So let's see, Week 5 is coming up as we cross the half way point. This upcoming week: Lebanon (0-4) plays Kingswood (0-4).
Plymouth(3-1) plays Hanover (1-3) -
This could be an interesting matchup (records aside). Plymouth has a strong defense let by Brooker, Newberry, and Reisert. They have a stong offense with a nice mix of pass and run. I've had the chance to see them play twice this year and Newberry looks very good. A strong North/South guy with high knees and an explosive running style. Brandon Goodale is there make you miss guy, with good speed and nice moves, a very crafty runner. On the Hanover side they will spread the field and test the DB/LB coverage from the first snap. Dan Gorman, Cyrus Rothwell-Ferrari will bring down pretty much anything thrown there way...and once you start thinking pass Cavallaro will find a seam and take off and run with the ball. So the defense has to somehow contain him as he has true break-away speed. This one could be a lot closer than the records would make you think.
I'm going with Plymouth in this one, HOWEVER, if Hanover wins this game (looking at the rest of their schedule) they could run the table and make the playoffs this year. You heard it here first.
Laconia (3-1) plays Stark (2-2) -
As good as start as Stark has gotten off to, Laconia is simply too talented. Their front line with the likes of Hurley, Hollis, Mears and Mahoney are massive and physical up front. Add to that the David Mahoney and Ronnie Steele coming out of the backfield you've got as big a 1-2 punch as you'll find in D IV this year. Scott Ruggieri is coming into his own as the season wears on and Chris Frontiero has very good speed to round out the backfield for the Sachems. These guys are the real deal this year, make no mistake they have the tools to win it all and this week will be yet one more step to the D IV Championship game. Sachems win this one big.
Kennet (3-1) plays MV (1-3)
Nick Massa will have a huge game against the Pride this week. While MV showed us last week that Cody Thurston can put up big numbers. Tim Barton and Justin Abbot have shown the ability to get open and make plays...however, it's the defense of Kennet that will win the day. Massa goes for 150+ in this one and Kennet wins by 14.
Trinity (4-0) plays Monadnock (3-1) -
Could be an interesting matchup, however, I just don't think the Huskies have the weapons to beat Trinity. Hughes is having a banner year this year. The Pioneer defense is suffocating and quicker than expected. Add to that a new dimension they pulled out in last weeks victory by switching up to a spread offense and they're starting to show some serious maturity and growth as a team. The fact that they were able to execute down the stretch in a pressure situation to come out on top over Plymouth has no doubt stoked their confidence. Similar to Laconia, these guys are just stacked with talent. Josh Hughes is an absolute truck (as is his counterpart Ryan Carrier), Chambers is another shifty runner. They are all about the 3 Ps Patience, Pace and Power. Looke for Trinity to win by 2 scores.
Lebanon (0-4) plays Kingswood (0-4) -
I mentioned earlier that Kohl Meyers scored 6 Touchdowns on his own last week in a losing effort to MV. That is unreal. I haven't had the chance to see them play this year, but I think this might be the week I do so. Lebanon has had a disappointing season to say the least with off field distractions, injuries and losses in key areas. All that said, their Defense while young is led by 3 All State players having good seasons on the defensive side of the Ball. Dylan Drew at ILB (one of HC's personal favorites), Alexander Morril and Chris Henry Lead a defense that has kept Lebanon close in 3 of their games. The key (as it is seems to be each week for these guys) is doing something on the Offensive side of the football. You'd think stepping onto the field as defending champs would be good for at least 14 pride points :) Anyway, we'll see. I'll get to see first hand how the offense looks this week as I journey to Wolfboro.
Good luck to all teams!
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Monday, September 26, 2011
I'm back!! Sorry for being away :) Week 4 is in the books!
Well, I've had some time away. Sorry for the absence folks however, I'm back now and hopefully making more posts as we cross mid season. At this point, the front runners have made themselves clear and unlike last year where we had 2 horses pulling away from the field...Plymouth, Laconia and Trinity have established themselves solidly as the top 3 teams. While Kennet and Monadnock are also both 3-1, they both still need to play Laconia and Trinity as well as playing each other. So, I think both teams will be underdogs when playing Trinity and Laconia, which means their head to head matchup could very well determine which team moves on to get that fourth playoff spot.
