The State of Football: Week 9
By Roger Brown
nhfootballreport.com
New Hampshire high school football is expanding faster than a lazy man's waistline.
At this time next year there will be 55 NHIAA schools playing varsity football, and those schools will likely be divided into six divisions. A recommendation to add a sixth division will be made by the NHIAA football committee, which came to that decision during a meeting in Concord on Thursday.
Winnacunnet High School athletic director Carol Dozibrin, assistant chair of the NHIAA football committee, said a recommendation calling for six divisions based on enrollment will be forwarded to the NHIAA classification committee.
"Basically we'll try to make the divisions as even as possible," Dozibrin said. "We'll probably have five divisions with nine teams and one with 10. At this point we don't know which one will have 10."
Creating five 11-team divisions, a proposal that was also discussed Thursday, would have extended the postseason past Thanksgiving, when the winter sports season has already started at many schools. Dozibrin said geography was the main reasons the committee went with the six-division recommendation.
"You don't have to extend the seasons (if there are six divisions) and right now there's a lot of concern about time out of school," she said. "Some of these teams have to make long trips. I don't think the concern was as much about Friday and Saturday games as it was (sub-varsity) games during the week."
It's still not clear how much the football landscape will change if a sixth division is added, since schools will have the opportunity petition up after they are placed in a division. In recent years Bishop Guertin and Somersworth have petitioned up to play in a division that included schools with larger enrollments than theirs. Teams are not allowed to petition to a lower division.
"Teams haven't sent in petitions yet because they have nowhere to petition out of," Dozibrin explained. "Once everyone is placed (in a division) teams may want to move to keep local rivalries. It should be interesting to see who petitions. We'll know that at our next meeting."
The Picks ...
DIVISION I
Pinkerton 34
Concord 7
Hard to envision the Astros losing two in a row.
Londonderry 26
Nashua South 21
Alex Theodhosi needs 91 yards to break Londonderry's single-season rushing record. He usually has that early in the second quarter.
Salem 28
Central 14
Anyone else sense that Salem is gaining momentum?
Manchester West 35
Manchester Memorial 7
West can't afford another loss.
DIVISION II
Keene 28
Alvirne 7
Note to Keene fans: Root for Timberlane.
Bishop Guertin 55
Spaulding 6
BG seems to score at least 40 points against everyone. Everyone but Exeter, that is.
Timberlane 21
Dover 20
A victory by the Owls would cloud the Division II playoff picture.
Exeter 35
Merrimack 0
Exeter wraps up the No. 1 seed for the Division II playoffs and will face a yet-to-be-determined opponent in the semifinals.
Winnacunnet 27
Goffstown 14
Winnacunnet wraps up the No. 3 seed for the Division II playoffs and will face BG in the semifinals.
DIVISION III
Plymouth 28
Con-Val 14
These teams will probably meet again next week. A Con-Val victory would be the biggest in the program's history.
Souhegan 35
John Stark 14
John Stark gives up a lot of points, and Souhegan knows how to score.
Kennett 20
Kingswood 6
The Eagles punctuate their season with a victory.
Pembroke 14
Merrimack Valley 13
This may be another one of those games decided by a two-point conversion.
Milford 21
Portsmouth 7
The Spartans will enter the playoffs with a five-game winning streak.
DIVISION IV
St. Thomas 28
Fall Mountain 0
Saints hand Rod Wotton a milestone victory and will face Laconia in the Division IV semifinals. Anyone remember the last time St. Thomas won a big game in Laconia?
Hanover 21
Hollis-Brookline 0
The Marauders may be vanilla on offense, but they sure can play defense.
Kearsarge 28
Lebanon 12
Kearsarge gets another crack at Hanover.
Laconia 35
Monadnock 7
The Sachems haven't allowed more than seven points in a game since their opener.
Stevens 21
Somersworth 13
This game has no playoff implications, but it may be the most competitive contest played in Division IV this weekend.
DIVISION V
Bishop Brady 36
Newfound 6
The Green Giants can secure the No. 3 seed for the Division V playoffs.
Bow 26
Franklin 14
It looks like Bow will be up against the winner of next weekend's Gilford/Pelham game in the Division V semifinals.
Gilford 28
Campbell 20
Regardless of what happens the rest of the way, Gilford has come a long way in a short time.
Winnisquam 28
Farmington 6
This would be Winnisquam's third victory in four weeks.
Pelham 36
Newport 14
No team (not even Plymouth) has dominated its competition like Pelham has this season.
NON LEAGUE
Methuen, Mass. 20
Nashua North 14
North isn't used to playing in close games, but the Titans will likely find themselves in one this weekend.
Trinity 28
Epping 7
Both of these teams could be headed for Division VI.
-----
Last week: 21-4
Record to date: 164-42
The State of Football, a commentary on New Hampshire high school football, will appear each Friday throughout the season.
