We take a look at the biggest games of the week in all three divisions.
 

 
 Before we get to the games of the week we'd like to introduce The Southside Tavern of Manchester as our newest sponsor. NHsportspage will be holding events and filming team interviews throughout the year at their location in Manchester and we are very excited to work with them.

  So look for that partnership to really take off as Steve Irons and the crew at Southside Tavern become major supporters of our coverage of NH high school athletics.



 Division I

 Bedford (4-0) at Exeter (3-1)

 The coverage of Bedford is sponsored by Bedford Dental Care Assoc. & HK Photography
 The coverage of Exeter is sponsored by Chad Fletcher at Blue Water Mortgage

  This one has the feel of a 14-10 kind of game. The two elite defenses squaring off have everything to do with that proclamation.

 Yes Exeter can now be called an elite defense; a 15-3 win over Winnacunnet on the Warriors home field last Saturday afternoon earned them that distinction. Bill Ball’s defense is only giving up an average of 12 points per game and it is a unit that has had their backs to the wall on more than a few occasions because of turnovers.

 That offense has been the issue in the first half of the season. This was a team with a legitimate home run threat in Jay Inzenga a year ago, and although Mark Ciccihini (276 yds. rushing on an average of 5.2 yds. per carry) and workhorse Chris Kelley (356 yds. and 2 TDs) have been good, they don’t have the breakaway ability Inzenga and Tyler Grant before him did. That coupled with the inability to generate offense through their passing game (just 127 yards for the season) means that this has to be a pretty precise football team to win. Those kinds of disciplined teams are the staple of Hall of Fame coach Bill Ball, but so far in 2014 Exeter has been a work in progress.

 Bedford has an elite defense that will get stronger with the impending return of linebacker Tommy O’Rourke (still week to week but could return as early as this weekend) and two defensive tackles returning from concussions against Exeter; Chris Joseph and Jake Gregson. Colin Cashin (225 yds. rushing) stepped in when Michael Collins went down with an unfortunate season ending injury and has played well.

 People still question how much of a dual threat QB Mike Vailas is but no one can question his decision making ability. He’s been great as a runner and taken care of the football in an undefeated start.
 
 Salem (3-1) at Alvirne (3-1)

 The coverage of Salem is sponsored by Merrimack Valley Sports

  Trap games don’t come any clearer cut than last week’s rivalry game for Salem against Timberlane but Coach Rob Pike and his team survived to improve to 3-1. Now they face a surprising Alvirne Broncos team that showed they could score when they had to in weeks 2 & 3 and then proved a week ago that they could win behind their defense as well. In a 13-7 win over Merrimack that we covered here on NHsportspage Alvirne never seemed to let Merrimack get into any sort of rhythm. When the Broncos needed to run the clock and rest their defense they put the ball in the capable hands of Jack Mahoney (the leading rusher in Division I) and an underrated offensive line.

 The Broncos sit atop their conference at 3-1 but now head into the meat grinder part of their schedule. After playing a very good Salem team Friday night they face pre-season conference favorite Nashua South at home followed by Londonderry at home and then a trip to Bishop Guertin with a possible playoff berth on the line.

 Salem still has some serious navigating to do but it becomes more & more evident by the week that their season will come down to a Halloween night showdown with Londonderry (3-1) for the second and final playoff berth in the South conference. Behind the throwing of John Cerretini (431 yds. and 4 TDs) and running attack led by Charles Sibanda (328 yds.) this is one of the most dynamic offense in the state.

 Listen in this Saturday morning to another edition of the New Hampshire High School Football Show as Pete Tarrier & I break down the biggest games of the week and preview the Saturday match-ups as well from 8 to 9 am on WGIR 610 AM or 96,7 FM on the seacoast.

 Our guest Saturday morning will be Bedford head coach Kurt Hines who will be in studio with us from 8:30 to 9.

Listen online on the link below:
    http://www.iheart.com/live/WGIR-AM-610-2752/
 
Division II

St. Thomas (4-0) at Laconia (2-1)

 This should be a good one Friday night and Pete Tarrier, The Great Jon Kesty and I will be there with all the play by play, highlights and interviews.

 Kyle Chaisson has rushed for over 600 yards and averaged over 8 yards per carry in doing so but the Sachems are not a one dimensional offense. A vastly improved offensive line has given third year starting quarterback Matt Swormstedt time to operate and he has shown an ability to throw the ball. Swormstedt has thrown for 200 yards and 4 touchdowns to a receiving group that includes Brenden Mooney and star of the future Jacob Filgate.

 Defensively The Sachems have been a very good run stopping unit behind Keith Schultz and Mitchell Bailey while Swormstedt and Cody Greenwood lead an excellent secondary.

 They’ll need contributions from everyone 1 through 11 Friday night when the Saints come rolling in. This is a veteran St. Thomas team that has a stable of good running backs (led by Charlie Pollack and Cam Adams) and the division leading quarterback in Stephen Hedberg (11 TDs and over 600 yards passing).
 
 Lebanon (3-0) at Milford (3-1)

 The buzz early on is all around St. Thomas, Windham and Kennett in Division II but there is a fourth undefeated team and they just might be flying under the radar.

 Lebanon head coach Chris Childs felt in the pre-season like he had a nice mix of speed and experience with this group. Led by returning QB Joe Flanagan, who is joined in the backfield by up & coming running back Cam Broughton, Ryan Milliken (3 TDs last weekend) and Ethan Perkins. Childs’ defense is led by ‘do everything but sell programs’ middle linebacker Walker Tuttle and it is a defense that has allowed less than 10 points per game this season.

 Keith Jones is once again getting the most out of his Milford team led by quarterback Max Urda. The Spartans want to wear you down with their rushing attack and keep you from hitting the big play defensively. Milford has been able to work a rotation of running backs that include Jahir Romney and Mark Madigan with success while the defense has improved over the last three weeks.
 
 Division III

 Winnisquam (3-0) at Campbell (1-2)

 Campbell’s offense last season under head coach Greg Gush was explosive enough to make up for an inconsistent defense. The Cougars had weapons all over the field and never felt like they were out of the game, and their passing attack was a big reason for that.

 That explosiveness hasn’t been there in a 1-2 start and with the undefeated Bears rolling in Campbell needs to find the answers in a hurry. Only four playoff spots are available in the newly aligned South division and a loss here gives them losses to three teams (Winnisquam, Bow and Somersworth) that are expected to be there. The rest of the division has their own issues to deal with but Campbell has to figure out how to score points.

 Winnisquam head coach Pat Riberdy liked the fact that his offensive line, anchored by all-state lineman Dicky Mills, would be able to create running room for Christian and Andrew Serrano. That has played out over a 3-0 start and a defense that has only allowed 14 points a game has been very good as well. Riberdy wanted to see consistency from this group back in the pre-season, and through three games he has to be very pleased with the results.
 
Stevens (1-2) at Franklin (1-2)

 Another match-up where the winner gets new life breathed into them and the loser suddenly has an uphill battle to a top 4 spot. The Golden Tornadoes have played better than their record indicates while Stevens is coming off a tough 18-15 home loss to Mascoma at home.

 For Franklin it all begins with an offensive line anchored by Patch Kaplan. Bruce Carey and Kenny Torres have played well but the issue has still been the offense and more specifically capitalizing on their scoring chances.

 Before breaking out last weekend in a win at Fall Mountain this was an offense that had only produced eight points in two games. This weekend they face a young but talented Cardinals defense that has been strong despite the 1-2 start.