For a young football team in the midst of a winless September, positive signs can be found anywhere.
Even a 33-20 defeat can suffice.
“If you’re a good coach, you always get a positive,” Merrimack Valley Coach Jim Coll said after his team’s loss to Kennett Friday night, which dropped it to 0-3. “So many things went wrong today, but we didn’t mention any of them when I talked to the team.”
Plenty went right too. The Pride hung with the Eagles through a first half that finished in a 14-14 tie. MV had big plays to swing momentum. On multiple occasions, the defense made stands to give the offense more and more chances to take over the game.
Those things just didn’t happen often enough. Not against a foe in Kennett that, as players wore down in the second half, was able to turn its physical edge into a decisive advantage.
“The way we focused on it was ‘Hey, two-score game,’ ” Coll said. “The defense, how many stops did we have, third down and fourth down? We had a couple of turnovers. We’re halfway there.”
The chance for the breakthrough into the win column slipped once Kennett gained the edge in field position to start the third quarter with the game tied.
On their second drive after the break, the Eagles started in MV territory and got to the 5-yard line in five plays, the key play being an escape by Brett Miller (9-of-15, 110 yards, two touchdowns) that turned a sure sack into a 19-yard gain on a rollout pass to wideout Aaron Lamar (five catches, 72 yards).
The two combined to hurt the Pride all evening, and the third member of Kennett’s destructive trio – running back Tanner Brown (33 carries, 202 yards) – punched in his first of two touchdowns from five yards out to make it 21-14 with 3:27 to go in the third.
“We talked about how we needed to grind on them a bit,” Kennett Coach Vaughn Beckwith said. “We had felt like we held them in check pretty well on offense. They had one big play to get into scoring position and they returned a kickoff. That was their 14 points.”
The Pride started its answer drive with an 11-yard carry by Evan Martin (17 carries, 65 yards), but soon found itself stuck at fourth-and-1 on its own 30-yard line.
Coll never hesitated – though his team did. After a timeout due to miscommunication, the Pride went for it and fell short, with Martin going down inches shy of the marker.
“Going for it was never a question. We needed the ball,” Coll said. “We needed to establish ourselves. The defense was tired.”
That defense returned the favor, stopping Brown on a fourth-and-2 from the MV 23, but after the offense went backwards on its next series, the Pride couldn’t hold off the Eagles any longer. Kennett returned to the 23 on the punt and scored four plays later, with Brown bruising up the middle for a 13-yard score and 27-14 lead with 8:24 to play.
The situation was urgent, and it became dire on the next play from scrimmage when Pat Cullen stepped in front of a pass from freshman Chase Keyser (4-for-15, 76 yards, three interceptions) and took it 24 yards for a touchdown and 33-14 lead.
“Growing pains,” Coll said. “He had a rough day, but you know what? It was his first start. He’s a freshman, he’ll come back next week. He’ll be fine.”
Evidence of that came on his very next throw, a perfect 46-yard pass to Martin down the sideline that cut the gap to 33-20 with 7:49 left. It kept alive the chance for a miracle, but Kennett crushed any remaining hope by taking up all but 27 seconds of the time remaining on the next drive.
“We can use our mistakes and get better from them,” Martin said. “Our team is almost there.”
In the first half, the highlights put MV in position to take over a game up for grabs. Kennett struck first on a 16-yard pass from Miller to Cullen, but MV answered by going 52 yards on its next drive, complete with a 28-yard pass from Keyser to Cam Tillman and an arcing 2-yard pass to Martin for the score and an 8-7 lead with 26 seconds left in the first quarter.
Kennett moved back in front with 3:52 left in the first half when Miller eluded pressure – a theme throughout the game – and found Lamar on the move for a 25-yard touchdown. The lead lasted the 16 seconds it took Ryan Neylon to take the ensuing kickoff, bounce away from tacklers and race 74 yards for a tying touchdown.
The chances to build on that start faded in the second half, but Coll was left with impressions that his team moved closer to figuring out how to make the operation a winning one.
“What we need to do is not get down on ourselves,” he said. “We’ve got to make sure we’re united, and we are.”