Trinity, Laconia and Plymouth, have shown they all belong on the same field together. Both the Trinity/Laconia and the Plymouth/Trinity matchups were close and could have gone either way. In fact this weekend's victory by Trinity required them to abandon their power game and go to a Spread offense and take it to the air on the final drive. Goodale was injured early on in this one, he's a favorite of HC! Hope you get your wheels back Brandon! Newberry, Hughes, Lauderdale and Chambers all had very good games in this slugfest. I can't wait to see the rematch in November!
In other news this week, MV put up a season high 64 points in getting their first victory of the season over Kingswood congrats MV! Cody Thurston threw and ran for 100+ yards for the Pride and the Knights Kohl Meyers scored 6 (that's right 6) Touchdowns with 500 + all around yards for Kingswood. Impressive!
Surprisingly, it took Lebanon 4 games to score it's first points of the season. While I was not there, I did have eyes at the game. Special Teams and perimeter defense continued to plague the Raiders. The middle of the Raider defense was solid all day, however, both Mahoney and Steele were able to go off Tackle and break off big gainers outside, along with a big time return from Steele for 6. Hollis and B. Mahoney played solid up front for the Sachems. Drew, Morril and Henry continued to make plays all day for the Raiders on both sides of the ball throughout for what must be a frustrating season for the defending champs. Also looked like Drew might have been injured in the 4th quarter.
And while they suffered defeat at the hands of playoff contender Monadnock congrats to the Stark Generals for their 2-2 start to the 2011 season. Keep up the good work Generals! More later....
Trinity, Laconia and Plymouth, have shown they all belong on the same field together. Both the Trinity/Laconia and the Plymouth/Trinity matchups were close and could have gone either way. In fact this weekend's victory by Trinity required them to abandon their power game and go to a Spread offense and take it to the air on the final drive. Goodale was injured early on in this one, he's a favorite of HC! Hope you get your wheels back Brandon! Newberry, Hughes, Lauderdale and Chambers all had very good games in this slugfest. I can't wait to see the rematch in November!
In other news this week, MV put up a season high 64 points in getting their first victory of the season over Kingswood congrats MV! Cody Thurston threw and ran for 100+ yards for the Pride and the Knights Kohl Meyers scored 6 (that's right 6) Touchdowns with 500 + all around yards for Kingswood. Impressive!
Surprisingly, it took Lebanon 4 games to score it's first points of the season. While I was not there, I did have eyes at the game. Special Teams and perimeter defense continued to plague the Raiders. The middle of the Raider defense was solid all day, however, both Mahoney and Steele were able to go off Tackle and break off big gainers outside, along with a big time return from Steele for 6. Hollis and B. Mahoney played solid up front for the Sachems. Drew, Morril and Henry continued to make plays all day for the Raiders on both sides of the ball throughout for what must be a frustrating season for the defending champs. Also looked like Drew might have been injured in the 4th quarter.
And while they suffered defeat at the hands of playoff contender Monadnock congrats to the Stark Generals for their 2-2 start to the 2011 season. Keep up the good work Generals! More later....
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Week 2 in the books and the favorites begin to show themselves
Laconia routed the MV Pride 59-12 this week cementing their stake as one of the front runners for the title this year.
All Star David Mahoney returned another kick off 80 yards for a TD, and both he and Ronnie Steele (who also scored in this game) rushed for more than a hundred yards this game. The Sachems simply had too many weapons for MV. Despite their best efforts what was most evident in this game was the dominance of the Sachems line. They simply exerted their will on the MV front and moved them wherever they wanted on both sides of the ball.
Billy Mahoney had a great game scoring defensively as he picked up a fumbled snap by MV Cody Thurston and was off to the races, zooming down the sideline for the score. Ronnie Steele also had a nice pick off and return. They (and we all) look forward to their week 3 matchup against Trinity (could be a preview to the championship). I know it's early, I'm just saying :)
The entire Sachems line performed well Hurley, Hollis, Mahoney, and company and showed they will be a force for everyone this year. The Division should take notice and if they don't, these guys will make you pay in spades.
