Every week I will post my Union Leader Power Poll Ballot so everybody can see who I voted for...and why I voted them in my Top 10.  

Here's the latest poll after Week 8...and don't forget to see below for my ballot!

The top 10 high school football teams in New Hampshire, with record, first-place votes/points in parentheses, plus last week's rankings. Voters are Union Leader sports writers Roger Brown, Alex Hall and Joe Duball, Union Leader Chief Sports Editor Chris Duffy, Union Leader contributor Joe Marchilena of NH-HighSchoolSports.com and Pete Tarrier, host of the NH High School Football Show (Saturday, 9-11 a.m.) on WFEA (99.9 FM & 1370 AM):

T-1. Salem, 8-0 (3/57) T-1

T-1. Winnacunnet, 8-0 (3/57) T-1

3. Plymouth, 7-0 (43) 3rd

4. Goffstown, 7-1 (42) 4th

5. Pinkerton, 7-1 (37) 5th

6. Exeter, 6-2 (31) 6th

7. Windham, 7-0 (25) 7th

8. Nashua South, 6-2 (20) 9th

9. Bedford, 5-3 (8) T-10

10. Campbell, 7-0 (6) T-10

Other receiving votes

: Manchester Central, 5-3 (3), NR; Londonderry, 6-2 (1), 8th. 

HERE'S MY BALLOT...

1. Salem…the Blue Devils continued their march thru Division 1 with a 60-14 dismantling of Nashua North behind their vaunted running game that nobody seems to be able to stop even thought they know it’s coming.  Salem hosts Londonderry on Friday night to close the regular season in what appears to be a playoff preview as the 2 teams are likely to meet in 1st round on Saturday November 4th.

2. Winnacunnet…Central gave the Warriors a scare last Friday night at Gill Stadium when early in the 4th quarter it was 22-21 Winnacunnet.  But the Beach Boys took total control the rest of the way in what turned out to be a 42-21 final score.  The Warriors will be the #1 seed in the East/North conference playoff bracket and will host the winner of Friday’s Central vs Bedford game that will determine the final postseason team in D1.

3. Plymouth…the Bobcats will try to finish off a perfect regular season with a home game on Saturday against Milford.  The defending champs from Plymouth haven’t been in a close game all year.  Even their 42-26 win over Bow in the Championship Game rematch on September 23rd wasn’t nearly as close as the final score indicated.

4. Goffstown…I’m sure the Grizzlies would relish another shot at Winnacunnet in the playoffs to try to avenge their only loss of the season.  Goffstown had a 6-0 lead and the football in the final 2 minutes of that game in Hampton, but after taking an intentional safety to make it 6-2, Winnacunnet was able to turn good field position into a game winning TD drive that suddenly made it a frustrating 9-6 loss for GTOWN.   

5. Pinkerton…Brian O’Reilly is probably enjoying the rare opportunity to play up the underdog role with his team which has blown everyone away since an early season loss to Salem.  The Astros are at Merrimack on Friday night for the regular season finale and will be the road team in the 1st round of the playoffs against Nashua South despite the fact Pinkerton has a better record and stomped the Panthers 28-6 head to head back in September. 

6. Windham…if the Jaguars can get past ConVal in their last game this weekend it looks like Windham will be the number 1 seed in the Division 2 playoffs because of the points rating system.  That would mean they would likely be able to avoid Plymouth(who should get the #2 seed) until a potential Championship Game match-up.  No offense to any of the other D2 playoff teams, but that’s a game I would love to cover.

7. Exeter…the Blue Hawks are another team that has been flying under the radar after they lost back to back games vs Goffstown & Winnacunnet in the season’s 1st month.  Exeter was 2 and 2 at that point and staring at possibly being under .500 with a tough road game at Bedford.  But Bill Ball’s team was able to win that game 24-21 on a late field goal and has been back to playing Exeter football ever since, setting up a juicy 1st round playoff game at Goffstown on next weekend.

8. Nashua South…my Purple Panthers(Class of 1988) are making their 1st appearance on my ballot since the preseason poll.  All Scott Knight’s team has done is rattle off 6 consecutive wins since starting the season 0-2 with losses to Salem & Pinkerton.  South will take on 1-7 BG on Saturday to close the regular season and tune up for a rematch against Pinkerton. 

9. Campbell…can the Division 3 Cougars really compete with the best in the state regardless of division?  We’ll never know that for sure, but if any small school team can this year it’s Campbell.  Check out this resume against D3 competition, 41-0, 42-0, 64-0, 61-9, 81-9, 47-14 & 51-0.  Trust me when I say those final scores could have been much worse if coach Greg Gush wanted it to be.

T-10. Manchester Central & Bedford…I don’t think it’s a cop out putting these 2 teams in a tie for the 10th spot on my ballot.  Especially since we’ll find out who’s better on Friday night when they play each other for the right to move on to the playoffs.  Four years ago in the same exact situation, Central pulled the upset behind a 200 yard rushing game from Jesiah Wade to advance to the postseason and send Bedford home.  I’ll be there with my Halloween costume on for this one to cover the game on video for NHSportspage.com!