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?
In regards to the Trinity/Lebanon game. One thing Trinity does is always goes for the 2 point conversion, so in your scenerio the score would be 24-14 and Lebanon wouldn't be able to score at the end to win. I believe that the Trinity will win in a big way and Lebanon will be pretty sore after and then have a tough game against Laconia in the first round of playoffs.
ReplyDeleteomg. what a surprise another trinity player/fan boasting of a "big" win, you guys ever here of humility?
ReplyDeleteJoe Souza, Laconia Citizen: the solution if a 3-way tie for the division final playoff spot: it would come to record in road games — that's the base of the Index points system the NHIAA eliminated a week ago. That would eliminate Plymouth (1-4 on the road). Monadnock and Kennett are 2-2 on the road, with the Huskies getting the spot via their 34-7 win over Kennett. Does anybody really know?
ReplyDeleteBoth teams are talking smack and that is what happens when you have a game like this. It is going to come down to which team is more fired up. I have to say my son is looking to show Lebanon what his team is made of and that is because of the smack talk coming from Lebanon. He is tired of hearing the talk and feels talk is cheap.
ReplyDeleteLet's just hope for a great game between two undefeated teams and sportsmanship that rivals the records. Champions play like champions win or lose. Go Raiders!
ReplyDelete11:55 I do believe that's right. They just edited the Tie breaking document 2 days ago, so the way it's going now, who knows...they may even change it in the next couple hours.
ReplyDelete12:08, i guess your son hasn't been reading through the comments here. Most of the "smack talk" has been pretty 1 sided ;)
I'm sure it will be a great game though. At least I hope it lives up to the press it is getting. The boys on both teams deserve that, win or lose.
Go 12:50!
ReplyDeletewell trinity falls to Lebanon. congrats for the number one seed.
ReplyDeleteWow! What a great game. Lebanon pulled out a tough win on the road to advance to 9-0. Both teams played a great game and it could have gone either way. Now maybe Lebanon will get the respect it deserves. Good job guys!
ReplyDeleteTrinity - Lebanon - amazing game by all. Congrats Lebanon!
ReplyDeleteTrinity....Playing football is more important then running your mouth. As I said; Lebanon took it to them and Patch is the real deal
ReplyDeleteTrinity watch out for Laconia this week. They may not be as good as recent years. But they come to play in the playoffs, good luck.
ReplyDelete"smack talk"?
ReplyDeletelebanon 9-0
trinity wat excuse do you have for tnites game? was this a fluke like laconia too?
ReplyDeleteHey all Laconia,
ReplyDeleteIm a true leb fan and last nite showed that trinity can be taken down. Show them what youre made of laconia and beat em up one more time show them how cheap tlk really is. Hope to see a good matchup with you guys in the ship and with both squads at full health. Good luck hit em hard laconia
Apocalyptic Defense=.
ReplyDeleteLebanon Brings it every down
Leb has a steel curtain defense and no one is gunna get by us!!!
ReplyDelete