Division I Rushing leader: Jesiah Wade of Manchester Central 2,093 yards Passing leader: Inghao Veasna of Winnacunnet 1,693 yards Receiving leader: Alec Boucher of Winnacunnet 891 yards
 

East sub-division playoff
(2) Exeter at (1) Spaulding 
The coverage of Exeter is sponsored by Chad Fletcher at Blue Water Mortgage

 The defending champs always get everyone’s best shot and that can take its toll over the course of a season, just ask the Baltimore Ravens. Every week is rivalry week for the opposition and there are a few 45-0 scores from a year ago that need to be atoned for.
 One such game occurred on October 18th when the Spaulding Fighting McIsaacs handed Exeter their lone division loss 17-7, their first loss in Rochester in close to 15 years and physically beat up the champs in the process. Spaulding celebrated and gave the win the reverence it deserved but kept the on field and online trash talking to a minimum. That’s a very good thing, because look who is coming back up the turnpike on Saturday afternoon..

 Spaulding head coach Jeff Hunt joked on WTSN after last Friday’s win over Dover that with the way Exeter and his own team depend almost solely on the run the game Saturday should last about 45 minutes as the clock runs nearly uninterrupted. Neither team is going to pull a rope a dope and come out in the spread. These are two teams that grind it out between the tackles and each team utilizes a pair of all-state backs to do so.

 Jesiah Wade, Trevor Knight, Alex Parenteau and Manny Latimore are the names you most commonly hear tossed around when it comes to the player of the year discussion and that may be a disservice to Spaulding’s Trey Scott ( 1,330 yards rushing and 12 TDs) who has been every bit as indispensable to the top seed in the sub-division.
 Did Spaulding catch Exeter napping three weeks ago or are they legitimately the better team? We find out Saturday afternoon.
 
North sub-division playoff
(2) Manchester Central at (1) Concord
The coverage of Manchester Central is sponsored by 900 Degrees Pizzaria

 Ryan Ray’s Manchester Central football team would be wise to carry that very big chip they have on their shoulder all the way to Memorial Field in Concord on Saturday. A week ago they fed off the feeling that they had been overlooked and were being underestimated in a stunning to everyone but themselves win at Bedford. That win sent the Little Green to Concord and Bedford home for the winter.

 A heavy dose of Jesiah Wade behind a mammoth offensive line was able to give Richie Greeley some pretty good throwing lanes on play action and when he had time Greeley did a nice job finding receivers like Abe Madra as well as tight end Nick Makris. This is a mentally tough football team that seems truly puzzled that you (ok and I..) weren’t giving them a chance last Friday night in Bedford.
 In Concord they face a team that has pointed to this weekend ever since we first spoke to Wally Ndi (1,009 yards rushing) and Leo Sudeih at the Queen City Jamboree in August. “ Make the playoffs, that’s our goal and has been from day one,” Ndhi told us and they not only can you cross that goal off the list but Eric Brown’s team brings with it Division I’s only unblemished record. No team matched Concord’s 49 points per game average and only Bedford and Keene gave up fewer points defensively. Their task Saturday is to try and control Wade’s production, the senior back who led the state in rushing last year at Campbell wasn’t the focus of the offense like he is now and each team would be wise to erase Concord’s 35-6 season opening win at Gill Stadium from their memory.

 This is the game I will be at Saturday afternoon and I’ll tweet out updates throughout the game.
 
 West sub-division playoff
 (2) Keene at (1) Nashua South

  This one has a chance to be an instant classic and Pete Tarrier & the Great Jon Kesty will be at Stellos Stadium covering the game for us Saturday afternoon.

 There are few teams in the state playing as well as the Keene Blackbirds are right now and defensively there may be no one better. Keene beat Nashua South two weeks ago by taking advantage of early turnovers and then holding on for the win by scoring late touchdowns to ice the victory. Alex Parenteau has grown into his role at quarterback and is one of the premier runners in the state but it is the Keene defense that gives them a legitimate shot at the Division I title. Hunter Wilkinson, Jimmy Heaney and Parenteau lead a defense that has been very good from day one, it is the offense that has begun to catch up over the past four or five weeks.

 Scoring points has not been the issue for Nashua South, only Concord and Pinkerton scored more often this season, and coming into the post-season they have to believe that if they take care of the football Trevor Knight will make enough plays at the quarterback position to get to the semifinals next weekend. Much like the team they face Saturday this is a team with a lot of returning starters that worked all summer to win a Division I title, not a sub-division race.

 A very good team will be done for the season Saturday afternoon, we’ll bring you all the coverage this weekend.
 
 South sub-division playoff
 (2) Londonderry at (1) Pinkerton

 If you are looking for someone who believes Pinkerton is not going to roll right over a 4-5 Londonderry team that has lost five of their last seven games you can head straight to the coaches office at Pinkerton high school (if you can find it..that campus is bigger than where I went to college).

Head coach Brian O’Reilly nearly had me running gassers for suggesting the Lancers weren’t capable of knocking off their arch/much bigger rival in the playoffs opening round.

 Let’s go with a Hall of Fame coaches point of view on this one; so how Londonderry stay with Pinkerton long enough to pull off a major upset at the end?

 Offensively the Lancers have the pieces in place. Dennis Bishop (1,131 yards and 9 Tds.) can break a long run at any moment and in Jonathan Young & QB Aaron Gaudet they get enough production to keep you in the game.

 The problems are on defense. Londonderry gave up 29 points or more in a game on six different occasions and their 262 points allowed is more than any of the other twenty three schools in the playoffs state-wide this weekend. Did I mention Manny Latimore is well rested and ready to go this weekend?

This would be a MAJOR upset if the Astros didn’t move on.