BG rebounds with victory over Dover
Roger Brown
nhfootballreport.com
DOVER -- The Dover High School and Bishop Guertin offenses cancelled each other out Friday night. The difference in BG's 21-6 victory was BG's ability to score a defensive touchdown and another one on special teams.
C.J. Boykin returned a punt 45 yards for a TD in the second quarter, and Nick Marino intercepted a Tyler Zabkar pass and returned it 23 yards for a score in the third. Fullback Nolan Cornell helped the Cardinals build a 21-0 lead when he scored o a 20-yard run with 11:12 to play.
It was the first Division II loss for Dover, which dropped to 4-2 overall and 4-1 in the division. BG, which was coming off a 42-0 loss to Catholic Memorial (Roxbury, Mass.). improved to 4-2 overall and 4-0 in Division II.
"This is big for us," BG coach Travis Cote said. "We don't want to have to come back here [in the playoffs]. We want them to come to our place."
Until the fourth quarter the Dover offense seemed allergic to the end zone. Most of the game was played on the Green Wave's half of the field. Dover's best two drives came on its final two possessions.
Kyle Seaward capped a 12-play, 76-yard drive on a 6-yard TD run with 6:18 to play. Dover drove from its 4-yard line to the BG 15 on its next possesion, but that's when time expired.
Zabkar completed 15 of 28 passes for 183 yards, but was intercepted twice (both by Marino).
"It's a new coach and a new BG team, but it's the same BG speed," Dover coach Ken Osbon said. "We haven't been facing teams with that kind of speed. They cover ground at the point of attack. You can execute at the point of attack and get through the hole, but it closes so quick that there's no productive gains.
"There are a lot of variables that they have that we don't seem to have. Right now I'm not sure that we're at their level."
QB OPTION: BG rotated junior Tom Vailas and senior Bob Fahey at quarterback. Fahey began the season as the starter, but suffered an ankle injury against Timberlane. Vailas was BG's starting QB for the last three games.
Vailas completed 3 of 4 passes for 64 yards, and Fahey connected on 2 of 7 passes for 13 yards.Neither QB was intercepted.
"It [the rotation] was planned," Cote said. "Bobby is just coming back from his [ankle] injury. Being out for so long, we thought it was best "To kind of ease him back in. Not have him play the entire game and see how he feels. He's been out so he's not real sharp.
"They both kind of bring a little bit of a different element. Vailas made a couple of nice passes tonight -- but he's been in there. Bobby's got to get his timimg back and get his reps in practice because he's been out.
"Right now we have two kids who can do a great job for us. We have to utilize those kids to maximize our potential and what they can both bring to the team."
DOVER CAN PLAY DEFENSE: Dover hadn't allowed a point in its previous three games -- victories over Winnacunnet (28-0), Spaulding (19-0) and Alvirne (34-0) -- and held BG to 245 yards of net offense.
"There's no doubt that if we're gonna be a good football team our defense has to continue to play well," Osbon said. "I'm not disappointed in them at all. We put them in bad spots..
"We couldn't execute our offense. To ask them to defend three-and-out, three-and-out, five-and out .... not fair. I think we got exposed a little bit tonight with team speed. They have it and right now we don't have a lot of it."
FAMILIAR FACE, NEW PLACE: Cote was Manchester West's head coach for seven seasons before he replaced Tony Johnson as BG's head coach this season, and Cote will be coaching against his former school next Friday when BG plays at West.
West had a 29-46 record during Cote's seven-year tenure.
FRIDAY'S SCORES
Alvirne 14, Winnacunnet 7
Trinity 38, John Stark 14
Bedford 49, Milford 6
Bishop Guertin 21, Dover 6
Hanover 42, Kingswood 0
Kearsarge 34, Bishop Brady 21
Monadnock 26, Kennett 10
Manchester Central 14, Londonderry 10
Lebanon 33, Merrimack Valley 14
Goffstown 37, Pelham 16
Souhegan 46, Pembroke Academy 13
Manchester Memorial 28, Concord 26
Spaulding 47, Manchester West 14
