Even though half our staff sold out to the lure of BIG POWER POLL, there's still only one Top 10 in New Hampshire that REALLY MATTERS (and the stats back that up). This is the Top 10 of whatever caught Justin McIsaac's attention this week .

10. GUYS IT’S OK TO PLAY DEFENSE

Nashua North advanced into the Semi-Finals in D1 with a 64-41 win over Bishop Guertin, a game that had about 700 yards of combined offense in THE FIRST HALF. The teams also got together for a 67-36 North win on the final day of the regular season. Was there some sort of City ordinance passed in Nashua that bans tackling that I missed? North is a step away from UNH if they can keep their offensive machine rolling.

9. HANOVER MOVES ON UP

The Marauders survived their rival Lebanon, 13-10, in an upper valley slugfest Saturday. Lebanon had gone from dead and buried (according to myself and Dave in our podcast), to one of the hottest teams in D2 over the last few weeks. Hanover was just too much though, capitalizing on some Lebanon turnovers to get to the D2 Semi-Finals. Hanover gets to play at home for the Semifinals, more on that in a bit.

8. MAN DOES IT SUCK WHEN THE PATRIOTS ARE ON A BYE WEEK

These other teams are terrible. I’ll say it. The Patriots should go 15-1 and win the Super Bowl in a walk because every NFL is hot garbage this year. That Dolphins – Jets game was an atrocity (Jay Ajayi from Boise State aside). The Lions-Vikings game was fun, but those teams are gross. I’m currently watching Oakland v Denver and the Broncos don’t scare me one bit (The Raiders are fun as hell, it has to be said). I actually think the 2nd best team in the NFL might be the Dallas Friggin Cowboys. Get the Patriots back on my TV, stat.

7. SPOILER ALERT – MONADNOCK’S GOOD

Somersworth probably knew it was going to be tough sledding vs the Huskies on Saturday, but I’m not sure they thought it would be “Only get past the 50 yard line once” tough. Monadnock was up 35-0 at the half en route to a 42-0 win over the team they beat in the 2012 D5 (remember that?) state title game. I’m still calling D3 the Monadnock invitational until someone gives them a game.

6. BOW. WHOA!

There’s my cheesy headline of the week. How about the Falcons?!? Making the move up from D3, all they’ve done is go 7-2, and now beat #2 John Stark on the road FOR THE SECOND TIME! Bow trailed at the half, but a 7+ minute drive that resulted in a TD tied things up on the Falcons 2nd drive out of the halftime locker room. With 5 minutes to go, a Matthew Harkins’s five-yard pass to Mac Kimball gave Bow a W and a trip to Hanover for the Semi-Finals. Don’t sleep on the Falcons as a party crasher at UNH!

5. TRAVIS KELCE DOES WHAT WE’D ALL LOVE TO DO

If you’ve never seen Earl Weaver, legendary Baltimore Orioles manager, in action, he used to pretend to throw umps out of a game after he’d been ejected (which happened quite a bit- here’s the safest video I could find of Weaver getting tossed, but there’s a BUNCH of NSFW stuff on him). Travis Kelce pulled an old Earl Weaver Sunday, tossing his towel at the ref as a mock penalty flag, which earned him an early shower (and earned Webmaster Eliot Bless, who I just traded Kelce to, no more fantasy points). Great hustle from Kelce, finding a new and innovative way to get fined by the league.

4. SOUTH HAD LONG DRIVES, EXETER HAD BIG PLAYS. WAIT, WHAT?

South had to play their best game of the year if they wanted to beat Exeter, and they played a damn good game- a few mistakes doomed the Panthers though. An INT off a batted ball, and a few lapses on defense. The Panthers running game worked well, holding the ball for long stretches of time, and keeping the game close.

Meanwhile, Exeter got TD’s of 47, 65, and 89 yards – The Blue Hawks had been a grind it out team all year long, but got a few home runs, ironically, from some standout baseball players. Cody Morisette, in his debut play at WR, caught a 65 yard TD pass from Kyle Ball. Ball topped that with an 89 yard TD run on the first play from scrimmage following a South TD. Exeter prevailed in the end, and they’re now one step away from returning to UNH.

3. D3 WASN’T EXACTLY CLOSE THIS WEEKEND

We talked about Monadnock’s domination, but it was a pretty drama free quarterfinal round across the board in D3.  Bishop Brady eliminated the defending champion Newport Tigers behind 5 TD catches from Richard Sullivan. Dave’s IL/M Lakers blanked ‘Squam, and Stevens shut down Campbell. Let’s hope for some fireworks in the Semi’s!

2. BEST WORLD SERIES GAME EVER?

It’s right up there. Game 7 in ’01 was pretty insane. The Cardinals rally in Game 6 in 2011, when they were down to their final strike against Texas was nuts (but it loses points because the Cardinals won, nobody likes the Saint Louis Cardinals). Game 7 in 1991 was a classic. We don’t talk about Game 6 in 1986 around these parts, but it’s on the list as well.

But nothing that I can remember can match the drama of Game 7 this year. The weight of history for both teams, the Davis HR to tie it, the rain delay that made you think the gods just didn’t want either team to win, the BONEHEADED managerial decisions on both sides, and 108 years being wiped away for the Cubbies. It was worth staying up all night for.

1. THE RECORD HAS FALLEN, LONG LIVE THE NEW RECORD

Justin Grassini tossed another 6 TD passes on Saturday to get to 41 on the season, which already shatters the state record, and he might have 2 games left to add to it if Merrimack can get that far. 41 and counting, that’s a ton in an NFL season! We’ve said that this record might fall every other year or so, but if Grassini can get, let’s say, 6 over the next 2 possible games, 47 would be a TOUGH number for anyone to reach in the future. Merrimack isn’t going to have an easy time with Bedford in the SemiFinals, as Bedford is the only team to beat Merrimack, AND they’ll be at home (and Oh By The Way, the Bulldogs haven’t lost yet this year), but this record could keep growing.

ALSO RECEIVING VOTES: Windham won 52-7 and they don’t even make the Top 10?, Waiting for a team to get flagged for the Mannequin Challenge after a TD, Boise State with the bounce back win, Thanks for showing up Nebraska

Justin McIsaac runs MOSN - The McIsaac on Sports Network. Follow him on twitter @Justin_McIsaac and add him on snapchat: justinmcisaac