The State of Football: Week 12
Roger Brown
nhfootballreport.com
Looks like a pretty good weekend for New Hampshire high school football fans.
Three championship games are scheduled to be played Saturday, and there isn't a prohibitive favorite in any of the three. It won't be a huge suprise if any or all of the lower-seeded teams prevail this weekend.
Let's start in Division I, where Nashua North and Pinkerton Academy will tangle in Derry. No team navigated the Division I regular season better than the Astros, who were rewarded with the No. 1 seed.
Second-seeded Nashua North already beat Pinkerton in Derry this season, however, and did so in convincing fashion (33-7). The only surprise here would be if the rematch isn't closer.
The storyline in Division III is the same as it was in 2008 and 2009, when Souhegan beat Portsmouth in the championship game each year. The Sabers were expected to win each of those games, but second-seeded Portsmouth is better equipped to put up a fight against top-seeded Souhegan this season.
Second-seeded Winnacunnet will face top-seeded Bishop Guertin in the Division II championship game. BG has won five of the last six Division II titles, will be playing on its home field Saturday and beat Winnacunnet by 14 points during the regular season.
Nevertheless, BG coach Tony Johnson has labled his injury-riddled team the underdog for Saturday's matchup.
"Absolutely," Johnson said. "We are the underdog. There's no doubt about it. How we're the No. 1 seed is beyond me."
Of course Winnacunnet coach Ron Auffant doesn't agree.
"As far as I'm concerned they're the No. 1 seed and they're the defending champion, so I don't know why we would be the favorite," Aufffant said. "They beat us the first time."
At any rate, with the utmost confidence ... this week's selections:
DIVISION I CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Nashua North 27
Pinkerton 21
Picked North to win it all early in the season, then jumped off the bandwagon following the debacle against Salem. Have all the respect in the world for what the Astros have accomplished this season, but many of the North players have been in this position before. The Titans came close to winning a state championship last season. This year they'll get it.
DIVISION II CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Winnacunnet 21
Bishop Guertin 13
The Warriors are the best team in Division II when they're at their best, so we'll have to see if they can play a clean game Saturday. BG certainly knows what it takes to win a title, but Johnson is right: It's Winnacunnet's game to lose.
DIVISION III CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Portsmouth 28
Souhegan 27
It's probably not a wise thing to pick against Mike Beliveau's Souhegan outfit, but the Clippers can be scary-good on offense, and they seem to have a little more swagger on defense this season than in the previous two years. Winning at Souhegan won't be easy, but this Portsmouth team appears capable.
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Last week: 6-3
Record to date: 219-65
Roger Brown covers high school and college football in the Northeast for ESPN/Scouts Inc. His column, The State of Football, appears each Friday throughout the season.
