In this edition of the Thursday Thoughts, we rank the contenders in all four divisions and give you our player and coach of the year candidates.

 We will have coverage of three games tomorrow night:

 Austin Grass and I will be in Plymouth when the Bobcats face rival Kennett in a Division II East showdown.

 Pete Tarrier and Patrick Cogan will be at Londonderry when the Lancers host the Exeter Blue Hawks in a key Division I battle.

 Finally, as Bow takes on St Thomas, Brandon Bojarsky, Jay Manzi, and Colin O’Neil will be in Dover for a Division II battle with playoff implications.

 Our column is brought to you today by our longtime partners at Great Bay Community College, who have an Open House next Saturday from 9 to 11 on their Portsmouth Campus at Pease.

 The following week, they have an Open House on their Rochester campus on Saturday the 28th, also from 9 to 11 a.m.

 Division I

 Standings, statistical leaders, and Gold Level Coaches/Programs

 Player of the Year Candidates: Kevin Sheridan of Bedford, Ty Miles of Londonderry, Max Durkin of Portsmouth-Oyster River, and Caden Michaud of Pinkerton Academy.

 Coach of the Year Candidates: Steve Abraham of Salem, Brian Pafford of Portsmouth-Oyster River, and Matt Lee of Alvirne (we are a win or two away from Linwood Patnode of Keene being right in the mix)

1. Bedford- The Bulldogs faced the best two teams they have seen all year in back-to-back weeks and outscored them 87-10. The offense is good enough to win a shootout (Brody Helton rushed for 211 yards on just ten carries last week, and Danny Black had a QB rating of 123.6), and the defense is too good to allow a shootout to occur.

2. Pinkerton Academy- A terrific offensive line is up for the Player of the Week after seven ball carriers racked up 413 yards on the ground against Bishop Guertin. They’ll face a tough Brockton (MA) team this weekend before a showdown with Salem next week.

3. Londonderry- The Lancers get one of their best tests of the season when Bill Ball and company roll into town tomorrow night. Next week, it is a very short ride to Alvirne, followed by a big game at home against Salem to close the regular season.

4. Portsmouth-Oyster River- The Clippercats defense was tremendous in a 20-6 win over Exeter as they held the Blue Hawks to one score and 87 total yards despite the offense turning the ball over five times. Cole McLaughlin (8 tackles, two for a loss) and Max Durkin (9 tackles and a sack) were terrific in the victory. Now they face a good Windham team playing with their playoff hopes on the line Saturday afternoon.

5. Salem- They should be able to take care of business this week against Manchester Central (head coach Ryan Ray has done an excellent job with the Little Green) before they face the Pinkerton/Londonderry gauntlet we talked about in the pre-season preview.

6. Exeter- A loss on the road to a team ranked ahead of you is not going to drop the Blue Hawks lower than six. The defense was able to turn Portsmouth over five times, but once the running game stalled (the Blue Hawks rushed for just 50 yards on 33 carries), they were not able to generate enough big plays to win the game.

7. Dover- The Green Wave have no time to feel sorry for themselves with a good Timberlane team coming in tomorrow night. Dover averaged only 2.8 yards a carry against Bedford’s elite defense but will look to get back on track against the Owls.

8. Nashua North- The Titans were beaten in back-to-back games by two of the best teams in the state but have a chance to get right against Goffstown this weekend. Next week, they’ll host Keene in a game where the winner guarantees themselves a spot in the playoffs.

9. Bishop Guertin- The Cardinals are a fun but undersized team with a lot of speed on the edges but struggles against big, physical offensive lines. That makes Pinkerton, the team that just beat them 56-17, a terrible matchup for them. The good news is they should have a playoff-level intensity for a trip to Keene this weekend. A Keene team which….hold on…

10. Keene- Has won three of their last four in-state games and is improving by the week under head coach Linwood Patnode.

Division II

Standings, statistical leaders & Gold Level Coaches/Programs

Player of the Year Candidates: Memphis Patterson of Pelham, JJ Bright of Souhegan, Jeff Vidou of Hanover, and Dom Herrling of Pelham

Coach of the Year Candidates: Josh White of Sanborn and Ray Kershaw of John Stark

1. Pelham- The champs have not given up a point all season behind one of the best defenses in the state. That defense has been led by Memphis Patterson, Aiden Lynch, Diego Jimenez, Russell Leonard, and Stephen McKinnon. Tom Babaian’s Pythons take on Milford this weekend before a showdown with Souhegan next week, a game we will be covering.

2. Souhegan- JJ Bright’s 457 yards rushing against Hanover last week would make him the leading rusher on ten Division II teams. He did it in one night…

3. Plymouth- The Bobcats dominated Gilford-Belmont to earn a good bounce-back win last Saturday. Plymouth has a clear path to the East title and the #2 overall seed, but they have a tough closing schedule to navigate first. Kennett rolls in tomorrow night, followed by a trip to St Thomas next week and a season finale against a surging by-the-week Sanborn team. All three of those teams have a chance for the 2-seed if they can win out, so nothing has been determined yet.

