Nickel Package: Defense propels PSU
Roger Brown
nhfootballreport.com
Five topics on the New Hampshire football landscape:
1. Plymouth State football.
The Panthers posted their most impressive victory of the season Saturday, when they beat Curry, 28-17.
The loss ended Curry's 37-game winning streak against New England Football Conference opponents. Curry's last league loss came in 2005, when it dropped a 28-21 decision to Maine Maritime.
Plymouth State, which improved its record to 7-1 overall and 5-0 in the NEFC, held Curry to 12 yards rushing.
2. Division III football (part one).
Souhegan (8-0, 7-0) wrapped up the top seed for the Division III playoffs by beating Con-Val, 35-21, Saturday. Souhegan will play either Con-Val (5-3, 4-3) or Goffstown (4-4. 4-3) in the Division III semifinals. Con-Val and Goffstown will meet Saturday in Peterborough.
3. Division III football (part two).
Portsmouth (7-1, 6-1) and Milford (6-2, 6-1) will be the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds for the Division III playoffs, but not necessarily in that order. The Clippers and Spartans will meet in Milford on Friday night. The winner will earn the No. 2 seed and home-field advantage for the semifinals. The loser of that contest will be the No. 3 seed. Either way, the teams will face each other in consecutive weeks.
4. An unbeaten falls.
St. Thomas has been without starting quarterback Jack MacNevin for the last seven quarters. MacNevin suffered an ankle injury in the first quarter of a 21-6 victory over Bishop Brady two weeks ago, and re-injured the ankle about 30 minutes before Saturday's contest against Pelham.
Sophomore Brett Lago completed 6 of 10 pass attempts for 68 yards in the 17-3 loss to Pelham, but was intercepted twice. His first interception set up Pelham's first touchdown with 4:02 to play. Pelham got a 16-yard touchdown run from Bruce Vieira with 2:46 to play.
"Obviously (MacNevin) makes a difference," Pelham coach Tom Babaian said. "I think (not having MacNevin) hurt them a little bit, but I still think you have to stop the run."
The loss improved Pelham's record to 7-0 overall, 6-0 in Division V. St. Thomas dropped to 6-1 overall, 5-1 in Division V. Pelham, Souhegan and Plymouth are the only teams in the state that are still undefeated.
Pelham can secure the No. 1 seed for the Division V playoffs by beating Stevens Friday. The No. 2 seed will be awarded to the winner of Saturday's matchup between St. Thomas and Trinity (6-1, 5-1).
5. R. J. Toman.
University of New Hampshire quarterback R.J. Toman's 2008 passing statistics: 151 completions in 211 attempts for 1,784 yards and 19 touchdowns. Toman, who has been intercepted six times, is averaging 254.9 passing yards per game.