Lebanon fell to the Huskies of Monadnock 21-0 as turnovers on their struggling offense continue to plague the defending champs. Monadnock was steady and consistent in it's execution. They had there moments of struggling as well though with multiple turnovers and didn't really dominate so much as they did capitalize on the Raider mistakes and stagnant offense.
They had one score on a nice blocked punt covered by Huskies in the end zone and turned a recovered Raider fumble into 6. Multiple turnovers allowed the stalwart Huskies to start deep in Raider territory for most of the game. Senior Captain of the Huskies Nick Dragon and the Husky line held Morril in check on both sides of the ball and Poulin and Bolewski played particularly well.
For Lebanon's part 3 plus turnovers, 2 costly fumbles from their half back and interceptions (2 of which were inside Husky territory) cost them dearly.
For positive notes, defensively the Raiders were again very tough. Dylan Drew recorded a sack and fumble recovery and Chris Henry had a Int (and both had 10 plus tackles). The problem for the raiders is not defense...it's figuring out how to score.
Trinity blows out Hanover 46-14. The Pioneers continue to roll this season. Even after losing half their line and their starting QB last year...they are scoring at will on their first two opponents in this young season. Next week will be the real test for them. The question will be whether or not they can contain the big play potential of the Sachems and keep Mahoney and Steele in check.
While they are very strong this year, there is NOT a faster team than Laconia in the division...and they're also huge up front. The question will be can Chambers, Hughes and company execute and keep there machine rolling with that speedy defense. We'll see. This is my feature game next week.
In other games, Plymouth, Newberry and Goodale continue to roll defeating Kingswood soundly 56-20.
Stark lost to Kennett 34-20. More later...
All Star David Mahoney returned another kick off 80 yards for a TD, and both he and Ronnie Steele (who also scored in this game) rushed for more than a hundred yards this game. The Sachems simply had too many weapons for MV. Despite their best efforts what was most evident in this game was the dominance of the Sachems line. They simply exerted their will on the MV front and moved them wherever they wanted on both sides of the ball.
Billy Mahoney had a great game scoring defensively as he picked up a fumbled snap by MV Cody Thurston and was off to the races, zooming down the sideline for the score. Ronnie Steele also had a nice pick off and return. They (and we all) look forward to their week 3 matchup against Trinity (could be a preview to the championship). I know it's early, I'm just saying :)
The entire Sachems line performed well Hurley, Hollis, Mahoney, and company and showed they will be a force for everyone this year. The Division should take notice and if they don't, these guys will make you pay in spades.
Lebanon fell to the Huskies of Monadnock 21-0 as turnovers on their struggling offense continue to plague the defending champs. Monadnock was steady and consistent in it's execution. They had there moments of struggling as well though with multiple turnovers and didn't really dominate so much as they did capitalize on the Raider mistakes and stagnant offense.
They had one score on a nice blocked punt covered by Huskies in the end zone and turned a recovered Raider fumble into 6. Multiple turnovers allowed the stalwart Huskies to start deep in Raider territory for most of the game. Senior Captain of the Huskies Nick Dragon and the Husky line held Morril in check on both sides of the ball and Poulin and Bolewski played particularly well.
For Lebanon's part 3 plus turnovers, 2 costly fumbles from their half back and interceptions (2 of which were inside Husky territory) cost them dearly.
For positive notes, defensively the Raiders were again very tough. Dylan Drew recorded a sack and fumble recovery and Chris Henry had a Int (and both had 10 plus tackles). The problem for the raiders is not defense...it's figuring out how to score.
Trinity blows out Hanover 46-14. The Pioneers continue to roll this season. Even after losing half their line and their starting QB last year...they are scoring at will on their first two opponents in this young season. Next week will be the real test for them. The question will be whether or not they can contain the big play potential of the Sachems and keep Mahoney and Steele in check.
While they are very strong this year, there is NOT a faster team than Laconia in the division...and they're also huge up front. The question will be can Chambers, Hughes and company execute and keep there machine rolling with that speedy defense. We'll see. This is my feature game next week.
In other games, Plymouth, Newberry and Goodale continue to roll defeating Kingswood soundly 56-20.
Stark lost to Kennett 34-20. More later...
