Football Notebook: Playoffs getting underway

Salem High School football head coach Steve Abraham and his counterpart from Bishop Guertin, John Trisciani, are in agreement heading into Saturday night’s Division I South/West cluster quarterfinal at Stellos Stadium in Nashua.

Turnovers will cost you dearly.

Such was the case back on Sept. 11 when No. 3 Salem (6-2) came up on the short end of a 17-14 final to No. 2 Bishop Guertin (7-2). Led by the offensive stylings of Aidan McDonald (1,033 rushing yards, 17 TDs this season) and Tommy Ahlers (842 rushing yards, 13 TDs), Salem garnered a significant edge in total offense that game, 384-250, but turnovers proved costly for the Blue Devils.

“We can’t shoot ourselves in the foot,” Abraham said. “We drive down the field to take the lead – it’s zero-zero at that point – we drive down the field and we’ve got Ahlers wide open in the end zone and our quarterback doesn’t throw the ball. He waits, and that becomes a fumble. It’s still zero-zero, we drive all the way down the field to the 3 yard line and we can’t get a first down by two inches because our tackle blocks inside when he’s suppose to block outside on the play – because he didn’t hear the play call. I could go on and on.”

Trisciani’s Cardinals weren’t without errors in that contest with Salem’s defense tightening as the game progressed, allowing the Blue Devils to charge back late.

“Coach Abraham would be correct,” Trisciani said. “Any time teams are turning the ball over it’s going to be an issue. It’s the great equalizer. If you’re a really good team and you turn the ball over, sometimes teams that are a little bit less talented can make up some ground. So you want to be disciplined and hang on to the ball.”

Abraham continued stressing that very fact when reminiscing about the Week 2 matchup, almost as if he was exorcising the demons of that defeat.

“We did it again on another play – one guy didn’t get set,” Abraham said. “So we killed ourselves so much, and against a good team, you can’t do that and get away with it.

“Then we don’t get the onside kick to start the half because we weren’t prepared, even though we repped it at halftime,” he continued. “Then our cornerback doesn’t have his head in the game. It’s fourth down and he intercepts it at the 1 yard line. Then shame on the head coach – yes, myself – I thought it was a flag they threw on the ground, so I called a certain play thinking we were at the 20.

“Well then, you know, we’re at the 1 and I chickened out and had to call a timeout telling myself I don’t want to run this play in the end zone. Then I was like if we hit it, it’s a touchdown, and we didn’t. It resulted in a safety and changed that game. It was a myriad of mistakes, and you can’t do that against a team that’s well coached and got those guys on the other side of the ball.”

Those guys for the Cardinals are quarterback Matt Santosuosso and running back Charlie Bellavance – both toying with 1,000 yard-rushing seasons.

In that Sept. 11 meeting, Santosuosso rushed for 127 yards on 27 carries, including the game’s first touchdown from the 1 with 4:57 remaining in the third quarter. Bellavance carried the ball 19 times for 62 yards and a 10-yard, fourth-quarter TD run that put BG up 17-0 with 5:18 to play in regulation.

Salem didn’t wave the white flag. McDonald scored twice in the final five minutes. His first TD coming on a 71-yard pass from Noah Mustapha, and the second on an 11-yard run with 1:21 left to play – capping an 11-play, 78-yard drive. The ensuing Blue Devils’ onside attempt failed and BG closed things out.

Trisciani is focused on that last five minutes from Week 2.

“We know it was 17-0 with like four or five minutes left,” Trisciani said. “They came right back and scored twice fast. So no matter how much we get up or we get down, we know we’re going to have to play for four quarters.”

Both teams are more mature heading into the playoffs. Guys have been shifted to different positions on the field or grown in their specific roles. Most notably, Salem’s young defense has adjusted and gotten stronger with time.

The Blue Devils moved senior Damian Gigante from middle linebacker to defensive end, threw freshman Danny Hughes into that middle linebacker spot, shifted Ahlers back to safety – where he was all-conference in his sophomore year – and Peter Beeley to outside linebacker.

“It has completely changed our defense,” Abraham said. “It has given everyone confidence. Now if you look at us, we don’t look anything like we did in those first three weeks – even on the practice field.”

Trisciani expects this matchup to be different. There will be new looks on offense and defense for both teams.

There’s a season worth of film and scouting reports for coaches to dissect. In the end it all comes down to the execution of a game plan by the players on the field.

