High schools: Friday Night Football and girls’ soccer quarterfinals

Pinkerton 34, Concord 31

Key players: Pinkerton – Jake Albert (234 rush yards on 24 carries), Cole Yennaco (112 rush yards on 17 carries, 5 TD, 23 yard catch); Concord – Zack Doward (5-for-9, 117 passing yards, 2 rush TD), Divon Duncan (106 rush yards on 6 carries, 2 catches for 78 yards), Elia Bahuma (62 rush yards, 2 TD on 22 caries), Jacob Plante (27 yard FG), Nate Feudner (defense), Theo Schneible (defense)

Highlights: The Tide and the Astros traded scores in the first half, but Pinkerton found the end zone three times in the second quarter to take a 27-17 lead into halftime. Concord forced the Astros to turn the ball over on downs on the first drive of the second half, and Doward punched it in on a QB keeper to cut the deficit to 27-24. But Pinkerton scored on the next drive to make it 34-24 with 7:11 left in the game. Doward scored on another keeper, but Pinkerton ran the the ball a little better than the Tide and ultimately ran out the clock to close out the regular season. Concord will compete in the Division I postseason for the first time since 2014 and will likely travel for a preliminary round game next weekend. Brackets will be released by the NHIAA on Monday.

Records: Pinkerton 7-1; Concord 5-3

Bow 33, Laconia 6

Key players: Bow – Ryan Lover (45 yard TD run), Gavin McCabe (5 yard TD run), Owen Guertin (35 yard TD run), Hollis Jones (15 yard TD run), Owen Walton (3 yard TD run)

Highlights: The Falcons led 26-0 before Laconia got on the board late in the first half. Bow should have the No. 3 seed for the upcoming D-II tournament and will likely be hosting a quarterfinal game next weekend.

Coach’s quote: “I am very proud of this team’s 8-1 regular season completion.  They played with pride, prowess and tenacity. Now it is on to playoff football, a decidedly different type of gridiron experience.” – Bow’s Paul Cohen

Records: Bow 8-1; Laconia 3-6

Gilford-Belmont 34, St. Thomas 7

Key players: Gilford-Belmont – Isaiah Reese (7-for-11, 109 yard pards, 2 pass TD, 151 yards on 11 carries), Michael Kitto (158 rush yards, 2 TD on 19 carries), Logan Grant (54 receiving yards, TD on 4 catches), Sam Cheek (43 yard TD catch), Tyler Davignon (24 yards, TD on 4 carries), Hutch Haskins (36 yards on 3 carries)

Highlights: The Eagles scored one touchdown in the first three quarters and added two in the fourth to lock up the No. 1 seed in the the Division II postseason tournament. The Saints didn’t on the board until they scored a passing TD with about five seconds left in the game.

Records: Gilford-Belmont 9-0; St. Thomas 4-5

Epping-Newmarket 30, Kearsarge 28, OT

Key players: Kearsarge – Damon Dawson (3 TD catches), Parker Goin (2 TD passes), John Fraioli (TD run, TD pass)

Highlights: Dawson and Fraioli both had a touchdown in the second half to tie the game, 22-22, after the Cougars trailed 22-8 at halftime. The Blue Devils scored first in overtime to take a 30-22 lead, but Dawson wrestled a 50/50 ball from a Blue Devil defender in the end zone to make it 30-28. With the Kearsarge needing the 2-point conversion to tie the game again, Epping-Newmarket made the stop to secure the victory in the final game of the season for both D-III teams.

Records: Epping-Newmarket 3-6; Kearsarge 2-7

Somersworth 47, Winnisquam 7

Highlights: The Bears fell on the road in their season finale to the defending D-IV champions.

Records: Somersworth 7-0; Winnisquam 2-5

No. 1 Exeter 4, No. 9 Concord 1

Highlights: The Crimson Tide’s season came to an end on the road against top-ranked Exeter in the quarterfinals.

