Week 8 Picks and commentary -

Okay so the big games on slate this week will be pretty huge in determining the playoff hopes for a number of teams. See my post on the possible playoff scenarios at play here:


http://newhampshirehighschoolfootball.blogspot.com/2010/10/playoff-possibilities-here-it-is.html

There is a ton of chatter right now about week 9 and the possible matchup, etc...in particular Trinity and Lebanon. Let's keep this in perspective. Lebanon is playing a very dangerous Plymouth team. Yes Lebanon is playing them at home and yes the Bobcats have lost by 10 or more points to the other big hitters this season on the road just like this game. However, anyone who knows D IV, knows that Brandon Goodale is and will continue to be a great runner for the Bobcats. He has the potential to break one each time he touches the football. Newbury at FB is and has been a force for them. The Bobcats cannot simply be overlooked for the hype of a Trinity vs. Lebanon 8-0 showdown...at least not YET :)  I haven't done the math here, however, I believe that if the Bobcats lose at Lebanon, it would take a combination of epic defeats and a supernatural act of nature from other teams for them to slide into the playoffs.

The other big fight this week which has a bit more urgency to it is the Laconia/Kennett game. Kennett will travel to Laconia playing to pull back their third playoff spot. If you examine the possible scenarios in the link above, it will be in either clubs best interest to win this game. Neither team wants a loss here. If Laconia loses they will have to travel to Monadnock in what could be a do or die game in Week 9 for BOTH teams. Win this week and they will be a virtual lock. A loss by Kennett (and what should be a win by Monadnock) could eliminate them from the playoffs unless they get help from other teams in Week 9 (in particular Laconia)...but that is a story for next week :)

Having touched on all this, there is also some interesting commentary and mudslinging going on in this post. The drama is already starting, check the comments out:


http://newhampshirehighschoolfootball.blogspot.com/2010/10/week-7-recap-and-thoughts.html#comments


Before I get to the picks for this week,  let me just say, WHO CALLED THE TIMBERLANE UPSET last week :) It was all of course due to my connection with the Spirits of football yore! Thanks to those Spirits we went 4-1 in D IV and an impressive 4-1 out of division. Leaving me overall at 8-2 for the week and 34-16 for the year...not too bad.

Let's start with Laconia hosting Kennett. Ronnie Steele is back, Laconia is healthy for the most part. Kennett is in a skid and visiting a tough Laconia field. Hard to bet against the Sachems. Laconia wins 22-16.

Lebanon hosting Plymouth. Don't jump to conclusions here. Consider, when the Bobcats played Laconia and lost they were without Taylor Newbury...when Laconia lost to Lebanon, the Sachems were without Ronnie Steele. I'm still not betting against Lebanon though. The Raiders are healthy now and they have this blogger's pick for player of the year in Cody Patch. Raiders win 28-14.

Hanover travels to Stark - I mean really, this time the spirits have SPOKEN...Hanover will NOT, I say will NOT lose another game this season. I was just joking last week. This time I MEAN IT! Hanover wins with authority 36-7.

Trinity hosts Kingswood - If I pick Lebanon, you have to go with Hughes, Chambers, Lauderdale, Gratiano, (just stop me when I quit calling out what will be All State players), my goodness. Trinity will get to 8-0 this week they win 40-6.

Monadnock @ MV - Bolewski and the big Dragon, keep the Huskies playoff hopes alive. I know I keep saying this, but the key for the Huskies is to keep riding the Bolewski bus all the way to the playoffs. Huskies win big 36-14.

Outside the Division:

D I -  Salem @ Nashua South - Should be a close game, the spirits say even though Salems on the road, they will win. Salem wins 32-28.
D II - Timberlane visits Keene - Hey, ~Head Coach~ loves this Nick Lawrence kid...I'm picking Timberlane again this week. Timby wins 36-14.
D III - Portsmouth @ Bedford - Have you ever been to Bedfords field?? What a spectacular facility. Anyway, Bedford wins a very close game (it could go either way though), the Spirits say go with the home team - Bedford wins 26-8.
D V - Windham @ Stevens - I really like the Cardinals. Don't count this team out even though everyone continues to talk about Kearsarge and St. Thomas. If the Cardinals get rolling, they are going to be a very tough out for anyone come playoff time. They will win this week 26-6.
D VI - BIG GAME!! Newport hosting Franklin - while it's a big game for both teams, Franklin is going to be more than up for visiting a big physical Newport team. Franklin wins this one on the road 32-26.

That's it. Good luck to all the teams this week! Thoughts....