YEAH THAT’S RIGHT – You waited all Spring and Summer, and finally, the only reason for getting out of bed early in the week is back: Justin McIsaac’s Top 10!

The Top 10 is brought to you by TJ’S in Portsmouth! My absolute favorite spot in Portsmouth to catch a game. Tell Bethany that McIsaac sent you.

10. REMEMBER, THIS IS LEIF ERIKSON DAY

Setting aside that Columbus was a really, really terrible person and that it’s insane that we have a holiday named after him, he wasn’t even the first person to “discover” North America. That was Leif Erikson, who only beat Captain Genocide by about 500 years. KNOW YOUR HISTORY IF YOU’RE GONNA HANG OUT IN THESE TOP 10 STREETS.

9. UNH HAS NEVER BEEN MORE BACK IN THE HISTORY OF BEING BACK

28-0 BABY WOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Trevor Knight’s return from injury saw him throw 4 TD passes to 4 different receivers in a 28-0 win over Holy Cross Saturday. It’s the first win for the Wildcats (you may have heard, they were 0-4), and I figure they’ll need to win out to keep their 14 year playoff streak alive, but you can’t win 7 straight until you win the first one, and boy did UNH ever need that one.

8. SOUHEGAN DECIDED TO GET THESE %@#$*& SNAKES OF THEIR @#!$@#& FIELD

Actually, it was Pinkerton’s field, as that was where the game was played Saturday. A week after declaring the Pelham as MY Pelham Pythons, the Sabers got 3 TD passes from John Lohnes and got 3 overall scores from Trey Johnson to win 43-33 over MY Pythons. The Sabers are now 3-3 after the shootout win.

7. DOVER HAS A HEARTBEAT

Is Dover the team we still don’t have a read on, 6 games into the season? A 42-0 loss at Windham was not expected, they hung with Pinkerton with 3 quarters, let Spaulding hang around for 3 quarters, and just boatraced Portsmouth-Oyster River. There is literally no result at home vs Exeter that will shock me. If they won by 1, lost by 21, won by 21, lost by 3, I’m ready for anything. Dover and Exeter are both 3-3 and need a W Friday to keep a playoff hope alive, so this is virtually an elimination game. And we all know what happened in March when a favored Exeter team took on an underdog Dover in an elimination game…

6. UNE IS ON THE BOARD FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER

Yes, UNE is a Maine college, but they have 8 NH players on their roster, they have a cool mascot (The Nor’Easters), and they play on a blue field (like my beloved Boise State Broncos) – what’s not to love?! This is the Nor’Easters first year playing a Varsity football schedule, and they got their first W in program history on a last second FG – you can watch it here:  https://boxcast.tv/highlights/une-football-vs-curry-517901/hxlenjus73dxqmxujh8f/mxnmf5y2dhgan5p6aqxp

5. HB IS ABOUT TO SEE WHAT THEY’RE MADE OF

A gauntlet to close out the season, as they get at Souhegan, at Alvirne, and home for St. Thomas to close things out. At 4-2, things can go a whole lot of ways for the Cavs, who bounced back with a W over Sanborn this weekend. Their remaining opponents have a record of 13-5 so 2-1 would be probably get them in, but it’s not going to be easy.

4. I NEVER NEED TO SEE DAVID PRICE START AGAINST THE YANKEES EVER AGAIN

I think David Price is good, but he’s also smart, and being smart is about the worst thing you can be as a baseball player. Because failure is the main component of baseball, not being able to get out of your own head is a huge handicap, and you can see that on display whenever Price is giving up 700 foot moon shots to whatever giant Yankee slugger happens to be at the plate. Come up with a fake injury, or let the dude just hang out with his PS4 and FortNite, but get him the hell away from the Yankees, ok?

3. G’TOWN WINS A MUST WIN GAME IN THE END

Charlie Keith ran one in on a 4th and goal with 49 ticks left in the game, and, perhaps, the meaningful portion of the season for the team that couldn’t finish this thing off. When Alex Hawkom’s pass was picked off at the horn, the Grizzlies had won their 3rd straight, and still have a pulse in the playoff chase. A gutsy win for Justin Huft’s crew, but there’s no time for back slapping as Nashua South awaits.

2. THE LANCERS BLOODY THE CHAMPS NOSE

18 games is a pretty impressive winning streak, so you knew the Winnacunnet Warriors weren’t going to be a pushover headed into Londonderry Friday night. But the Lancers weren’t here to kiss the rings, as they were able to grab a 38-34 win in a Big 12 style offensive showcase that had the Lancers finding just enough defense at the right time to get a W. Evan Cormier threw for 3 TD’s and ran for another, and the Lancers now must prepare for the Monster Known As The Spaulding Red Raiders (Coach Lauzon if you’re reading this, be kind).  Winnacunnet meanwhile can’t feel bad for very long, since an angry Salem team is waiting. Speaking of which….

1. ….WINDHAM SHOCKS SALEM ONE WEEK AFTER WE CROWNED SALEM AS #2 WITH A BULLET

This is no slight against Windham, a great program who we all expect big things out of in D1 eventually, but after last week’s Blue Devil win over Pinkerton, this was a surprising result. This is how you kick off a rivalry! D1 South is now chaos as 4 teams are alive for (probably) 3 spots (at most!). The more we see, the more we realize that we know nothing (aside from Bedford being dominant).

ALSO RECEIVING VOTES: Yankees fans are much worse than Yankee players, The Browns have won two games but really could be 1-0-4, There’s no need for Christmas decorations to be for sale at stores yet, Candy Corn is underrated   

Justin McIsaac writes the Top 10 every week (usually). He has 1,000 jobs, including radio color commentary for UNH Football, Producer of "NH Today with Jack Heath", HS play by play for MOSN, The McIsaac On Sports Network, college play by play for Dartmouth, St Anselm’s, UNE, Harvard, and whoever else will cut the check. Follow him on Twitter: @justin_mcisaac