Football Notebook: Four games that will have biggest impact on the playoff picture

Oh how the scheduling gods have once again worked their magic.

Halloween weekend is certainly a treat for high school football fans ready for the playoffs. The schedule somehow morphed into what are now play-in games in three of the four divisions, with another game offering a seeding improvement.

Here’s a look at four must-win games taking place this weekend.

Division I

Portsmouth-Oyster River (5-3) vs. Goffstown (3-3), Saturday, 2 p.m. at Bedford

Portsmouth-Oyster River hasn’t been to the playoffs since it’s first season in Division I back in 2014. Ninth-year head coach Brian Pafford thinks his ClipperCats have the skill and depth to do just that. Now in its fourth year of a co-op team, the numbers are climbing and so are the title hopes on the Seacoast.

“All year we’ve talked about earning respect from everybody else,” said Pafford, who has been coaching at Portsmouth for 35 years. “Historically, when I started we were one of the biggest schools in the state. With the air base here we had over 2,000 kids. Overnight we went down to 950. We stayed in D1 for 10 years and got the snot kicked out of us just by the size of the school. Then we had a good run in D2 and D3 series, where our enrollment put us. Then we jumped back up into DI and had a couple of good years, but for the most part, our problem is like most smaller schools, it’s the depth. If you start losing guys you’re in trouble.”

With five starters and nine players total out with injuries, Portsmouth-OR has been able to overcome what would have been playoff berth-crushing losses in past years.

“In that sense, the guys have done a great job,” Pafford said. “It’s been next man up. The guys that practice the hardest get the spot, and we’ve all just kept playing hard. We’re just scrappy. We’re the farm cat that just scratches and claws, or the junkyard dog. We just keep fighting and fighting, and most of the time things have gone in our favor.”

Leading the way into this must-win game against a solid Goffstown squad are quarterback Will Hindle, who is elusive on his feet and developed into a good passer, and bell cow running back Max Lalime of Portsmouth, along with Oyster River products Silas Garland and Cole Spires anchoring the line.

It’s a play-in game. The winner locks up the last playoff spot for the North-East cluster.

“They are legit,” Pafford said of Goffstown. “They have some really, really good players. I would say skill wise they probably dwarf us. It’s going to be an uphill battle for us, and would be an uphill battle even if we were at full strength.”

Division II

Manchester West (4-2) at Bow (3-3), Saturday, 2 p.m.

Dr. Paul Cohen has pushed his Falcons to the top multiple times since becoming Bow’s head coach in 2001. However, nothing could prepare him or his players for what happened this fall.

Just two weeks into the season tragedy struck the program. Junior guard/linebacker Nick Ouellette and his younger brother, Gavin, died Sept. 10 in an early morning car crash. That night’s game against Hillsboro-Deering/Hopkinton was cancelled and the grieving still lingers into Week 9.

“I know that for the seniors this has been a season of ups and downs,” Cohen said. “It’s been punctuated by tragedy – punctuated by a rebirth, if you will, a rededication to commit ourselves to playing the best football we can, knowing that we’re all healing still in some fashion.

“If this team were to make it to the playoffs, I think that would be quite the tribute to Nick and his memory.”

To reach the playoffs, Bow’s regular-season finale has a morphed into a D2 play-in game versus Manchester West. Both teams have faced COVID-19 head on this fall, with Bow cancelling a game with Lebanon and West cancelling its last two again Milford and Souhegan.

With playoff berths and positioning determined by the rating system, losing two games off each of their schedules has made this a tight race to the final playoff spot. It’s set the stage for Saturday’s must-win matchup in Bow.

“Personally, I don’t really concern myself so much with the ratings system or points and all of that,” Cohen said. “My job, especially this year, this season, with everything that’s happened, is to get these kids ready to play as best I can. The chips are going to fall where the chips are going to fall. I’ve told them many times that we can’t control what happens outside of our field, but we can control what happens on our field.”

Cohen is looking to get his Falcons back to the finals and add another title to his resume – Bow was D5 champs in 2004, D3 champs in 2013, and runner-up in D2 2016 and 2017 with back-to-back losses to Plymouth. Accomplishing that goal this season would bring more than just glory on the gridiron.