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Welcome to Week #2
Week 2 is upon us in D IV...and while it still remains to be seen who will lead the pack in this young season, I can't help but look forward to week 3 and the Laconia, Trinity match up. I must admit that prior to the season, my thoughts were that this year would be a 3 horse race.
Initially I thought there would be a strong possibility that we would see a rematch in the Title game this year between Lebanon and Trinity. I had the opportunity to watch both those teams play last year and the returning players from both teams made this seem like a very real possibility. Barker and Drew would have provided a veteran 1-2 punch in the Raider backfield to compete with Hughes, Chambers and Carrier in the Pioneer backfield. From there, the nod would IMO have to go to the Raiders line with returning lineman of Morril, Davidson, Henry (2 honorable mention all staters and 1 first team all state). The third team in my preseason scenario was a veteran Sachems team with Mahoney, Steele, and Kemos behind there beast of a line, Hollis, Mahoney part deux and company (all all staters in their own right).
All 3 of these teams would be replacing their QBs so it's a wash there, and all 3 have basically the same core returning on Defense.
All of that being said, I am a speed guy. Chris Barker is simply lightning in a bottle...he was poised to have as good a season as Patch had last year and as fast as the Laconia backs are Barker just had that explosiveness that's innate to good running backs. Add to that Dylan Drew at FB with Morril, Henry, Davidson and whoever would replace Geno on the line and it would be hard to argue with them as preseason favorites.
The Pioneers bring much power to their game and with Masuku at safety and perhaps taking the spot that Hoaglund left they'd also have that speed back to compliment Carrier and Hughes power running.
My how the landscape has changed...it is true from what I understand, that (as one post recently noted). Barker and Judd are not on the Raider roster for disciplinary reasons and Davidson did not come out this year. The Pioneers have lost their speed guy as Masuku did not come out this year.
This leaves the Raiders with 3 returning starters from last years team. Drew, Henry and Morril. This means they have 2 veteran lineman and 1 back offensively. For the Raiders to contend this year, someone needs to step up and make plays for them offensively. Drew is a power runner who was the perfect compliment to Patch and Barker last year, but he excels defensively at Linebacker. That needs to change this year. He will be running behind a pretty good line led by Morril and Henry, but it remains to be seen if a power running game will be enough to get them to the playoffs. Usually the championship teams have that one speed guy who has the chance to break one each time they touch the ball. We'll see as time goes on how this works out for the Raiders.
The Pioneers I think can get away with a power game due to the hide and seek double wing offense they run (and run well). No team in D IV runs this offense with the precision these guys do. Hughes, Chambers and Carrier don't need to have blazing speed. The misdirection and ball fakes allow them to put a hand on the lead blocker and waltz there way up field until the hole opens up. Chunk after chunk they chew the field up burning the clock down and absolutely wearing down defenses.
However, with the departure of the speed and the number of veteran leaders on the Raiders...and the loss of that true speed guy on the Pioneers it's hard not to consider the Sachems the front runners this year. Mahoney and Steele have that break away speed. Their power game will come behind the biggest and baddest line in D IV. Hollis, Hurley and Mahoney will flat out run people over and open holes you can drive a truck through. If Scott Ruggieri can stay consistent for them and provide leadership at QB it's difficult to not see them scoring pionts. So many weapons...and both of their backs are the type that can explode on any play at any point in time. This team will keep their opponents Defensive Coordinator up late that much is for sure.
How's that saying go...defense wins championships. So, this must also be true for the Sachems right? While they gave up 33 to a Hanover team that is also loaded with weapons in Cavallaro (who did show serious potential in a week 1 loss), Cyrus Rothwell-Feraris, Carl Keating, Dan Gorman. All with good speed and size, the Spirits (you remembe those from last year right :)) tell me that if you score 55 that means you can let the other team score 54 if you want, and you're still gonna win! So we'll see how things go.
Finally this week let's not forget about Plymouth. Just last year this time we were all abuzz with the win streak and the powerhouse that is Plymouth. No one needs to be reminded of the names Goodale, Newberry and Brooker. Is it just me or does it seem like these guys have been playing high school football for like 10 years... Anyway, this backfield is just as good as the others mentioned above, Goodale is the speed guy and Newberry and Brooker are the power guys (though Taylor can turn the jets on as well if he sees daylight). Does anyone have higher knees when they run than this kid? They won a tough one against Monadnock last week and are pervasive contenders come playoff time.
