The State of Football: Week 5
Roger Brown
nhfootballreport.com
Want to see what a Division I recruit looks like? If so, take a look at midfield during the coin flip before tonight's non-league game between Bishop Guertin and Catholic Memorial (West Roxbury, Mass.).
Catholic Memorial's four captains -- running back Donovan Henry, quarterback A.J. Doyle, linebacker Camren Williams and defensive back Armani Reeves -- have all earned Division I scholarships.
Williams and Reeves will each play at Penn State, Henry is headed to Boston College and Doyle committed to North Carolina State.
"Obviously they have some good athletes on that team," BG coach Travis Cote said. "We'll try to match up with their speed.
"We'll have to play good pass defense because they like to throw it around. The quarterback is a big kid and he puts the ball on the money. We can't let him sit back there and pick us apart."
BG enters the contest with a 3-1 record, but is unbeaten 3-0 against Division II competition. The Cardinals have outscored their three Division II opponents 91-20. The team's only loss came against Pinkerton Academy (16-0).
Catholic Memorial is 1-1, but was also leading Trumbull, Conn. 14-0 in the second quarter when there was a power outage at Catholic Memorial's home field. That game was ruled a no contest.
Catholic Memorial opened the season with a 24-0 loss to Marshfield, and beat St. John's (Shrewsbury), 28-20.
"I think our offense has come around a little more the last few weeks," Cote said. "The defense has played pretty well all season
"We haven't been playing real clean Bad penalties at crucial times. We can't afford to be doing that."
BG will likely be without starting quarterback Bob Fahey and defensive back/split end Brody Smith. Fahey suffered an ankle injury against Timberlane and will likely return next week against Dover. Smith is recovering from a broken ankle and is expected to miss at least two more weeks.
This is the third meeting between the two programs. BG won in Nashua in 2007, and Catholic Memorial prevailed last season.
"I'm not a big fan of non-league games once you start to get later in the season, but it's good to play competition like this to see how we stack up," Cote said.
At any rate, with the utmost confidence ... this week's selections:
Dover 27
Alvirne 6
Next week's matchup between Dover and BG will go a long way toward determining the No. 1 seed in Division II.
Catholic Memorial 21
Bishop Guertin 20
Cardinals will be missing some key pieces.
Keene 27
Spaulding 7
A lot of people jumped off the Keene bandwagon after last weekend's loss to West.
Winnacunnet 21
Manchester West 6
Warriors have gone eight quarters without scoring.
Merrimack 14
Timberlane 13
Gonna call this a mild upset.
Bedford 35
Con-Val 13
A couple of good teams are not going to make the Division III playoffs. If Bedford doesn't win this weekend, the Bulldogs might be one of them.
Goffstown 28
Pembroke 7
Raise your hand if you thought Goffstown would be undefeated at this point in the season. All you liars can put you hands down.
Hollis-Brookline 35
Pelham 7
The Cavaliers have been very impressive thus far. Very impressive.
Portsmouth 27
Milford 10
The going starts to get tougher for the Clippers beginning this weekend.
Manchester Central 28
Souhegan 21
Souhegan's losing streak reaches four games. Didn't expect to be typing those words this season.
Plymouth 27
Hanover 7
Bobcats rebound from last weekend's loss to Trinity.
Laconia 42
John Stark 13
Beating Laconia at home is no easy task.
Kennett 28
Merrimack Valley 14
Merrimack Valley scored 64 points last weekend. Don't expect a repeat performance.
Lebanon 28
Kingswood 7
Raiders scored their first touchdown last weekend. This weekend they get their first victory.
Trinity 20
Monadnock 14
This is hardly a layup for the Pioneers.
Windham 42
Bishop Brady 14
The Jaguars continue to gain momentum.
Bow 21
Fall Mountain 6
Bow moves back over the .500 mark.
Kearsarge 21
Campbell 20
A victory in this contest could mean the difference between making the playoffs and not making the playoffs.
St. Thomas 28
Sanborn 14
Saints have an excellent chance of finishing the season unbeaten.
Somersworth 20
Stevens 14
You know the Toppers want another crack at St. Thomas. They'll probably get it.
Epping-Newmarket 19
Winnisquam 6
Epping-Newmarket has allowed 17 points in its four games.
Franklin 40
Farmington 6
Franklin stretches its winning streak to four games.
Inter-Lakes 26
Gilford 14
Three of Inter-Lakes' four victories have come by shutout.
Newport 35
Mascoma Valley 6
Still trying to figure out exactly where Newport fits in the Division VI pecking order.
Newfound 30
Raymond 7
Rams haven't shown enough offense to keep pace with the Bears.
Nashua South 28
Concord 7
Panthers seemed to take some strides on the defensive side of the ball last weekend.
Exeter 28
Manchester Memorial 14
What happned to all those people who said Exeter couldn't compete in Division I?
Pinkerton 35
Londonderry 6
Rivalry has become one-sided.
Salem 33
Nashua North 16
Item No. 1 in the Guide To Beating Salem says: "Don't kick to Jerickson Fedrick."
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Last week: 24-5
Record to date: 93-20
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.
