I’ve warned that the season was moving quickly but I was never sure of it until I turned to Rookie of the Year Videographer Nichole Marrero halfway through the 3rd quarter of the Laconia/Campbell game last Friday night and said ‘ Nichole…I’m freezing.’

 Fall has arrived.

 We will be more than halfway through the season after this weekend and so playoff teams are beginning to separate themselves from the pack. Today, as we do every Thursday, we’ll take a look at some of the biggest games of the weekend.

 We’ll have coverage of two huge match-ups in Division II.

 On Friday night Pete Tarrier & Nichole Marrero will be at Souhegan when the Sabers take on rival Milford.

 On Saturday afternoon The Franchise Jennifer Chick-Ruth & I will be in Dover when a battle of the unbeaten takes place between St Thomas and Plymouth.

 We’ll bring you all the highlights as well as the post-game interview with the entire winning team (now that we have gotten all 100 Pinkerton Astros twice there are no excuses...)

 Today’s column is sponsored by our new partners at White Mountains Community College.

 Click on any of their ads on our homepage to learn more about their open house dates, academic programs, and a campus near you.

 We also will be debuting a new WMCC pre-roll video shot by Jennifer Chick-Ruth in the next two weeks!

 Also, we’ll be awarding the WMCC athlete of the month award for September next week and then every month throughout the school year.

 

Division I

Exeter (2-2) at Winnacunnet (4-0)

The coverage of Exeter is sponsored by Sandy Healy at Re-Max on the Move

Exeter Team Page

Winnacunnet Team Page

 Exeter all-state shooting guard Chris Petzy told me eleven years ago, in year one of this website, that Exeter vs. Winnacunnet was the best rivalry in the state. I gave that the same weight that you give to a little kid that tells you his dad is the strongest man in the world (unless that man is Chuck Norris) and moved along but lo and behold Chris Petzy was right.

 The signs at these games rival any chants Central & Trinity ever threw at each other (Central students chanting “God can’t save you!’ at the Trinity students still ranks as the best) with two recent gems being “Winnacunnet killed Harambe’ and ‘Exeter kids eat Tide pods’.

 The atmosphere alone is worth the trip to see this one and although it may feel like we’ve been neglecting the defending champs that will change as their schedule picks up a notch over the next month of the regular season.

 Ron Auffant’s Warriors face their arch-rivals on Saturday followed by a trip to (3-1) Londonderry and a home meeting with (3-1) Salem. Any and all questions about the champs will be answered by then.

 Joe LaRosa has returned at quarterback after a scary injury against Windham in the opener and the rushing attack has been excellent with Lou Granger (335 yds.), Brendan Kacmarcik (300), Richard Camarato & Jordan Fuller all averaging over 100 yards a game.

 The defense has allowed only 10 points per game and has been led by Joe MacDougall, James Phennecie, Devin Miller and Granger. They’ll face an Exeter team that got a much-needed win at home over Windham last week and has been able to stay in games with their defense.

 The question for this round of the rivalry; if the Warriors can get to 20-plus points on the Blue Hawks, does the Exeter offense have enough to keep up?

 

Salem (3-1) at Pinkerton (4-0)

The coverage of Pinkerton is sponsored by Betley Chevrolet

The coverage of Salem is sponsored by Merrimack Valley Sports

Pinkerton Team Page

Salem Team Page

 A win here would give the Astros the tie-breaker over both of its biggest conference rivals as we pass the mid-way point of the season.

 Pinkerton’s depth is wearing teams down in the second half and last Friday night in our game of the week (Highlights of Pinkerton/Londonderry) they played as well as they have all season in front of a huge crowd.

 Brian O’Reilly’s team came out with the intent to throw the ball but scrapped that and was able to win the game with their running game led by Gannon Fast (the leading rusher in Division I with 470 yds.), Gennaro Marra (307) and Avery Battle (145).

 Salem has been led by Dom Paci (351) & Brandon Wall (313) while they wait for Riley Mulvey to return. After the Astros, they’ll get Windham at home in a long-awaited neighborhood rivalry game and then a trip to Hampton to play the defending champs at Winnacunnet.

 Making this a critical three-game stretch for Rob Pike’s team.

 

 Manchester Central (3-1) at Bedford (4-0)

 Bedford Team Page

 I’m going to ask the question everyone is thinking (that’s why I’m here...)

 Is this Bedford team an absolute wagon and we are just slow to realize it?

 Doesn’t that 31-7 win over Nashua North on opening night look a lot more impressive now after the Titans beat Central last weekend?

