The State of Football: Week 8

By Roger Brown
nhfootballreport.com

Stevens coach Ralph Silva knew what he wanted to do, but the decision was not his to make.

Stevens trailed by a point when it scored a touchdown with 42 seconds to play in Saturday's game against St. Thomas. Kick the extra point or go for two?

"I left it up to the seniors," Silva explained. "I called a time out and asked them, 'Did we come up here to tie and go to OT or do we want to go for it?'"

Stevens elected to go for two, but the conversion attempt failed when quarterback Nate Duford's pass fell incomplete. St. Thomas ran out the clock and then celebrated its one-point victory.

One night earlier Winnacunnet coach Ron Auffant was presented with a similar situation near the end of his team's wild contest against Dover. The Warriors returned a kickoff for a touchdown and were within a point with 46 seconds to play.

Dover was also called for a penalty during the kickoff return, and that penalty was marked off before the conversion attempt.

"We decided to go for it (the win) at that point," Auffant explained. "If the ball was on the (3-yard line) we would have kicked, but our defense was banged up and I didn't want to go to overtime. Plus, we had some momentum."

Dover seized that momentum when it stopped Ron's son Sam short of the goal line and hung on for a 41-40 victory that put the Green Wave in the middle of the Division II playoff race.

"The one that has me thinking is when we kicked to go up eight (with 1:37 to play)," Ron Auffant said. "If we had gone for two there (and converted) it would have put us up nine and they couldn't have tied us with a touchdown. It could have made a difference."

When do you go for two? Some coaches consult a chart. Others will do it if their team missed an extra point earlier in the game. Some coaches won't even think about it until the fourth quarter.

There are coaches who won't go for two unless it's absolutely necessary, and others -- like Silva -- who will attempt to win a game with a two-point conversion late in the second half -- especially if their team is on the road.

There was plenty riding on Stevens' decision to go for two, since it was a make-or-break game for each team. St. Thomas will likely be the fourth seed for the Division IV playoffs, and Stevens will likely be at home when postseason play begins.

"That's what we told the kids, that it was a playoff game," Silva said. "No regrets. I wasn't going to go against the seniors."

The Picks ...

DIVISION I
Londonderry 21
Concord 7

Not sure Concord can score enough to keep it closer than this.

West 21
Central 13

It looks like something may be at stake when West meets Salem on the regular season's final weekend.

Memorial 14
Nashua North 7

One of these teams is going to earn their first Division I victory.

Nashua South 20
Salem 14

How many of you thought South would be the only unbeaten team in Nashua at this point?

DIVISION II
Dover 26
Alvirne 7

It's going to be an interesting race for the final two playoff spots in Division II.

Bishop Guertin 35
Keene 14

The key to beating BG? Fourteen-play drives in the fourth quarter.

Exeter 35
Goffstown 0

The Blue Hawks maintain their hold on the top spot in Division II.

Spaulding 20
Merrimack 12

Make it two victories in two weeks for the Red Raiders.

Winnacunnet 28
Timberlane 21

The Warriors may be involved in another crazy finish this week.

DIVISION III
Con-Val 14
John Stark 13

The Cougars can secure a playoff berth with a victory this weekend.

Merrimack Valley 13
Kennett 12

This is the toughest game to pick on this week's menu.

Milford 42
Kingswood 7

Suddenly, Milford looks like one of those Oklahoma teams from the 1970s.

Souhegan 26
Pembroke 14

Something tells me Souhegan would like another shot at Plymouth.

Plymouth 35
Portsmouth 7

The stakes won't be quite as high in this game as when these teams met last season.

DIVISION IV
Lebanon 26
Fall Mountain 12

Lebanon builds on the momentum it created by beating Hollis-Brookline last weekend.

Hanover 15
St. Thomas 14

A St. Thomas victory would give Rod Wotton more wins (323) than any New England high school coach. Wotton is currently tied with Armond Columbo, who coached at Archbishop Williams (Braintree, Mass.) and Brockton (Mass.) High School.

Monadnock 21
Hollis-Brookline 14

The Cavaliers have failed to score more than seven points in four of their seven games.

Kearsarge 20
Somersworth 7

Cougars end their two-game losing streak.

Laconia 21
Stevens 20

Stevens has lost three games by a total of four points.

DIVISION V
Bishop Brady 22
Campbell 20

The Green Giants will finish the regular season with four consecutive home games.

Gilford 29
Bow 14

Gilford enters the weekend as one of five unbeaten teams in the state. Nashua South, Plymouth, Laconia and Pelham are the others.

Winnisquam 14
Epping 12

The Bears have a chance to end the season with back-to-back victories.