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The Auburn Pitts Presents Pete Tarrier's Power Poll Ballot

By Pete Tarrier, 09/22/15, 11:00PM EDT

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Matt Shea and Windham make Pete's Top 10

Sept. 22 , 2015 ( Week 3 )

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, 3-0 (5/59), 1st

2. Goffstown, 3-0 (1/51), 2nd

3. Bedford, 3-0 (50), 3rd

4. Exeter, 3-0 (44), 4th

5. Salem, 2-1 (35) 5th

6. Timberlane, 2-1 (28), 6th 

7. Concord, 2-1 (20), 8th (tie) 

8. St. Thomas, 3-0 (16), 7th 

9. Winnacunnet, 2-1 (13), NR 

10. Bishop Guertin, 1-2 (7), 8th (tie) 

Also receiving votes: Windham, 3-0 (5), 8th (tie); Manchester Central, 2-1 (1), NR; Merrimack, 2-1 (1), NR. 

 

Here's how I voted...

 

1.Pinkerton...the Astros solidified their spot at the top of my ballot with a convincing 35-20 win on the road in Salem on Saturday afternoon.  Next up for Pinkerton is their annual Mack Plaque rivalry game against Londonderry.

 

2.Goffstown...the Grizzlies improved to 3-0 thanks to another dominating performance, this time 35-6 at Nashua North.  In the 1st 3 games of the season Goffstown has outscored their opponents 114-27.

 

3.Bedford...I was at the game vs BG on Saturday night and came away impressed enough to move the Bulldogs ahead of Exeter on my ballot after the 43-22 Bedford win.  The Bulldogs have a lot of different weapons in their spread offense and they use them all which keeps teams guessing defensively.

 

4.Exeter...as you read above, I moved the Blue Hawks down 1 spot on the heels of Bedford's big win over BG and Exeter's closer than expected 28-20 nail biter in Londonderry on Friday night.  HUGE game on Saturday at the stadium named after longtime Exeter coach Bill Ball when rival Winnacunnet comes a calling.

 

5.Salem...there's no shame in losing to Pinkerton like the Blue Devils did on Saturday.  Salem has actually been the team that has given the Astros their biggest challenge over the last 2 seasons.  Speaking of a challenge, that's what Salem will be facing this week when they travel to Plaistow to take on Timberlane on Friday night.  I'll be there with Jon Kesty and the NH Sportspage video camera for our Game of the Week coverage.

 

6.St. Thomas...our 2nd edition of the Game of the Week takes place in Plymouth on Saturday afternoon as the Bobcats host my #6 team St Thomas in the Land of Lenahan.  If the Saints can get by Plymouth it says here they will go undefeated in the regular season.

 

7.Timberlane...the Owls have been a hoot to watch these last 2 weeks after losing a tough 14-9 decision on opening weekend at Exeter.  QB Jason Hughes, RB Tyler Furey and do it all sophomore Jake Post make up a formidable triumvirate that I'm looking forward to seeing again in person vs Salem this Friday night.

 

8.Concord...the Tide has risen from the depths of that Week 1 42-7 thrashing at Goffstown with back-to-back wins to improve to 2-1 and regain a spot on my ballot.  Leo Sudieh had a monster game vs my Nashua South Panthers last weekend.  Big game vs D2 North Conference foe Manchester Central at Gill Stadium on Friday.

 

9.Bishop Guertin...I realize the Cards are 1-2, losers of 2 straight after that 54-13 win over Central on Opening night.  But those 2 losses were a last minute 17-14 defeat against Concord and the aforementioned much closer than the final score indicated 43-22 setback to Bedford on Saturday.  The schedule eases up quite a bit over the next 4 weeks for BG as they take on Keene, Alvirne, Memorial and North in that order.

 

10.Windham...the Jaguars got quite the scare from John Stark on Friday night, trailing at the half before turning things around in the 2nd half of the 33-27 win.  Matt Shea had a big game on the ground for a Windham who plays at Sanborn this coming Saturday and then hosts a tough Souhegan team in 2 weeks.

 

Teams just missing the cut...Winnacunnet has to be asking "what the heck do we have to do to get on Pete Tarrier's Power Poll ballot?"  It's probably more like "what an idiot that Pete Tarrier guy is for not voting for us!".  Either way, I do think the Warriors are worthy and probably should be in my Top 10.  And if they have a good showing vs Exeter this weekend I'll probably have them in next week.  Lebanon is another team that I have given a lot of consideration to but I still need to see more from them to place them ahead of teams like Windham and BG.

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