 Central is still a title contender and word was there were a bunch of kids playing under the weather last week (people tend to get sick when it goes from 80 degrees to 45 in two days).

 I expect Ryan Ray’s team to be ready to roll Friday night but this is a game to keep an eye on because if Derek Stank’s Bulldogs win we might have seen Pinkerton and Bedford begin to separate themselves.

 

Division II

Plymouth (4-0) at St Thomas (4-0)

Plymouth Team Page

St Thomas Team Page

 The coverage of Plymouth is sponsored by White Mountains Community College

 We’ve been waiting for this one, and Jen & I excited to be in Dover on Saturday afternoon when (maybe) the best two teams in Division II square off.

 Neither team has gotten to 4-0 with ease and it’s their strengths of schedule that tells you both teams have a very good chance of getting back to Durham.

 Ryan Brown’s Saints have had a brutal early-season schedule with road wins at Alvirne (3-1), Souhegan (2-2) and Milford (2-2).

 QB Shawn DeKorne is very comfortable in the Saints spread offense and leads the state in passing yards at 1,206. The Saints were able to run the ball effectively out of the spread a year ago with players like Tim Bouchard (our 2017 runner-up for Player of the Year now playing for UNH) but they’ve struggled with the ground game through four games.

 Look for Chris Sanborn and his staff at Plymouth to try and make the Saints beat them on the ground. That will mean big games by their key defensive players Patrick Malm, Cam MacDonald and Steven Shute.

 If you’re talking player of the year in the division at this point DeKorne and Owen Brickley (second in Division II rushing at 534 yards) are in the first paragraph….the first sentence actually. Brickley will lead the Bobcats secondary on Saturday against the likes of Will MacLean (leading all Division II receivers with 469 yards), Derek O’Brien (250) and Jack Benelli (228). I’m not expecting a shootout but both teams have proven capable of winning one.

 The Saints defense will try to slow down the team that knocked them out in the semifinals a year ago. Ryan Brown’s defense is led by Hunter Lessard, MacLean, Stone Compton (one of the great names in NH high school football), Nick Tosatti, Evan Briggs and Dan Youch.

 

Milford (2-2) at Souhegan (2-2)

Milford Team Page

 We will be at Souhegan Friday night for one of the best rivalries in Division II. This is also a game both teams really need.

 Keith Jones’ Milford Spartans know they are a few plays away from being 4-0 and they know just as well that a good team is going to be left home when the tournament begins in November. The loser of this game is by no means out, but their margin of error will have become razor thin.

 Robin Bowkett’s team could easily be 4-0 as well, losing to both St Thomas and Alvirne by seven points. The Sabers have been led by QB John Lohnes (who was the team’s starter for a playoff game a year ago), WR Trey Johnson and center Ries Gondstra. Their task Friday night is moving the ball on a Milford defense that has been very tough against the run.

 The two teams that have beaten Milford this year (Hollis-Brookline & St Thomas) have done it throwing the football; the question is whether Souhegan will need to follow suit Friday night to come out on top.

 Defensively linebackers Jacob Grassett & Michael Maroun have been very good while Alex Karpawich is putting together an all-state campaign on the defensive line.

 The Milford rushing attack led by QB Gavin Urda (399 yds. rushing) and battering ram Junior Ughu (4th in Division II with 453) has allowed Milford to control the clock. The battle in the trenches likely decides this one tomorrow night.

 

 Division III

 Trinity (3-1) at Campbell (4-0)

 Campbell Team Page

 The Pioneers led undefeated Monadnock into the 4th quarter last Saturday night and that’s enough to call them a bona fide contender in Division III. John Thibeault and QB Foster Stacy give Rob Cathcart’s team enough firepower to get down the field when they need a score and the defense has been very good early on.

 It’s going to need to be at its best to knock off the champs this weekend. Glenn Costello’s offense will roll out Keegan Mills (as they did on an 80-yard catch & run from Adam Breton against Laconia) or even have him throw the ball on the run to receivers like tight end Carter Vedrani or wide receiver Chad Martel.

 Cam Barrett joins Monadnock’s Tim Hart as the best RB2 in Division III.

 This is Trinity’s second measuring stick game and a win here would make the race for the top spot very interesting with a huge championship game rematch between Campbell & Monadnock looming on October 19th (in a game we will be covering).

 

 Division IV

 Mark is down……….Jen & I will be in Tilton on October 27th when Winnisquam takes on arch-rival Franklin!

 

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. Our guest on Saturday will be Monadnock head coach Ryan Avery.

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