Records: Exeter 17-0-0; Concord 9-8-1

No. 3 Pelham 3, No. 6 Coe-Brown 2

Key players: Coe-Brown  – Somer Loto (goal, assist), Bella Lapierre (goal), Maggie Escabi (defense), Alyviah Blad (defense), Jennifer Noni (midfield), Lily Wolf (midfield, forward)

Highlights: Loto scored on a penalty kick in the second half to tie the game, 2-2, and force overtime, but Pelham won on penalty kicks, despite the Bears controlling the run of play in overtime. Bella Lapierre took a beautiful through ball from Loto to put Coe-Brown up 1-0 in the fourth minute of the match. The Bears contained Division II’s top scorer – Pelham’s Ashlyn Walsh (36 goals this season) – to just two shots on goal, but one of them found its mark to tie the game, 1-1,  and the Pythons converted a free kick eight minutes later to go up 2-1 at halftime. The Bears opened the second half with excellent pressure and aggressive play. The pressure paid off with a Pelham hand ball inside the 18 and Loto converted the PK.

Coach’s quote: “The girls went out fighting and swinging right to the end. This team came out and executed our game plan just about perfectly. We wanted to show we were capable of making the semifinal round, and despite not closing the deal, we showed amazing growth and heart. Sometimes soccer plays out like this where you can play better than your opponent but that final goal is just too hard to find.” – Coe-Brown’s Josh Hils

Records: Pelham 14-2-1; Coe-Brown 11-7-0

No. 4 Pembroke 3, No. 5 Milford 1

Key players: Pembroke – Laila Al-Shawafi (goalie), KT Armstrong (defense), Mackenzie Hawkins (2 assists, defense), Tia Bocci (defense), Abby Shaugnessy (defense), Jaylin Ladd (defense), Bailey Gatchell (2 goals), Ryley Leblanc (goal), Lindsey Jones (assist)

Highlights: Pembroke got on the board in the 14th minute off a Jones cross that Gatchell buried, and extended its lead to 2-0 by the half when Leblanc got a shot off after a scrum in the box. Milford’s Alina St. George scored five minutes into the second half, but Gatchell scored her second goal after the Milford keeper bobbled the ball, giving Pembroke some insurance. Pembrok

Coach’s quote: “Incredible efforts all over the field to secure this victory. Milford is a talented squad, and we held off some early attacks to become the 80-minute team we have been wanting to be all season. Very excited to head to Stellos (Stadium for the semifinals) with this group.” – Pembroke’s Jess Kaufman-Desrochers

Records: Pembroke 14-2-1; Milford

No. 2 Hollis-Brookline 5, No. 7 Merrimack Valley 0

Highlights: The Pride’s season came to an end in the quarterfinals on the road to the Cavaliers.

Records: Hollis-Brookline 15-2; MV 10-8

No. 4 Raymond 3, No. 5 Bishop Brady 0

Highlights: The Giants’ season ended in the D-III quarterfinals with a loss to the No. 4 Rams on Friday.

Records: Raymond 16-1-1; Bishop Brady 11-6-1

No. 3 Stevens 1, No. 6 Hopkinton 0 (4-2 PK)

Key players: Hopkinton – Kiley Ehrmantraut (PK goal), Tayla Tomaz (PK goal), Lexi Lawler (defense), Madison Carmichael (shutout in regulation and overtime), Annie Morrall (offense)

Highlights: Hawks and Cardinals were scoreless for 100 minutes, but Stevens won the penalty kick shootout, 4-2, to end Hopkinton’s season in the quarterfinals.

Coach’s quote: “Proud of how far this team has come this season. We were the team to beat and we made it very difficult for the No. 3 seed Stevens to move onto the next round. Of course our team was sad, but I told them we were the one team nobody wanted to make it to the final four. Some of these girls have been on two or three championship teams, so to go out in the quarters was hard for them.” – Hopkinton’s Mike Zahn

Records: Stevens 16-1-1; Hopkinton 10-5-3

No. 6 Concord Christian 2, No. 3 Sunapee 1, 2OT

Key players: Concord Christian – Lilli Carlile (goal), Emma Smith (goal), Ella Baker (assist)

Highlights: Sunapee scored in the first 15 minutes of the game, but Concord Christian tied it up on Carlile’s goal in the 32nd minute, and Smith scored four minutes into the second overtime period to complete the Lady Kingsmen’s upset. Concord Christian will play No. 7 Portsmouth Christian in the semifinals on Tuesday at Bank of New Hampshire Stadium in Laconia.

Records: Concord Christian 14-4; Sunapee 15-3