“It certainly has been an emotional roller coaster,” Cohen said, “but the fact that we’ve been able to play and secure two wins in a row and looking for win three Saturday certainly adds to the excitement that normally occurs in the autumn season. More importantly this season, it adds to the healing process.”

Division III

Kearsarge (5-2) at Trinity (7-0), Friday, 6 p.m.

After two losses sandwiched a COVID-19 cancellation to open the season, Kearsarge has rattled off five straight wins and put itself into the playoff mix.

Former Cougars player Cody Anderson is now in his third year as head coach of the program and excited for Friday night’s matchup with undefeated Trinity. Currently the fourth seed, Kearsarge could slide into the third seed with a win and some help (a Campbell loss to Laconia), while a Trinity win could catapult the Pioneers into the top seed.

“The focus has been higher than normal,” Anderson said. “Everybody on the team knows the importance of this one.”

The Cougars offense, under the direction of assistant coaches David Yazzie and Tucker Johnson, have created some magic this fall, led by senior quarterback George Jallah – the “guy we look to when need a big play,” according to Anderson, and senior Jack Chambers, who anchors Kearsarge’s offensive line at center.

“We have a number of leaders,” Anderson said of his team with no formal captains. “It’s everyone has their role, and I try to emphasize to the guys – and with our numbers, we have like 28 healthy guys right now – that everyone has a role and every role is important. Whether you’re playing cornerback on the scout team and getting toasted by a varsity receiver, or if you are the starting quarterback, it’s all critical and we all need to be leaders.”

Division IV

Fall Mountain (4-3) at Mascoma Valley (3-4), Saturday, noon. 

Fall Mountain is continuing that climb toward the top.

The Wildcats, who won their first playoff game as a football program two years ago and eventually lost to Winnisquam in the D4 title game, are clawing their way to another postseason berth and potentially more. That all depends on the outcome of this weekend’s game in Canaan against Mascoma Valley.

Fall Mountain head coach Orion Binney doesn’t need to do anything special to rally his team. It’s a cut-and-dry scenario.

“It’s a must-win for us,” Binney said. “If we win we’re in. If Mascoma Valley wins they’re in. It’s pretty good built-in motivation. It’s easy to get the guys up for a game like this.”

Led by quarterback Luke Gay, who is also the middle linebacker on defense, receiver/safety Brady Elliott, and outside linebacker Josh Pillsbury, the Wildcats have the skill to hang with any team.

In last week’s 36-0 win over Franklin, Gay showed off his skill set when he ran for a touchdown, passed for a touchdown and returned an interception for a touchdown.

Fall Mountain also has athleticism in the trenches, highlighted by offensive tackle/defensive end Quinn Healy, who lost 50 pounds in the offseason to become more agile.

All Binney can do as coach is put his players in the best position on the field. It’s up to them to execute and make the plays against the Royals.

“It’s about putting it all on the line,” Binney said. “This could potentially be some of these guys last football game ever. You don’t want to have any regrets. So play hard. Play fast. If you make a mistake, forget about it and keep playing football. Keep grinding for that win.”

Playmakers

• Dover quarterback Darian Lopez-Sulivan carried the ball 26 times for a whopping 261 yards and four touchdowns, while also connecting on eight of his 14 passes for 88 yards and a touchdown in a 35-20 win over Goffstown.
• Nashua North quarterback Derek Finlay scored three touchdown in the Titans 42-41 upset win over Pinkerton Academy. With nine seconds remaining in regulation, Finlay, who had already scored from 2 and 14 yards out, found his way into the end zone from the 2 again, and then got across the goal line for the game-winning 2-point conversion.
• Lebanon quarterback Jack Stone scored four touchdowns on 217 yards rushing to beat Hanover, 42-0, and remain unbeaten.
• Keene running back Jarod Rokes ran for 208 yards and three touchdowns in a 42-35 win over Merrimack.

George Scione writes for NH-HighSchoolSports.com and has covered high school sports in New Hampshire since 1995. To report standout gridiron performances, or offer ideas for the football notebook, send an email to scioneg@gmail.com.