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. Goffstown, 10-0 (6/60), 1st
2. Bedford, 9-1 (54), 2nd
3. Pinkerton, 8-2 (47), 4th
4. Exeter, 8-2 (41), T-5th
5. Salem, 7-3 (34), 3rd
6. Timberlane, 7-3 (28), T-5th
7. Bishop Guertin, 6-4 (23), T-8th
8. Winnacunnet, 6-3 (18), T-8th  
9. St. Thomas, 9-0 (17), 7th  
10. Milford, 8-1 (5), T-10
Also receiving votes: Nashua North, 6-4 (2), T-10th; Windham, 8-1 (1) NR.
 
Here’s how I voted…
1.       Goffstown…the Grizzlies kept their unbeaten, dream season going for another week improving to 10-0 with a resounding 50-13 1st round playoff win over Nashua North.  Now it’s a rematch with 2nd ranked Bedford who gave Goffstown one of their toughest tests of the season in a 27-21 Grizzly win in Goffstown back on October 10th.  Winner of this game goes to the Division 1 State Championship Game. 

2.       Bedford…the Bulldogs fell behind BG 21-3 after the 1st quarter of their playoff game in Nashua on Saturday before rallying back to within 4 at 21-17 by halftime and then taking the lead early in the 4th quarter of an eventual 41-39 win.  The Bedford defense stepped up when they had to stopping a potential game tying 2 point conversion pass in the final seconds to preserve the win. 

3.       St Thomas…I was a bit surprised the Saints didn’t march all over the Monadnock Huskies on Saturday in Dover, but they did bust open a 14-7 game after 3 quarters to win going away 28-7.  I guess that result wasn’t good enough for the other voters in this poll as the Saints somehow fell 2 spots despite the win and are now behind a 4 loss BG team and a 3 loss Winnacunnet team that didn’t even play this weekend because they didn’t make the playoffs.  No offense to Bishop Guertin or Winnacunnet, I just think St Thomas should be ranked higher because of their season long dominance.  I know he’s busy with trying to win a D2 Championship but I bet coach Eric Cumba would gladly accept the challenge to play either of those teams to see how it would go down for real on the field!

4.       Pinkerton…there was a healthy debate between me and my radio partner Dave Haley and NH Sportspage colleague Justin McIsaac who ganged up on me a couple weeks back when I had the Astros ranked ahead of Timberlane even though they had the same exact records after the Owls beat Pinkerton 31-28 in Derry.  I said at the time that I voted that way because I just felt Pinkerton was the better team and that if the 2 teams played again I believed Pinkerton would win.  Well, after a hard fought 23-17 Astros win over Timberlane in the playoffs on Saturday I feel somewhat vindicated.  Even though I know Dave and Justin will never let me live it down.

5.       Exeter…The Blue Hawks rolled out to a quick start in their D1 quarterfinal round game vs Salem and then had to hold on as the Blue Devils stormed back to tie the game at 21 in the 4th quarter.  QB Kyle Ball and company went back on top for good with just 1:24 to play and then left it in the hands of the Exeter defense which forced a stop on downs to ice the 28-21 win.  Now Exeter will travel to Pinkerton with the winner moving on to the ‘Ship at UNH.   

6.       Salem…Someone has to lose a playoff game while the other team moves on.  Unfortunately for the Blue Devils that was their fate this season as they finished 7-3 and proved they are one of the top programs in the entire state.  I think Salem might have found a new rival in Exeter who handed the Blue Devils 2 of their 3 losses on the year, both of them close calls in the final moments. 

7.       Timberlane…this has to be one of the best years in Timberlane football history despite the 1st round playoff loss to Pinkerton.  Like Salem, the Owls finished 7-3 and were just a play or 2 away from beating Pinkerton twice this year.  Coach Kevin Fitzgerald has a really good program in Plaistow.  Do it all QB/DB/Kicker Jason Hughes will definitely by missed as will workhorse RB Tyler Furey.  Speaking of Furey, I wonder if there are any more Furey’s in the Timberlane pipeline?  Opposing teams certainly hope not!

8.       Bishop Guertin…this is as good a 6-4 team as there is, especially on offense.  BG’s fast break offense is as fun to watch as it is effective.  JT Hiscoe can flat out play QB and he has weapons all over the field.  Just ask Bedford coach Derek Stank who had to deal with the Cardinals twice this season. 

9.       Winnacunnet…this is as good a 6-3 team as there is…the Warriors didn’t get to come out and play this weekend because they were left out of playoffs.  Had they gotten in, they very well might have advanced to the semis but kind of like St Thomas we’ll never really know how good they could’ve been.

10.   Milford…outside of Goffstown, the Spartans might just be the hottest team in NH High School Football.  Milford hasn’t lost since September 18th against their rivals from Souhegan, and they went into Amherst and extracted revenge this past Saturday with a 20-13 playoff win.  Now it’s a really tough task as they have to go out to Dover to take on St Thomas with a spot in the D2 Championship Game on the line.