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The Great Bay Community College Thursday Thoughts for 10/14/2021

By Dave Haley, 10/14/21, 6:15AM EDT

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Jai Riberio and Stevens have won two in a row (photo by Wayne McElreavy)

 We are back with the Thursday Thoughts, ranking the best teams from all four divisions and looking ahead to Week 7 of the regular season.

 Our column today is brought to you by our longtime partners at Great Bay Community College.

 Click on their website here or any of the banner ads on our homepage and seacoast team pages for information about enrollment, open houses and how you can take advantage of your free 3-credit class!

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 We are covering two games this weekend:

 Tomorrow night ‘The Franchise’ Jennifer Chick-Ruth & I will be in Dover when the Green Wave host Portsmouth-Oyster River in a seacoast showdown.

 On Saturday Spencer Coronis will be in his hometown with Colin O’Neil when the defending champion Newport Tigers host undefeated Epping-Newmarket.

 We’ll have all the highlights plus the post-game with the entire winning team!

 

Division I Standings & Statistical Leaders

Week 7 Power Rankings

1. Winnacunnet- Saturday at Goffstown will be a tough challenge for the Warriors, as they’ll face the best passing offense they have seen (by far) this season.

2. Londonderry- They shouldn’t take Keene lightly this weekend, and I’m confident they won’t. Drew Heenan has stepped in and played very well at quarterback, completing 8 of 9 passes for three touchdowns last week against Windham.

3. Exeter- The 40-0 win over Dover was impressive. Bill Ball’s team will close out the regular season against Bedford, Portsmouth-Oyster River & Concord.

4. Pinkerton Academy- Bishop Guertin vs. the Astros is the game of the weekend. Did Nashua North show Brian O’Reilly and his veteran coaching staff anything they can use against the Cardinals on Saturday?

5. Bishop Guertin- They got a scare from the defending champs; now they see where they rank amongst the best in the division. Marcel Vernon had nine tackles against North, while Carter Accomando & Rocco Geraci had seven apiece.

6. Goffstown- Keep an eye on the Winnacunnet score. I see this being a close game. The question is can the Grizzlies defense get off the field on 3rd down and not get worn down by the Warriors vaunted rushing attack?

7. Bedford- If the Bulldogs are a bona fide title contender, they have to prove that this weekend against Exeter.

8. Salem- Give the Blue Devils credit; they stepped up and played very well against Keene. This weekend they face the team (Nashua North) that knocked them out of the semifinals last season. The offensive line has played very well and is led by Jack Dailey, Josh Mangion, Matt Bretton, Mike Williams & John Smith.

9. Portsmouth-Oyster River- It’s do or die this weekend at Dover. A win keeps them alive; a loss essentially knocks them out. I’m picking the Clippers to win on the road in what should be a good one.

10. Keene- The surging Blackbirds were knocked back last week in Salem and now travel to #2 Londonderry. Terrific coaching job by Linwood Patnode, who we covered during his years at Monadnock.

Dropped out: Dover

 

Division II Standings and Statistical Leaders

Power Rankings

  1. Lebanon- The cancellation of the Bow game was a lost opportunity to compete against a good football team. A showdown/rivalry game with Hanover looms next week, next up, John Stark on Saturday.
  2. Timberlane- The defensive line (up for players of the week this week) has been outstanding as the Owls have allowed just 134 yards rushing in their last two games. Next up is Pembroke Academy.
  3. Milford- Keith Jones’ team, continues to prove they are good enough to be the last team standing, the latest example being their 34-7 road win over Hanover last Friday night. Caden Zalenski is back for a match-up against a red-hot Manchester West team this weekend.
  4. Plymouth- The Bobcats are banged up, but players are stepping up, and the Bobcats keep winning. They have a huge game this weekend at St. Thomas, with playoff seeding on the line.
  5. St. ThomasSecond-year head coach Ed McDonough is about to learn a lot about his football team. They’ve beaten up on the teams they were expected to handle, now they face a championship or bust team on their home turf this weekend.
  6. Hanover- Milford shut down their ground game, holding Seamus Murphy to just 22 yards on 11 carries, and knocked the Marauders back 34-7 last Friday night. Next up is a road trip to Souhegan in what should be another very tough test.              .
  7. Bow- An improving Hollis-Brookline team and their passing attack come to town on Saturday afternoon. The Falcons were off last week when their game with Lebanon was canceled.
  8. Souhegan- Freshman quarterback Romy Jain has thrown for 851 yards and 12 touchdowns, with just two interceptions, for the defending champs. I'd say the Sabers are set at quarterback for the forseeable future.
  9. Manchester West- The train rolls along, and now they face a genuine title contender Friday night in Milford. They've been very good against non-playoff teams, how do they fare this weekend against a team headed to the post-season?                                                              
  10. Gilford-BelmontI’ll be at Gilford next Saturday when they face Plymouth; first they need to take care of business at Merrimack Valley on Friday night.

Dropped out: None

 

Division III Standings and Statistical Leaders

 Power Rankings

  1. Pelham- The Pythons FINALLY (it’s October 14th) will play a competitive game this weekend when they face a very good Campbell team. We plan to cover the defending champs next week against Monadnock.
  2. Trinity- Hoping they can take on Stevens and Playoff Paul Silva this weekend. Division III has so far had the same level of drama & intrigue as my 87th viewing of ‘The Fugitive’, but we are shaping up to have a fun semifinal round in three weeks. (Spoiler: A one-armed man really did kill his wife)
  3. Campbell- That was a big win for the Cougars over Monadnock. Can they test the defending champs this weekend?
  4. Monadnock- The Huskies have been shut down and won't play Winnisquam, in a game they were heavily favored to win. They will square off with Pelham next weekend.
  5. Kearsarge- The canceled game against Monadnock in Week 2 (we had planned to be there) could make the final playoff spot messy. It'll now come down to The Football Rating System.

 

Division IV Standings and Statistical Leaders

Power Rankings

  1. Newport- We had fun covering the Tigers twice last year on route to their Division IV championship and are looking forward to seeing them play on Saturday. It’ll be a challenge for head coach John Proper and his players to be sharp after being off for two weeks.
  2. Somersworth- The Hilltoppers are getting better by the week and want another shot at Newport. Calvin Lambert has rushed for 721 yards on the season, including two touchdown runs of over 90-yards, and a whopping 12 scores.
  3. Epping-Newmarket- They remained undefeated with a 16-0 win over Mascoma, now comes the real test. They travel to Newport and still have Somersworth on the schedule. Now we find out how good this team is.
  4. Fall Mountain- The last playoff spot in the division will come down to the Wildcats game with Mascoma on October 30th.
  5. Mascoma- They hung in with Epping-Newmarket (16-0) last weekend and will essentially have a play-in game at home against Fall Mountain in two weeks.

 

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