It’s a more abbreviated version of the Thursday Thoughts to kick off our 11th year of the weekly preview of games around the state.

 After 30,000 words of previews (possible slight exaggeration...) and avoiding the tendency to over-react to Week 1 (where Gilford-Belmont has the same record as Pinkerton and Merrimack would be a 7 point favorite at home over the L.A Rams), we take a look at the most interesting games from around the state.

 We’ll have a preview of Division IV next week, and that is when we will really kick in our normal schedule, outlined in yesterday’s column along with our video looking back at the first 10 years of NHsportspage.

 We will be covering two more games Friday night:

 

 Pete Tarrier & Jennifer Chick-Ruth will be in Londonderry when Salem comes rolling in for a huge Division I match-up. Meanwhile, we will get our first look at Windham in Division I when they travel to battle the Fighting McIsaacs of Spaulding.

 Justin McIsaac & Nichole Marrero will bring you all the highlights and the post-game with the winning team…possibly Windham torturing McIsaac on his home field.

Today’s preview is sponsored by our longest running partner (over 10 years of supporting high school sports coverage in New Hampshire) Sentinel Title Services in Rye, NH.

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Division I

Pinkerton (1-0) at Dover (1-0)

Box Score: Dover 34, Timberlane 14

Box Score: Pinkerton 48, Spaulding 0

 I was never able to give Dover the preview they deserved because head coach Ken Osbon and I played phone tag for the better part of two weeks. So let’s do that now..

 Osbon made the move in the middle of the pre-season to move all-state wide receiver Ty Vitko to quarterback, a move he made a year ago when he replaced Carson Webb at QB with all-state receiver John Cantwell.

 The move paid big dividends in the opener as Vitko was as good as any player in the state, throwing for a Division I leading 217 yards and 2 touchdowns. Running back Luc Normandeau gained 134 yards on the ground and Dover celebrated the opening of their new high school with a good road win over Timberlane.

 Part of what makes the offense go is who is pushing the buttons. Former St Thomas head coach Eric Cumba, who won a Division II title with an undefeated Saints team in 2015, is the offensive coordinator (he left St Thomas two years ago after his teaching position was eliminated). Cumba is as good an offensive mind as you’ll see in the state and what he’s going to do is utilize Vitko’s strengths and not force him to play beyond his capabilities at quarterback.

 You get the sense Vitko trusts his new coordinator and putting up 34 points on opening night guarantees he’s going to continue to follow his lead.

 Pinkerton gave 14 different players a turn carrying the ball in their opening win over Spaulding (Kevin Hebert is building something at Spaulding, Brian O’Reilly has built something at Pinkerton, there’s your breakdown of that one).

 The Dover defense is led by Aaron Oroh (LB/SS), William Federico and Normandeau, with Blake Parmer leading the secondary at cornerback. their job on Friday night is to keep the Green Wave in the game by making plays on 3rd down.

 It won’t be as easy Friday night but Dover’s line play, which isn’t deep, is going to have a very tough task on their hands against Robby Fahey, Allen Gault, and a very good Pinkerton line.

 

Salem (1-0) at Londonderry (1-0)

Box score: Londonderry 49, Portsmouth-OR 7

Box Score: Salem 28, Exeter 7

 Big one Friday night and Pete Tarrier & Jennifer Chick-Ruth will be there to bring you all the highlights plus the post-game interview with the entire winning team.

 Rob Pike’s Salem Blue Devils were very impressive in beating Exeter at home last Friday night as Riley Mulvey and Dom Paci both had big games running the football. Josh Maroun & Will Michaud make up one of the better linebacking duos’s in the state for a defense that nearly pitched a shutout against the Blue Hawks. Salem wants to wear Londonderry down keep and QB Evan Cormier from beating the Blue Devils with his arm.

 Jimmy Lauzon’s Lancers have good size on both lines and more depth there than they have had in the last four years. That will be a key in this one.