“Some of the experience I have as a player and a coach, when you play a team a second time, it’s never the same,” Trisciani said. “Sometimes the same team wins, sometimes they don’t, but the teams are always vastly different. So we’re going to see.”

South/West cluster: No. 4 Pinkerton Academy (7-2) at No. 1 Londonderry (8-1), Saturday, 1 p.m.

It’s a Mack Plaque rematch in the quarterfinals. Both teams are battling the injury bug, most notably Londonderry, as quarterback Aidan Washington, who suffered a broken collarbone last week, is done for the season. That leaves the Lancers’ offense in the more-than-capable hands of quarterback Drew Heenan. The junior replaced an injured Washington in that first meeting and performed admirably with a touchdown pass and run to beat the Astros 21-10 on Sept. 24.

It’s still unclear if Pinkerton halfback Jake Albert (502 rushing yards, 4 TDs in four games), who has been banged up all season, will be on the field for this week’s matchup. With or without Albert, the Astros have a reliable and powerful ball carrier in Cole Yennaco (952 rushing yards, 16 TDs) for Londonderry to deal with.

East/North cluster: No. 4 Goffstown (4-3) at No. 1 Winnacunnet (9-0), Friday, 7 p.m.

If Goffstown has any chance of upsetting undefeated Winnacunnet, the Grizzlies have to do a better job in the trenches than they did in they’re 33-20 loss back on Oct. 16.

The Warriors owned the line of scrimmage offensively and defensively, leading the way on five lengthy and time-consuming scoring drives of 11 or more plays, and holding Goffstown running back Aaron Duval to just 17 yards. Grizzlies quarterback Josh Webb was the shining star in defeat, connecting on 21 of his 28 pass attempts for 239 yards and three touchdowns. Jonah Lopez and Peyton Strickland, who hauled in one and two of Webb’s TD passes respectively in defeat, are two more weapons that Goffstown has at its disposal in this rematch.

If Winnacunnet’s line is on it’s best behavior, the Warriors will own time of possession again, giving quarterback Kyle Tilley, and running backs Tucker McCann, Matt Alkire, Owen Bateman and Nico Zaino plenty of time and holes to operate on the way to a semifinal appearance.

East/North cluster: No. 3 Exeter (6-2) at No. 2 Bedford (7-2), Saturday, 1 p.m.

Quarterback/kicker Joe Mikol has used his arm and foot to lead Bedford this fall. The third-year starter’s talents were on full display in the Bulldogs’ 15-13 win four weeks ago, while throwing for 191 yards and a touchdown, and booting three field goals, including a game-winning 33-yarder with 3.5 seconds to play.

Exeter made its final adjustment for the playoffs in this contest. Following a scoreless first half, Evan Pafford took over at quarterback and has been the signal caller ever since. Running backs Ian Ireland, Michael Dettore and Jake Wiberg have been strong in the ground and pound offense all season.

Division II

No. 8 Gilford-Belmont (5-3) at No. 1 Timberlane (9-0), Friday, 6:30 p.m. 

It wasn’t long ago that Timberlane was winless. Only two years removed from futility, the Owls, who a year ago recorded their first playoff win since 2001, are the undefeated top seed in Division II. They beat all but one opponent by at least two touchdowns, and that includes a 47-12 win over Gilford-Belmont on Oct. 1.

Timberlane quarterback Dom Coppeta sustained a broken fibula against Sanborn a week after that win over G-B, thrusting sophomore Gary Shivell into the starting spotlight. The underclassman has the reliable two-headed monster of running backs Dan Post (731 yards, 13 TDs) and Dom Pallaria (730 yards, 11 TDs) to carry the load.

Gilford-Belmont is led by quarterback Isaiah Reese, running back Michael Kitto and receiver Riley Marsh.

No. 5 Hanover (6-3) at No. 4 St. Thomas (7-2),  Friday 6 p.m.

This is a matchup of two streaky teams that did not face each other in the regular season.

St. Thomas won seven of its final eight games heading into the tourney. The Saints only two losses? They fell 43-0 to top-seeded Timberlane opening night, and 14-10 in the regular season finale to a playoff-hunting Gilford-Belmont squad.

Hanover opened the season with five wins before dropping three straight to a trio of playoff teams: Milford (34-7), Souhegan (27-20) and Lebanon (43-0).

