We head into Week 4 of the regular season with the parity we predicted back in August bearing itself out. The gap between 1 and 10 in Division I doesn’t feel that wide and the same holds true in Division II.

 In Division III Campbell & Monadnock, like last season, look a notch above the rest of the division but the Huskies trip to Manchester this weekend to play Trinity (2-0) will reveal whether that’s still the case or not.

 Division IV is just getting going and today we will preview a good match-up on Saturday when Winnisquam (2-0) hosts Newfound (2-0).

 We want to thank Chris Sanborn and the coaching staff at Plymouth for reaching out last week to become a Gold Level program/supporter of our team for a 4th consecutive year!

 Friday night we will be out at two games:

 Pete Tarrier & Jennifer Chick-Ruth will be in Londonderry when the undefeated Lancers host their arch-rival Pinkerton Academy in the Mack Plague game.

 Nichole Marrero & I will be in Laconia when the 2-1 Sachems face defending champion Campbell for the first time.

 Our column is sponsored by our partners at Concord Orthopaedics with locations in Concord, Derry, Windham, and New London.

 Concord Orthopaedics will be sponsoring not only the coverage of schools like Concord, Bow, John Stark, Kearsarge, Bishop Brady, Merrimack Valley, and Pembroke but also the monthly athlete of the month award from those Concord area schools!

 

Division I

Pinkerton (3-0) at Londonderry (3-0)

Pinkerton Team Page

Londonderry Team Page

 

 Londonderry has not beaten Pinkerton since 2001 but this might be their best chance to end the losing streak against their arch-rivals.

 The Lancers offense has enough firepower to get to 20-plus points on the Astros, the question is can the defense make stops on 3rd down to get Pinkerton off the field?

 Lauzon’s defense has been led by Pat Hagearty, Jake Holland, Ben Psaledas and Jack Odgen, who might be the best middle linebacker in the state.

 In a win over Exeter last Friday night (in a game I covered with Nichole Marrero) the Astros had only one play of 50-plus yards (a 69-yard touchdown throw from Aidan Goujon to tight end Mike Sarette), instead, they ground out yards four and five at a time against an improving Exeter defense.

 They also converted on 3rd down when they had to and if Londonderry wants to flip the script on Brian O’Reilly’s team they need to get them off the field.

 My impressions of Pinkerton after seeing them in person; they’re as deep as we thought. They can rotate guys on the line like few other teams in the state and wear down opponents that can’t go more than seven linemen deep. Gannon Fast never goes down on the first hit and Gennaro Marra & Nick Lombard are dangerous runners if they can get to the corner on the jet sweep.

 Maybe one of the most underrated aspects of the team (to us not to coach O’Reilly who always stresses the importance of special teams) is kicker Alex Tveter, who was putting his kickoffs inside the 5-yard line consistently all night with good hang time. That never allowed Exeter to start with great field position and it will be something to watch tomorrow night.

 We will bring you all the play by play, highlights and the post-game interview with the entire winning team.

 

 Windham (2-1) at Exeter (1-2)

 Windham Team Page

 Exeter Team Page

 This game won’t get the hype of the Mack Plague battle in Londonderry but it might be a more important game as far as post-season aspirations.

 These are two very similar offense led by excellent coaching staffs. The Exeter defense has improved over the first three weeks, just as we expected. They were very tough to run against between the tackles last Friday night in Derry (Adam Gray is an excellent run stopper flying up from the secondary) but they were beat a few times on the outside and gave up what should have been two long touchdown throws (Sarette scored on a 69 yarder and Ryan Auger dropped a sure touchdown that would have made it 24-7) so expect Jaguars QB Cody Potter to take a few shots downfield.

 Don’t overlook Windham’s shutout (in a 40-0 win over Dover) last weekend. That’s a Green Wave offense, led by QB Ty Vitko, which has been putting up points under new offensive coordinator Eric Cumba. To shut them out was a statement for Division I’s newest resident.

 Cody Stevens (LB), Ryan Marotta (LB), defensive lineman Mason Belsky (have I covered a bunch of Belsky brothers or does it just feel that way?), Riley Desmarais (OLB) and Bobby Diccico (DL) have been excellent and they’ll face a tough test tomorrow night at Bill Ball Stadium.

