Kingswood and Plymouth beats Stark, this means that Monadnock must win their game hosting Laconia to get in as the 3rd place team. If they lose (again, I think) this will mean that Kennett would be in (based on my interpretation of the 3 way tie rule)...but I could be wrong. I'll examine it later on this week and correct myself if needed.

The other big game on tab, will be a clash of the 2 remaining undefeated teams in D IV, Lebanon @ Trinity on Saturday Night at Gill Stadium in Manchester. I will be there and I cannot wait. At the beginning of the season, all the talk in D IV was a look forward to the clash between Trinity and Plymouth on Week 4. When the Bobcats were upset by Kennett in Week 3, some of the hype was lessened somewhat coming into that game...but it was a lock when Trinity established themselves as the team to beat by handily defeating the Bobcats 30-9.

Lebanon has been somewhat of a surprise this year. Coming from behind in several of their games and winning 3 very close games against Kennett, Plymouth and Hanover. Bottom line though is that these 2 teams have all come out winners against the same teams and have arrived at Week 9 at (8-0)...and going to be a showdown for 1st place and Home field advantage (throughout the playoffs) on Saturday night. Thoughts...