 Jack Berube, Jack Ogden, and Pat Hagearty will be tested by Salem in the trenches and the key is not to let Salem control the clock and keep Londonderry on the field for long stretches that eventually wears them down.

 

 Windham (0-1) at Spaulding (0-1)

 Box Score: Winnacunnet 17, Windham 10

 Moral victories are for programs on the rise, and Windham is way past that, but hanging with the champs in your Division I debut tells the Windham players that what their head coach Bill Raycraft has been telling them was true. They can play with anyone in the division.

 The Jaguars offensive line will have a big advantage on Friday night in Rochester where first-year head coach Kevin Hebert is transitioning from a spread offense to a power running unit. Windham will take five yards at a time on the ground until they catch you creeping up in the secondary and that’s when Cody Potter hits you with a deep ball over your head.

 This is the division Windham wanted and it’s where they belong (Windham annually has over 80 kids in the program). After this one, it’s Dover at home and then an absolute gauntlet, with games at Exeter, Londonderry, and Salem in a row.

 Making the next two weeks critical to their playoff hopes…and yes I just mentioned playoff hopes on September 6th….football is not the long grind basketball is…it’s a sprint.

 

Division II

John Stark (1-0) at Plymouth (1-0)

 I can tell you from talking to Division II coaches this is a game a lot of them will have an eye on.

 Plymouth does not have the firepower they did a year ago when they were so dominant they seemed to keep Player of the Year Garrett Macomber stored in a garage somewhere for the when the playoffs began.

 What they are (again) is a team that plays very well on the line and doesn’t make critical mistakes. Yes, head coach Chris Sanborn will be the first to tell you they make mistakes, but they never seem to make ones that cost them the game.

 John Stark was built from the inside/out a year ago. A very good group in the trenches led by a 6’7 quarterback (Parker McQuarrie) who could get the ball down the field.

 This is a team with a different look. They are going to run the football with Jake Cole and take their shots downfield when they see the secondary cheating in. The opening win over Merrimack Valley didn’t give you a total sense of where the Generals will be in the Division  II pecking order but this game up in the North Country will.

 

St Thomas (1-0) at Alvirne (1-0)

 The Broncos are also going to find out where they stand in the division after a visit from what many are predicting to be a team bound for Durham.

 Tarek Rothe’s Alvirne team gutted out a very good win over Pelham on opening night, two teams we picked to make the playoffs in November. A defense led by Mitch Dobek and Alex Guiffrida will see an entirely new look on Friday night as the Pelham running game is replaced by a wide open Saints offense led by all-state QB Shawn DeKorne.

 A very good St Thomas defense was tested by Souhegan on the road a week ago, as the Saints had to knock down a pass in the end zone to preserve the 27-20 road win.

 Back to back road wins over Souhegan & Alvirne would be a terrific start to the season for Ryan Brown’s team.           

 

 Division III

 Kearsarge-Mount Royal (0-1) at Laconia (0-1)

  One of these two teams is leaving with a 0-2 record, and that’s something that would have surprised either head coach a month ago.

 Trinity was the team we didn’t know what to expect from in Week 1 as John Thibeault (an all-state back from Newport a year ago) and the Pioneers ran all over Kearsarge-Mount Royal.

 The junior back played for Newport a year ago but was a student at Mount Royal, who did not have a football program.

 We wrote about the slew of injuries to Craig Kozens Sachems in our Division III preview, the problem is they open with two games at home and you can’t afford to drop them both with games against Campbell and Monadnock still to come.

 All of which makes this one a big game, in Week 2.

 

 Listen LIVE to the New Hampshire High School Football Show with Pete Tarrier & Dave Haley every Saturday morning at 9 am.

 You can listen by clicking the listen live link right on our homepage or on 99.9 FM & 1370 WFEA radio in the Manchester area Saturday mornings.

 Get all the football scores from Friday night, a look at the Saturday games and analysis from Pete Tarrier & Dave Haley.