Week 4 is upon us!

Windham hosts St. Thomas

Well the big matchup in D IV this weekend is between 2 of the 3 undefeated teams that remain in what is otherwise a division that is up for grabs. Windham and St. Thomas will meet at the Jaguar's den (do Jaguars really have dens or do they just hang out in trees?). Anyway, Ryan Monette takes his undefeated Saints over to Windham for what could be a prelude to the Championship game (though I know the Bobcats would have something to say about that). Danny Cannone (thanks for correcting my typo - which I fixed btw:)), Kevin Cooney, Lorenz and company will be ready and waiting for someone to step up and give them a close one.

If the Saints can manage to hang on to the ball this could be tight...however, the Jaguars have some motivation here. To start with their at home in this one and playing at home is a monster advantage. Also, they've got to be thinking about getting a little bit of payback for last year's championship game in DV where the Saints came out on top. This one could be a knock down dragout battle! 

All that aside, home field, revenge factor, and fresh new digs are going to be tipping the scales. The spirits tell me that while it could be a close game, it won't end up being that way. If Windham has shown us anything this year, it's that they know their 3 Cs - Create, Cause, and Capitalize on turnovers. All the while doing a decent job at limiting their own. I suspect this will be another example of the Windham machine flexing it's muscles...35 - 13 Jaguars.

Laconia hosts Trinity

You never like to see a player get injured period...however, it's even more painful when the player is in his Senior season. The Sachems of Laconia rely heavily on the "Motor" David Mahoney and will miss him the next few weeks with an injury. This is going to make tonight's game against the Pioneers of Trinity difficult. As we all know, one guy isn't going to determine the success or failure of a football team, however, Mahoney is a key component of the Sachem's engine and without him healthy, the road for the rest of the way will be difficult. Romeo, Ryan, Carmen and company will look to rebound against a crippled Laconia team and it might be just what they need after last week's difficult loss against the Bobcats. Trinity comes out on top 28-14.

Lebanon hosts Kennet
The Raiders will look to the "Dozer" Dylan Drew to pull the reins in on Kennett's all everything RB Nick Massa on Saturday. This is a key game for these two teams as the loser of this game will basically have to look at running the table the rest of the way in order to even think about being in the playoff discussion come weeks 8 and 9. Both teams got their first W last week, with Kennet defeating the Generals of John Stark and the Raiders coming out big against a young Knights team. The Raider D stepped up last week to shut out Kingswood and appeared to limit the turnovers which definitely hurt them in the game I saw against Windham. I'm going with home field and the Dozer, 21-7 Lebanon on top!

Hanover hosts Plymouth

This one will let the Marauders know where they stand...a big test. The Bobcats are confident and executing with precision on both sides of the ball. Not only are they creating turnovers but they're capitalizing and converting them to points. Goodale, Thomas and Reisert are coming to Hanover on a mission and that mission has 4-0 written all over it. I bet Coach I. and his Hanover squad will have something to say about that though. He's going to have his team primed to get back on track and upset the visitors. Turnovers killed them last week and that will be key again, Cavallaro, Keating, and Rothwell-Ferraris are going to need to be on point with their A-game to pull this one out. They'll spread the field and try to use their speed on the Hanover turf and play fast. I'm going with Hanover in the upset of the week...a barn-burner coming down to the wire, the home team Marauders pull it out 38-35 on a field goal as time expires.

Kingswood hosts John Stark

And then there was 1. Both teams come into this one winless, but the Generals have been putting up some points. Mistakes and problems executing have cost the Generals and their first 3 games. They have 2 quality backs in Dunn and Bumford who can make plays, but they need to stay focused and avoid needless penalties and untimely turnovers. Kingswood is a very young and undersized team but if the Generals give them the opportunity and they can take advantage of some miscues they could pull what I would consider an upset. I don't see this happening though and I think the Generals will pull out their first victory in Wolfeboro. Generals on top 28-21.

Good luck to all as you lace 'em up tonight!

~HC~