Football
Concord 27,
Manchester Memorial 7
Key players: Concord – Matt Burke (TD run, TD catch), Christian McLellan (TD pass), Chris Munnell (INT for TD), Gavin Moody (TD run)
Highlights/key moments: Manchester Memorial scored on its first drive of the game, but the Concord defense adjusted from there, led by linebackers Jack Spooner, Dustin Kay Alex Buteau and Munnell, who a 25-yard interception return for a touchdown with 11:07 left in the second quarter to give Concord a 14-7 lead. Burke scored the last two touchdowns in the third quarter – a 40-yard run and a 4-yard catch.
Coach’s quote: “Everybody pitched in, from the last guy on the depth chart on up. It was a total team win … We’re really happy with the direction we’re heading.” – Concord’s Eric Brown
Records: Concord 1-2, Memorial 0-3
John Stark 42, Lebanon 6
Key players: John Stark – Drew McQuarrie (10 rushes, 157 yards, 3 TD; 6-9 passing, 93 yards, TD), Kyle Booker (17 carries, 110 yards, 2 TD), Jacob Fitts (42-yard TD catch, 8 tackles), Sean Lavigne (7 tackles), Zach Handy (5 tackles), Cooper Gorski (4 tackles), Grady Edwards (3 tackles)
Highlights/key moments: The Generals traveled to Lebanon, scored on their first two drives, held a 42-0 lead by halftime and handed the Raiders their first loss. The John Stark defense contained Lebanon running back Ryan Milliken after a week of practice where, “they heard his name a lot,” according to Stark Coach Rod McQuarrie. The Generals didn’t give up any points until late in the fourth.
Records: John Stark 3-0; Lebanon 2-1
Bow 35, Belmont-Gilford 6
Key players: Bow – Nate Alford (2 TD catches, great defense), Duke Biehl (2 TD), Matt Harkins (2 TD passes), Grady Beaulieu (TD)
Highlights/key moments: The Falcons rolled to a win in their only Friday night game of the season, and Coach Paul Cohen said, “It’s a great feeling to be 3-0,” but Cohen also cautioned that his tam made too many mistakes against Belmont-Gilford and needs to clean things up before next week’s matchup against Plymouth. Biehl opened the scoring with a 1-yard touchdown run and Matt Scanlon had a second-quarter interception to stop a Belmont-Gilford touchdown drive and set up a 30-yard scoring strike from Harkins to Alford. A 7-yard touchdown run from Biehl gave Bow a 21-0 first-quarter lead.
Records: Bow 3-0; Belmont-Gilford 0-3
Bishop Brady 48, Raymond 9
Key players: Bishop Brady – Joe Bernard (5 TD passes), Rich Sullivan (4 TD catches), Aidan Plumpton (40-plus yard TD run)
Highlights/key moments: Both the offensive and defensive lines played well as the Green Giants took a 28-3 halftime lead.
Coach’s quote: “Our lines helped set the pace, but we have some work to do before next week.” – Bishop Brady’s Matt Shaw
Records: Brady 2-1; Raymond 1-2
Kearsarge 57, Fall Mtn. 14
Key players: Kearsarge – Justin Norris (3 rushing TD, punt return TD)
Highlights/key moments: The offensive line opened up plenty of holes for Norris and helped the Cougars lead 50-6 at halftime.
Coach’s quote: “Dominant effort by our group from top to bottom. Great for the development of our team.” – Kearsarge’s Zach Matthews
Records: Kearsarge 2-1; Fall Mountain 0-3
Pelham 4, Bow 1
Key players: Bow –Sonya Delorie (goal), Dom Biron (assist), Courtney Baer (10 saves), Lyndsey Wheeler (4 saves)
Highlights/key moments: Just 5:10 into the game, Delorie and Biron combined to score the first goal Pelham has given up all season. Bow stayed within one goal of the undefeated Pythons before giving up two goals in the final three minutes.
