UNION LEADER/WMUR/ESPN NEW HAMPSHIRE FOOTBALL POWER POLL Sept. 15 , 2015 ( Week 2 )
 

The top 10 high school football teams in New Hampshire, as voted by the staffs of the New Hampshire Union Leader, WMUR-TV and ESPN New Hampshire, with record, first-place votes/points in parentheses, plus previous week's ranking:

 

 

1. Pinkerton, 2-0 (4/58), 1st

2. Goffstown, 2-0 (2/54), 2nd

3. Bedford, 2-0 (48), 3rd

4. Exeter, 2-0 (43), 4th

5. Salem, 2-0 (37), 5th

6. Timberlane, 1-1 (27), 8th (tie) 

7. St. Thomas, 2-0 (20), 8th (tie) 

8. tie Bishop Guertin, 1-1 (11), 6th 

8. tie Concord, 1-1 (11), NR 

8. tie Windham, 2-0 (11), NR

Also receiving votes: Winnacunnet, 1-1 (9), NR; Kennett, 2-0 (1), NR. 
 

Here's how I voted...and why.
 

1.Pinkerton...in the moments after a 54-14 victory over Portsmouth last Friday, Pinkerton's Brett Dattilo wouldn't take the bait from Dave Haley when asked on camera to predict the outcome of the Astros next game vs fellow undefeated Salem. What the game highlights did show was a deep and explosive Pinkerton team that just keeps coming at you on both sides of the ball.  Should be a fun game in Salem on Saturday afternoon.   

   

2.Goffstown...the Grizzlies raced out to a 37-0 lead at halftime of their Week 2 home game vs Keene on their way to an eventual 37-14 win.  Once again QB Casey Gervais and RB Connor Bourque did a lot of the damage, but coach Justin Hufft has a very deep team and a lot of confidence to use that depth.  A perfect example is how Hufft went to backup QB Nik Moquin not even midway thru the 2nd quarter and he proceeded to hook up with Frankie Castillo-Diaz on a 65 yard TD.  Next up for the Grizz over the next 3 weeks are Nashua North, Alvirne and Nashua South before a highly anticipated meeting with Bedford on October 10th in Goffstown.  As Terrell Owens once said, "Get your popcorn ready" for that one.  

3.Exeter...The Blue Hawks had a much easier time with Spaulding last week(35-6) after they had to hold on in Week 1 to beat Timberlane, 14-9.  Interesting match-up this week for Exeter as they travel to 1-1 Londonderry on Friday.  Then it's the seacoast rivalry game against Winnacunnet in Exeter on Saturday the 26th before another tough game on the road against Salem on Friday October 2nd.  These next 3 weeks should tell us a lot about Bill Ball's team.

 

4.Bedford...I was tempted to move Bedford up to #3 ahead of Exeter because it's hard to overlook the fact the Bulldogs have put up a whopping 117 points in the 1st 2 weeks of the season.  Folks in Nashua have probably seen enough of the Bulldogs already after the 48-0 blanking of Nashua North in Week 1 followed by the 69-27 pasting of Nashua South last Friday.  Bedford will face yet another Gate City opponent on Saturday night when they take on Bishop Guertin at Stellos Stadium.  We'll have that game covered on NH Sportspage.     

 

5.Salem...the Blue Devils had a workmanlike 43-0 wipeout of Dover on Friday, but their 26-21 Week 1 win over Winnacunnet now looks even better after the Warriors stomped Merrimack 44-19 on Friday night.  Salem gave Pinkerton their closest call of the season last year in a 14-7 loss in Derry.  The Blue Devils have the home field advantage for this year's game and you know Grant Field will be buzzing.  

 

6.Saint Thomas...much like Bedford, the Saints have been marching up and down the field and putting up some serious points thru 2 games.  A 60 spot in Week 1 at Sanborn was followed up with 41 more against Pembroke last weekend.  Stephen Hedberg might not throw for 35 touchdowns this year, but the St. Thomas offense might be just as dangerous as it was last season when they made it all the way to the D2 title game.  After Merrimack Valley comes to Dover this weekend an interesting game at Plymouth looms in 2 weeks.

7.Timberlane...coming off a tight loss to Exeter in their opener, the Owls made a statement with a convincing 28-7 win over Londonderry last weekend and in the process they won a spot on my ballot.  Senior QB Jason Hughes and super sophomore Jake Post led the way for Timberlane who plays host to 0-2 Portsmouth this Friday before a big rivalry game against Salem in 2 weeks.    

8.Bishop Guertin...I've been voting in the Power Poll for all 4 years of it's existence and placing the Cards in this spot this week was the toughest decision I have ever had to make on my ballot.  You see, I had BG 4th last week coming off the 54-13 thrashing of Central in Week 1.  Then BG goes up to Concord and loses a close 17-14 decision to the Crimson Tide in the final minutes.  Both teams are now 1 and 1 with Concord holding the head to head meeting.  So how could I give BG the spot on my ballot and leave Concord off when the Tide beat them head to head?  After a lot of self analyzing, I figured the BG /Concord game really could have gone either way so I gave the Cards more credit for their overall performance in the 1st 2 weeks of the season compared to Concord who got blown out in Week 1 and squeaked by to win their 2nd game.  A better resume for BG if you will.  Of course, now BG has to face Bedford on Saturday in a game we'll cover on NH Sportspage so their stay in the Top 10 might be short lived. 

9.Windham...the Jags ran it right down the throats of a good Trinity team last Friday night in Manchester in a 21-7 win and showed why they are going to be a serious threat to repeat as Champs in D2.  This is not the same high-octane offensive team as last year in Windham, but these Jags could care less about style points and blowout victories.  That said, I'm sure they'll have their share of running time games in 2015...it'll just be a different group of players making it happen.  

 

10.Kennett...one measure of a really good football team is how you handle adversity.  The Eagles were on the road last Saturday night in a hostile, hyped up atmosphere against Kearsarge and they had to sweat out a failed 2 point conversion pass in overtime to survive 34-33 and improve to 2-0.  That experience should help when they travel into the Land of Lenahan this Saturday afternoon(can I still call it that even though the legendary Plymouth coach has been retired for 2 years?).  Either way, Kennett is really good and the other voters should start noticing.  See the "also receiving votes" section?  I'm the only guy who voted for Kennett.  I'm talking to you Nick Anastos, my colleague at ESPN New Hampshire who scoffed at me today when I told him I had Kennett on my ballot.    

 

Just missed the cut on my ballot...

 

Concord, I addressed this in the 8th position on my ballot so no need to get back into it here. 

 

Winnacunnet is another team that is on my radar.  We should know a lot more about the Warriors by the middle of October as after a winnable game vs Dover this weekend they have to play at Exeter, vs Timberlane and at Pinkerton.  

 

Lebanon should be getting some attention too. 

 

Newport/Bow.  Both are 2-0, neither has given up more than 6 points all year.  If this was a Top 15 Newport/Bow would be locks on the ballot.