Souhegan football bounces back with win over John Stark

AMHERST – For the second week in a row, the Souhegan High School football team found itself in a similar position to start a game.

Defense on the field with the opponent going for it on fourth down, but this time, the Sabers got the stop they needed.

Souhegan stopped John Stark on fourth-and-1 on the game’s first possession and scored four plays later, getting things rolling on a 46-12 win to end the Division II regular season for both teams.

With the win, the Sabers (7-1 in D2, 7-2 overall) appear to have wrapped up the No. 3 seed and will host a quarterfinal game next weekend. The Generals (5-3, 6-3) have also clinched a playoff spot but will be on the road, possibly back in Amherst.

“I thought our guys did a nice job of executing,” Souhegan coach Robin Bowkett said. “It’s all about keeping the ball when you have it and getting back when you don’t. Whether that’s via turnover or turnover on downs, it doesn’t matter. Those guys were awesome.”

Souhegan’s defense forced three turnovers, including a fumble recovery that Sean Reardon returned 45 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter. The Sabers also recovered a fumble on special teams and the defense stopped the Generals on four of six fourth-down attempts.

The Sabers scored 39 points off those turnovers and turnovers on downs.

“Plays like that are huge, especially for momentum shifting,” Souhegan senior JJ Bright said. “We need to make sure that, when we see the opportunity, we can get the most out of it. It paid off for us (Friday). I couldn’t be more happy with the way the defense played.”

Bright led the offense with 188 yards and three touchdowns on 12 carries, including an 84-yard touchdown run right before halftime.

“I got the ball there and there was a good hole,” Bright said of the long run. “(Donnie White) is a great player on their team and he was kind of able to figure it out. I was able to make a move on him and my receivers made fantastic blocks and gave me the opportunity to run. I saw the open field and just ran. I couldn’t be more happy for the guys up front, they did a great job.”

Romy Jain was 9 of 14 passing for 130 yards with three touchdowns and an interception for the Sabers. Cole Manning caught two of those touchdowns, as he finished with five catches for 67 yards. Ryan Cavanaugh also had two catches for 49 yards and a score.

“We took what they gave us,” Bowkett said. “Our QB ran a little bit. We got a bunch of guys involved, we threw the ball to a couple of different guys. They gave us a little funky defense. We did go through it over the week, but our guys didn’t panic and stayed to their rules and did a nice job up front.”

Deltyn Williams led John Stark with 69 yards rushing, including a 53-yard touchdown run, and caught four passes for 17 yards, including an 8-yard scoring pass from Joey Dykstra (3 of 5, 12 yards). White added 47 yards on the ground and Tim Lacharite rushed for another 45.

The Generals ran for 185 yards as a team, moving the ball in between the 20-yard lines, but the failed fourth down attempts and four turnovers were detrimental.

Coming off last week’s loss to Pelham, seeing those improvements on defense was a big thing for Souhegan.

“Last week against Pelham, we didn’t read our keys and we found out what happens when we do that,” Bowkett said. “(Friday) it was all about reading keys and running to the football and getting off blocks and tackling. They did an awesome job.”