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The Great Bay C.C Division I Championship Scouting Report

By Dave Haley, 11/17/17, 6:15AM EST

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Only Pinkerton stands between Winnacunnet & perfection (photo by Matt Parker)

 As we do for the semifinal games in basketball, we hand over the championship game previews to the people who know these teams better than anyone; the opposing coaches from their division.

 We asked three Division I coaches to break down Saturday’s championship match-up between undefeated Winnacunnet and Pinkerton.

 We will bring you all the highlights of Saturday’s title game plus the post-game interview on the field with the entire team.

 Today’s championship scouting report is sponsored by Great Bay Community College. We will have information all year long on open house events right here on NHsportspage. Click on any one of their banner ads for more information.

 

 Pinkerton (10-1) vs Winnacunnet (11-0)

 We had three Division I coaches break down the match-up for us.

 “Winnacunnet has the best defense we saw all season long,” said one coach of the Warriors. “They have two excellent down lineman in Joe MacDougall and Cam Strukel. I think MacDougall, in particular, is a player people need to keep an eye on as far as playing at the next level.”

 “Their defensive tackles are very strong as well, both James Phennicie & Andrew Mills. Player to player it is just a very good group. Their four-man front is as good as anyone out there. They are dominant.”

 What about the Pinkerton offense they’ll be facing?

 “Pinkerton, unlike other years, isn’t going to wow you with their size or push you around up front. They don't have that 6’4 wideout or huge lineman but what they do have is a group of good football players who are very well coached,” said one Division I playoff coach. “Their backs run hard, whether its buck-sweep or belly up, they do a very good job with their assignment.”

 Another coach talked about the Astros offense. “People think about the Wing-T (run by teams like Pinkerton, Windham, and Exeter) and think of it as some old-fashioned offense like these coaches can’t come up with something new. People don’t realize all the complexities of that offense. If you run it very well, it is incredibly difficult to stop.”

“ Pinkerton is so precise with their blocks and add to that fact they have tremendous backs in Ty Hicks, Gannon Fast, Gennaro Marra etc. that is how they can pile on you in a hurry. They also have a lot of confidence in their QB (Aiden Goujon) throwing the football and so you see why they are playing at UNH on Saturday.”

 A fellow playoff coach talked about the improvements Brian O’Reilly’s team has made throughout the regular season. “When I saw them on tape against Salem the first time around they looked flat and really were physically pushed around. It was the Londonderry game where they looked like a completely different football team; they were very aggressive off the line and they just moved (Londonderry) off the ball. In the semifinals last week Pinkerton was the more physical team and that is really saying something because that is a tough Salem team they beat.”

 All three coaches we spoke to agreed, this Winnacunnet offense is very tough to prepare for, especially in only one week. “You have to understand that the Winnacunnet kids have been raised on the veer offense. They’ve been running it since they were in 7th grade. The run option is tough to defend because it forces you to make one on one tackles. You miss that tackle and a kid like Billy Powers, who has elite track speed, is gone. I watched film of when Winnacunnet beat Pinkerton a few years ago and they killed them with the dive back (run) to Mike Lewis. I’m sure (Brian) O’Reilly and his staff is seeing the same thing.”

 A fellow coach echoed those thoughts. “It’s assignment football for your defense. It’s the triple option 1) a dive 2) a QB keep and 3) the pitch. (Patrick) MacDougall can throw the football too; Evan Welch has been very good as a receiver for Ron’s (Auffant) team so they have become a big play offense. They will come to the line and take whatever option Pinkerton gives them by reading the tackles and the down lineman.”

 What about the Pinkerton defense?

 “Their secondary is excellent. They force you to block their secondary guys and when we did their players were able to get off blocks to make tackles. They tackle well in space and just in general, they play very well in space.”

 So who wins the game on Saturday?

 “I think it’s going to be a very close game, forced to pick I’d go with Winnacunnet.”

 “I think Winnacunnet wins. Loaded with seniors and their defensive front six is really tough. The veer is very tough to prepare for in one week because it’s hard to have a scout team simulate it.”

 “Winnacunnet assuming they are a year older than a junior-dominated Pinkerton team. 28-20 Winnacunnet.”

 

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