Okay, well I've already typed more than I intended and I'm getting tired so let's get to the picks this week.
Hanover visits Trinity - Hanover will not be able to stop the Pioneers in this one, though they will not allow them to run away with this one. Pioneers win this at Gill 32 - 21 (does Trinity kick extra points this year or still only go for 2)?
Stark goes to Kennett - Massa had a great game to start the season. He's a good strong runner with decent speed. If Jesse Wheeler can help the Eagles establish some balance on offense these guys can be right in it come November.
Kennett wins this one 21-8.
Lebanon visits Monadnock - The Raiders need this one. Morril, Henry and Drew need to mold this young team into a unit that can defend the D IV championship. They will have their hands full with Nick Dragon and company though...but I'm going with the Raiders in this one 14-7.
Plymouth travels to Kingswood this week to try and get to 2-0. Goodale and Newberry will have big games. Bobcats win 28-14.
MV travels to Laconia. While Cody Thurston, Dylan Sargent and Justin Abbot are all very good football players. It's always difficult to play in Laconia and it's hard to think they'll be able to match the pure firepower that Laconia can bring to bear. Sachems win big 44-7.
Finally, thanks for all the Facebook adds, hehe I guess I might be up to maybe 20 friends :) please keep them coming. Thanks for reading and until next time good luck to all the teams this week!
Initially I thought there would be a strong possibility that we would see a rematch in the Title game this year between Lebanon and Trinity. I had the opportunity to watch both those teams play last year and the returning players from both teams made this seem like a very real possibility. Barker and Drew would have provided a veteran 1-2 punch in the Raider backfield to compete with Hughes, Chambers and Carrier in the Pioneer backfield. From there, the nod would IMO have to go to the Raiders line with returning lineman of Morril, Davidson, Henry (2 honorable mention all staters and 1 first team all state). The third team in my preseason scenario was a veteran Sachems team with Mahoney, Steele, and Kemos behind there beast of a line, Hollis, Mahoney part deux and company (all all staters in their own right).
All 3 of these teams would be replacing their QBs so it's a wash there, and all 3 have basically the same core returning on Defense.
All of that being said, I am a speed guy. Chris Barker is simply lightning in a bottle...he was poised to have as good a season as Patch had last year and as fast as the Laconia backs are Barker just had that explosiveness that's innate to good running backs. Add to that Dylan Drew at FB with Morril, Henry, Davidson and whoever would replace Geno on the line and it would be hard to argue with them as preseason favorites.
The Pioneers bring much power to their game and with Masuku at safety and perhaps taking the spot that Hoaglund left they'd also have that speed back to compliment Carrier and Hughes power running.
My how the landscape has changed...it is true from what I understand, that (as one post recently noted). Barker and Judd are not on the Raider roster for disciplinary reasons and Davidson did not come out this year. The Pioneers have lost their speed guy as Masuku did not come out this year.
This leaves the Raiders with 3 returning starters from last years team. Drew, Henry and Morril. This means they have 2 veteran lineman and 1 back offensively. For the Raiders to contend this year, someone needs to step up and make plays for them offensively. Drew is a power runner who was the perfect compliment to Patch and Barker last year, but he excels defensively at Linebacker. That needs to change this year. He will be running behind a pretty good line led by Morril and Henry, but it remains to be seen if a power running game will be enough to get them to the playoffs. Usually the championship teams have that one speed guy who has the chance to break one each time they touch the ball. We'll see as time goes on how this works out for the Raiders.
The Pioneers I think can get away with a power game due to the hide and seek double wing offense they run (and run well). No team in D IV runs this offense with the precision these guys do. Hughes, Chambers and Carrier don't need to have blazing speed. The misdirection and ball fakes allow them to put a hand on the lead blocker and waltz there way up field until the hole opens up. Chunk after chunk they chew the field up burning the clock down and absolutely wearing down defenses.