 

Division II

St Thomas (3-0) at Milford (2-1)

Milford Team Page

St Thomas Team Page

 If there is a dominant team in Division II they haven’t shown it yet. I’d put the Saints at the top of the list alongside Plymouth but they have had to fight their way to the final minute to beat Alvirne and Souhegan.

 Both of those impressive wins came on the road, and back on the bus, they go to Milford Friday night where QB Shawn DeKorne will be the first passer in the state to go over 1,000 yards.

 While DeKorne has thrived and receivers like Will MacLean (388 yds. receiving), Derek O’Brien (250) and Jack Benelli (193) are all having good seasons the running game has struggled. Milford is a team that wants to control the clock and if they can get St Thomas off the field after three straight passes they’re not going to have a hard time doing that.

 Gavin Urda has been very good at quarterback while Junior Ughu (335 yards rushing) has been a battering ram at running back. Defensively Alex Taylor, Colton Burrows, Sampson Hodges, and Nick Lapan have been very good. Their speed on the outside will be a key on Friday night against a St Thomas offense that likes to get their playmakers out in space.

 

 Division III

 Monadnock (3-0) at Trinity (3-0)

 Monadnock Team Page

 Ok we know Trinity is a playoff team but sometime on Saturday night, we’re going to know if they are also a title contender.

 For the Huskies, defensively, it begins with stopping all-state running back John Thibault who is putting up Todd Gurley like numbers early on. The Huskies have held Thibault in check in the past, last season in a game we covered when he played for Newport, but this is a new team and an older/wiser Thibault.

 Ryan Avery’s Huskies defense has only given up 16 points in three games. That unit has been led by Joey Joslyn, Lincoln Blodgett, all-state two-way star Chandler Matson and Cole Jarvis.

 Opposing coaches talk about how physical Monadnock is when you ask them about the Huskies and so how Trinity competes at the line of scrimmage will tell you a lot about their ability to pull off the upset on Saturday.

 

Campbell (3-0) at Laconia (2-1)

Campbell Team Page

Laconia Team Page

 Campbell doesn’t have anything to prove tomorrow night but Laconia does. Craig Kozens team has done a nice job fighting through a rash of pre-season injuries to get to 2-1 but now they face the team to beat on their home field in a game the entire state will see highlights of. It’s their measuring stick game.

 Jakob Steele has been the Sachems offense through 3 games, he’s rushed for 515 of their 597 rushing yards and even has thrown for 40 yards out of the backfield.

 A year ago Riley Roy was able to take shots down the field by throwing a good deep ball but with projected starting QB Ryan Dee out for the season because of an injury, it’s been a weapon that’s been missing through three games.

 Look for Keegan Mills & Carter Vedrani to spy Steele everywhere he goes and unlike Laconia, the Cougars are a team that can throw the ball to receivers like Chad Martel.

 

 Division IV

 Newfound (2-0) at Winnisquam (2-0)

 Winnisquam Team Page

 

 This will be a fun match-up of contrasting styles.

 Ray Kershaw, who won a title at Mascoma, has done a terrific job building this Newfound program back up and it is an offense that will run the ball all day long & has put up impressive numbers doing it.

 Rolando Sylvain, Brandon Marcoux, and Logan Roulille will all get carries as the Bears will utilize everything from three backs in the backfield to a direct snap to the quarterback (I think we’re still calling that The Wildcat).

 Pat Riberdy’s Winnisquam Bears, on the other hand, will throw the football behind their young quarterback Phil Nichols (259 yards passing and 3 TDs) and pound it on the ground with big-running back Angelo Glover (296 yds.).

 Riberdy will keep Newfound off balance and force them to tackle in space while also getting Glover his carries between the tackles. Garrett Mango is a good receiver in the middle of the field and Gunnar Horman gives Nichols a deep threat to go to on the outside.

 Defensively Winnisquam will have to keep Newfound’s rushing attack from controlling the clock. That falls on Kobe Briand (LB), Caden Remillard (DL) and Brycen Wiles who have led the defense through two games for Riberdy’s team.

 

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 to live link right on our homepage or on 99.9 FM & 1370 WFEA radio in the Manchester area Saturday mornings. Our guest on Saturday will be Winnisquam & New Hampshire Shrine head coach Pat Riberdy.

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