No. 7 Souhegan (5-3) at No. 2 Lebanon (8-0), Saturday, 1 p.m.

Undefeated Lebanon coasted to a 41-0 win over Souhegan Oct. 1 in Lebanon.

Lebanon was in a similar spot last year, holding a perfect record heading into the Division II semifinals when its season ended because of a COVID-19 issue outside of its program. Quarterback Jack Stone leads Lebanon with his arm and legs, and the Raiders defense hasn’t allowed a point in its last four games.

Souhegan, last year’s Division II champion, is back in the title hunt courtesy of strong play from freshman quarterback Romy Jain (19 passing TDs, three rushing TDs). The Sabers are on a three-game winning streak heading into the playoffs, but only had one win in three games against fellow tourney qualifiers.

No. 6 Plymouth (6-3) at No. 3 Milford (6-2), Saturday, 3 p.m.

Plymouth won three straight Division II titles before losing in the last two finals. The Bobcats are looking for a sixth consecutive title game, and the always tough Keith Jones-coached Milford Spartans are the first road block.

These two teams didn’t face off during the regular season. Milford’s only losses came against the unbeaten top two seeds in Lebanon (27-14) and Timberlane (21-14). The Spartans defense is strong, not allowing more than 16 points in any of their six victories. Plymouth’s losses came against Timberlane (28-13), St. Thomas (28-21) and Sanborn (22-14). The Bobcats are sputtering into the playoffs, having lost two of their final three regular season games.

Plymouth, led offensively by quarterback Kurtis Cross and running back Dylan Welch, has a tall order defensively. The Bobcats defense is tasked with slowing down Milford’s ground-and-pound run game, led by running backs Caden Zalenski and Logan Barnhill.

Division III

No. 4 Kearsarge (6-2) at No. 1 Pelham (8-0), Saturday, 1 p.m. 

Led by fullback Ethan Demmons (11 TDs), undefeated Pelham is the top seed in Division III. There is no doubt about that. The Pythons, who own the NHIAA’s longest football win streak at 16 games, have outscored opponents 346-35 this fall, including a 52-8 victory over Kearsarge in North Sutton back on Sept. 17. Pelham’s smallest margin of victory was 32 points.

The Cougars, who lean on grinding running back John Fraioli, are on a six-game winning streak of their own. This includes an 8-3 win over previously unbeaten Trinity in the regular-season finale to lock up the fourth seed.

No. 3 Campbell (7-2) at No. 2 Trinity (7-1), Saturday, 1 p.m. 

Led by running back Mark Nyoma and quarterback Jack Service, Trinity posted a 14-0 win during a Week 4 battle of unbeatens in Litchfield. The Pioneers have held six of their eight opponents to eight points or less.

Nate Perry and Scott Hershberger lead the Cougars, whose only other loss came against top-seeded Pelham (41-0).

Division IV

No. 4 Fall Mountain (5-3) at No. 1 Newport (7-0), Saturday, 1 p.m.

Defending D4 champion Newport cruised through regular-season action, allowing no more than eight points in five of its seven wins – including a 35-0 road win in Langdon on Sept. 24 – courtesy of a stifling defense led by Devyn Heino and Logan Ash. The Tigers’ offense, which is averaging 35 points per game, is led by quarterback Kyle Ashley and running back Karter Pollari.

Fall Mountain, led by quarterback Luke Gay, a legitimate run-pass threat, secured the fourth seed by beating Mascoma 8-2 in its regular season finale. All three of the Wildcats losses were against the three other divisional playoff teams. Fall Mountain allowed 122 points in those three losses, but held opponents to 23 points in their five wins.

No. 3 Epping-Newmarket (5-2) at No. 2 Somersworth (7-1), Saturday, 1 p.m.

In a rematch of the regular-season finale to determine home-field for the semifinals, Somersworth is hoping for a similar outcome. Last week’s 24-7 home victory extended Somersworth’s winning streak to seven games.

The Hilltoppers, whose only loss came in the season opener to Newport, are led by running back Calvin Lambert (1,063 yards, 18 TDs), who rushed for 136 yards and two touchdowns in last weekend’s win over E-N. Defensively, Somersworth hasn’t allowed more than 14 points in any of their seven victories.

Epping-Newmarket’s balanced offense that highlights the power-running style of fullback Cam Nice, can light things up when it gets going under the direction of quarterback Colby Bost.

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.