Coach’s quote: “The final score does not reflect the competitive game we had.” – Bow’s Tracy Berube
Records: Bow 3-4; Pelham 6-0
Laconia 3, Bishop Brady 1
Key players: Bishop Brady – Emma Windsor (8 saves), Abby Tremblay (goal), Paige Blake (assist) 17:37 2nd half
Highlights/key moments: After giving up seven offensive corners to Laconia in the first half, the Green Giants didn’t allow any in the second half. On the other end, Brady had three corners in the first half and five in the second. That offensive push was rewarded when Tremblay scored at 17:37 of the second half.
Records: Brady 2-4-1; Laconia 1-5
Gilford 2, Franklin 0
Key players: Franklin – Jess Cilley (10 saves), Lauren Pelletier (offense), Zoe Kaplan (defense)
Highlights/key moments: The Golden Tornadoes held the Eagles scoreless in the second half, but Gilford scored with 17:46 and 7:47 left in the first half and made it stand.
Coach’s quote: “We had the intensity and support needed to play an exciting field hockey game.” – Franklin’s Deb Georgevits
Records: Franklin 2-4; Gilford 6-1
Hopkinton 1, Kearsarge 0
Key players:Hopkinton – Lyndon Flanagan (goal), Beckah Underwood (attack); Kearsarge – Noah Waldron, (defense), Devi Kraushaar (strong scoring chances), Jordan Pollard (midfield)
Coaches’ quotes: “Despite losing, I am very pleased with the game. We couldn’t finish in the circle but the effort and hustle were there and our defense played an excellent game.” – Kearsarge’s Dianne Chadwick
Records: Hopkinton 3-3; Kearsarge 2-4
Monadnock 2, Winnisquam 1
Key players: Winnisquam – Megan Cote (goal)
Highlights/key moments: Cote scored the lone goal for the Bears 8:47 into the second half.
Records: Winnisquam 3-3; Monadnock 7-0
Concord 3, Nashua South 0
Key players: Concord – Lauren Hatch (17 kills), Brenna Vandersea (18 digs), Maria Wimpey (7 kills), Caitlyn Shea (30 assists)
Highlights/key moments: The Tide claimed its fifth straight win, 25-12, 25-20, 25-16. Vandersea had an exceptional night anchoring the defense with great floor coverage and accurate passing, allowing the Tide to get into their offensive rhythm.
Records: Concord 5-0; South 1-4
John Stark 3, Pelham 0
Key players: John Stark – Cassidy Bechtle (5 kills, 2 aces), Sarah Wagner (6 kills, 4 blocks), Nicole Yelle (20 assists, 4 aces), Madison Whitney (first varsity ace)
Highlights/key moments: The Generals started slow in the first two sets, but thanks to good team chemistry they won both of them, 25-20. John Stark comfortably won the third set, 25-12.
Coach’s quote: “The girls played well through some bumps and bruises tonight. They’re starting to build a strong team chemistry.” – John Stark’s Jeff McClellan
Records: John Stark 4-1; Pelham 1-4
Winnisquam 3, Newfound 0
Key players: Shannon Goodwin (18 kills, 11 digs), Meghan Harmon (5 kills, 3 blocks, 3 aces), Talia DeBlaisie (20 assists, 8 digs, 5 kills), Aubrey St. Onge (5 digs, 4 aces, 3 assists), Maddy Skeats 6 digs), Nicole Matcheski (8 assists), Kerry Boyle (6 digs)
Highlights/key moments: Winnisquam was down 13-6 in the first game before coming back for a 25-23 win. The second game was tight until Winnisquam pulled away late for a 25-18 win, and that momentum carried into the third game for a 25-14 win and the sweep.
Records: Winnisquam 4-0; Newfound 3-2
Sunapee 3, Pittsfield 1
Key players: Pittsfield – Emma Smith (6 kills), Ari Cyr (6 kills), Lily Dunagin (11 digs)
Highlights/key moments: The Panthers won a set against the defending champs, but ultimately fell to the Lakers, 25-16, 21-25, 25-14, 25-18.
Coach’s quote: “Pittsfield played a strong team and never gave up. They fought the whole way and look more like a team every game.” – Pittsfield’s Paul Strickhart
Records: Sunapee 4-1; Pittsfield 0-5