However, with the departure of the speed and the number of veteran leaders on the Raiders...and the loss of that true speed guy on the Pioneers it's hard not to consider the Sachems the front runners this year. Mahoney and Steele have that break away speed. Their power game will come behind the biggest and baddest line in D IV. Hollis, Hurley and Mahoney will flat out run people over and open holes you can drive a truck through. If Scott Ruggieri can stay consistent for them and provide leadership at QB it's difficult to not see them scoring pionts. So many weapons...and both of their backs are the type that can explode on any play at any point in time. This team will keep their opponents Defensive Coordinator up late that much is for sure.
How's that saying go...defense wins championships. So, this must also be true for the Sachems right? While they gave up 33 to a Hanover team that is also loaded with weapons in Cavallaro (who did show serious potential in a week 1 loss), Cyrus Rothwell-Feraris, Carl Keating, Dan Gorman. All with good speed and size, the Spirits (you remembe those from last year right :)) tell me that if you score 55 that means you can let the other team score 54 if you want, and you're still gonna win! So we'll see how things go.
Finally this week let's not forget about Plymouth. Just last year this time we were all abuzz with the win streak and the powerhouse that is Plymouth. No one needs to be reminded of the names Goodale, Newberry and Brooker. Is it just me or does it seem like these guys have been playing high school football for like 10 years... Anyway, this backfield is just as good as the others mentioned above, Goodale is the speed guy and Newberry and Brooker are the power guys (though Taylor can turn the jets on as well if he sees daylight). Does anyone have higher knees when they run than this kid? They won a tough one against Monadnock last week and are pervasive contenders come playoff time.
Okay, well I've already typed more than I intended and I'm getting tired so let's get to the picks this week.
Hanover visits Trinity - Hanover will not be able to stop the Pioneers in this one, though they will not allow them to run away with this one. Pioneers win this at Gill 32 - 21 (does Trinity kick extra points this year or still only go for 2)?
Stark goes to Kennett - Massa had a great game to start the season. He's a good strong runner with decent speed. If Jesse Wheeler can help the Eagles establish some balance on offense these guys can be right in it come November.
Kennett wins this one 21-8.
Lebanon visits Monadnock - The Raiders need this one. Morril, Henry and Drew need to mold this young team into a unit that can defend the D IV championship. They will have their hands full with Nick Dragon and company though...but I'm going with the Raiders in this one 14-7.
Plymouth travels to Kingswood this week to try and get to 2-0. Goodale and Newberry will have big games. Bobcats win 28-14.
MV travels to Laconia. While Cody Thurston, Dylan Sargent and Justin Abbot are all very good football players. It's always difficult to play in Laconia and it's hard to think they'll be able to match the pure firepower that Laconia can bring to bear. Sachems win big 44-7.
Finally, thanks for all the Facebook adds, hehe I guess I might be up to maybe 20 friends :) please keep them coming. Thanks for reading and until next time good luck to all the teams this week!
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Week 1...Here we go again!
Well, the first weekend is through:
Trinity defeated MV
Laconia defeated Hanover
Kennett defeated Lebanon
Plymouth defeated Monadnock
Stark defeated Kingswood
After week one a couple things are pretty clear. Trinity is still a force and the clear favorite to win the D IV title. Laconia is the real deal folks...they are loaded with talent at both the line and the backfield and could be a close #2 in the division. Plymouth also returns a number of veterans to the field and it shows. Goodale, Newberry, and Booker are ready this year to put Plymouth back on top. Kennett came out out on top in a slugfest with Lebanon in a game that was much closer than the score. Some notes:
Kennett was off the bus early in their win, with Massa scoring on a long run 2nd play from scrimmage. The score stayed that way for 3+ quarters. Kennet looked good and Massa certainly stood out this game, and looked strong and fast at RB. The Raiders could have easily been the team that won 20-0 as 4+ costly turnovers (2 int, 2 fumbles). They will need to get a handle on this quickly to get things back on track this season.
Good news for Kennett is that they got out of Lebanon with a Win. Massa is big and looks strong this year and they bring back their QB Jesse Wheeler.