4. John Stark- The Generals travel to Fremont to take on Sanborn in a huge game for both teams. Both Ray Kershaw and Josh White’s teams feature elite rushing attacks, and there are major seeding implications at play.

5. St Thomas- The Saints lost to Kennett three weeks ago, but since then, the two teams have headed off in opposite directions. Ed McDonough’s team has come around offensively behind a rushing attack led by Trent Salyards, Tim Avery, and Sam Grondin, who combined for 248 yards on the ground against Laconia.

6. Sanborn- The Indians are the surprise team of the Division II season. They face a John Stark team that is going to try to wear down their defensive line with three runners in the backfield. Josh White’s team, who was led last week by 146 yards and three touchdowns from Scott McGibbon, are playing with a ton of confidence and should have a big crowd behind them Saturday afternoon.

7. Hanover- The Bears were actually in a scoreless tie with Souhegan before JJ Bright summoned the power of Tecmo Bowl Bo Jackson in the second half. Even with all the highlight runs, Sam Cavallaro’s team was still in it with five minutes to go. Jeff Vidou, who had 14 tackles in the first half and is a player of the year candidate, went down with a leg injury early in the third quarter. Here’s hoping he is back quickly.

8. Kennett- Things are going in the wrong direction for the Eagles, and a trip to Plymouth is not the cure. The defense has given up 48 and 38 points in back-to-back losses to Sanborn and Bow, and the offense struggled when the Falcons put two players on all-state wide receiver Devan Bailey (508 receiving yards on the season). They can turn their momentum around in a hurry tomorrow night, but a loss would mean three straight, with an improving Merrimack Valley team up next week. 

 Division III

 Standings, statistical leaders, and Gold Level Coaches/Programs

 Player of the Year Candidates: Scott Hershberger of Campbell, Devohn Ellis & Jack Service of Trinity, and Eric Franklin of Fall Mountain.

 Coach of the Year Candidates: Orion Binney of Fall Mountain, Matt Harris of Con Val and Guy Donnelly of Inter-Lakes Mouitonborough

1. Campbell- The champs take on Con Val this week before an off week due to Kearsarge moving to a JV schedule and forfeiting their varsity games. They’ll close the season at Fall Mountain before they likely begin their title defense as the top seed.

2. Trinity- The Pioneers had their own refresh last week when they were off (Kearsarge) and return to the field this weekend against Epping-Newmarket.

3. Inter-Lakes Moultonborough- The Lakers rolled to a 37-0 win over Epping Newmarket behind 151 yards passing yards and two touchdowns from Brayden Arruda. They now play their biggest game of the season tomorrow night in Langdon against Fall Mountain. Guy Donnelly’s team needs to be two-dimensional to beat the Wildcats. Expect them to establish the run with Garrett Hayward and take shots down the field to Wes Bailey. The Lakers defense, led by Hayward, Noah Salamanca, Addie Kernan, Connor Adams, Brogan Donnelly and Tyler Cataldo, will have to limit big run plays to win the game.

4. Fall Mountain- The Wildcats need to limit turnovers, Inter-Lakes Moultonborough is too good to give extra possessions to, and defend the pass when Brayden Arruda throws the football. Orion Binney has good balance along his offense, they’ve passed for 661 yards on the season and rushed for 664, that gives them a good chance to win tomorrow night. That and a what should be a very loud home crowd behind them. Because of the season-opening loss to Monadnock, the Widcats need this win to guarantee a playoff spot. They should treat this like a post-season game, and you can be sure they will. 

5. Con Val- The Cougars stay at #5, but their playoff hopes took a major blow with the loss to Kingswood. Two programs that made the right move coming down to Division III.

 Division IV

 Standings, Statistical Leaders, and Gold Level Coaches/Programs

 Player of the Year Candidates: Kyle Ashley of Newport and Tayshawn Sheppard of Somersworth

 Coach of the Year Candidates: Tim Snow of Franklin and John Proper of Newport

1. Newport- The Tigers rolled to a 35-0 win over Bishop Brady to remain undefeated but notably, they did it without Kyle Ashley, who was banged up in the win over Somersworth two weeks ago. 

2. Somersworth- This is still a terrific football team, and they proved it again last weekend when they scored 38 unanswered points to blow out Raymond 44-6 on the road. Tayshawn Sheppard leads Division IV with 629 yards and nine touchdowns.

3. Raymond- The Rams found out the gap between two and three but can return to their winning ways this weekend against Newfound. 

4. Franklin- Second-year head coach Tim Snow has done a terrific job for the Golden Tornadoes, who have won two in a row after a 7-6 win over Mascoma on Monday. The defense was outstanding, forcing four turnovers. Two were interceptions by all-state standout Zeke McCoy, while defensive end Tyler Bennett led the way with 11 tackles and two sacks. George Sarkis was also in the middle of the Mascoma offense all day, totaling seven tackles and a sack.