Good news for the Raiders is that Drew, Morrill, and Henry were in exceptional form already and were flying around making plays on both sides of the ball all game. Pelletier had a very good game at RB for them and while they will certainly miss Barker, Judd, Davidson and others who did not return to the team this year, if they can eliminate the turnovers, they can still make noise.
In Hanover, Dan Gorman is a real and present weapon for the Marauders and their new QB Cavallaro is going to be a very good quarterback. They should put up big numbers this year. Mark my words, Hanover will not start 0-5 this year. That said, Laconia is in a word a "force" this year. If they stay healthy I think early money is on the Sachems and Pioneers to be competing for a DIV championship. Ronnie Steele is back and fast as ever, add to that David Mahoney who is running behind a solid and veteran line and they will be tough to stop this year with all the starters they have brought back. Hollis, Mahoney and company can just flat out open holes. Defense will be their question mark as things move forward.
Plymouth returners Goodale and Newberry, Brooker ran the ball well in the Bobcats week 1 victory, over Monadnock. These two teams played a close game 20-14 and are my dark horses after week 1.
Trinity is back to doing what they do, which is blowing people out. With Carrier, Hughes, and Chambers back it's not so much speed that this team has but sheer power. That combined with the double wing offense that only Lebanon had truly figured out last season. It's hard to think of anyone beating them this year. We'll see though. It's still very early.
As a final note. I just wanted to send a note out to all the families and communities who were affected by Irene recently. I think we all know someone directly touched by this catastrophe and we should put them in our thoughts and prayers in the days ahead. Good job this week teams and good luck in Week 2!
Trinity defeated MV
Laconia defeated Hanover
Kennett defeated Lebanon
Plymouth defeated Monadnock
Stark defeated Kingswood
After week one a couple things are pretty clear. Trinity is still a force and the clear favorite to win the D IV title. Laconia is the real deal folks...they are loaded with talent at both the line and the backfield and could be a close #2 in the division. Plymouth also returns a number of veterans to the field and it shows. Goodale, Newberry, and Booker are ready this year to put Plymouth back on top. Kennett came out out on top in a slugfest with Lebanon in a game that was much closer than the score. Some notes:
Kennett was off the bus early in their win, with Massa scoring on a long run 2nd play from scrimmage. The score stayed that way for 3+ quarters. Kennet looked good and Massa certainly stood out this game, and looked strong and fast at RB. The Raiders could have easily been the team that won 20-0 as 4+ costly turnovers (2 int, 2 fumbles). They will need to get a handle on this quickly to get things back on track this season.
Good news for Kennett is that they got out of Lebanon with a Win. Massa is big and looks strong this year and they bring back their QB Jesse Wheeler.
Good news for the Raiders is that Drew, Morrill, and Henry were in exceptional form already and were flying around making plays on both sides of the ball all game. Pelletier had a very good game at RB for them and while they will certainly miss Barker, Judd, Davidson and others who did not return to the team this year, if they can eliminate the turnovers, they can still make noise.
In Hanover, Dan Gorman is a real and present weapon for the Marauders and their new QB Cavallaro is going to be a very good quarterback. They should put up big numbers this year. Mark my words, Hanover will not start 0-5 this year. That said, Laconia is in a word a "force" this year. If they stay healthy I think early money is on the Sachems and Pioneers to be competing for a DIV championship. Ronnie Steele is back and fast as ever, add to that David Mahoney who is running behind a solid and veteran line and they will be tough to stop this year with all the starters they have brought back. Hollis, Mahoney and company can just flat out open holes. Defense will be their question mark as things move forward.
Plymouth returners Goodale and Newberry, Brooker ran the ball well in the Bobcats week 1 victory, over Monadnock. These two teams played a close game 20-14 and are my dark horses after week 1.
Trinity is back to doing what they do, which is blowing people out. With Carrier, Hughes, and Chambers back it's not so much speed that this team has but sheer power. That combined with the double wing offense that only Lebanon had truly figured out last season. It's hard to think of anyone beating them this year. We'll see though. It's still very early.
As a final note. I just wanted to send a note out to all the families and communities who were affected by Irene recently. I think we all know someone directly touched by this catastrophe and we should put them in our thoughts and prayers in the days ahead. Good job this week teams and good luck in Week 2!
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