Kearsarge running back Justin Norris (right) has already rushed for 1,449 yards this season.
Kearsarge running back Justin Norris (right) has already rushed for 1,449 yards this season. Credit: Monitor file

Monadnock (5-0) at Kearsarge (3-2)

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Kearsarge – Justin Norrios, RB; Noah Tucker, LB; David Benjamin, DE/TE; Monadnock – Levi Bassingthwaite, RB; Max Redfield, RB

NOTES: After moving from Division II to Division III, Kearsarge has been playing unfamiliar teams this year. But that won’t be the case tonight against Monadnock. The Huskies were also in D-II last year and this will be the fifth straight season they’ve faced Kearsarge. The Cougars have won three of the last four meetings, including a 38-26 win last year, but they know Monadnock presents a different challenge this year.

“Monadnock is the team to beat in Division II this year,” Kearsarge Coach Zach Matthews said. “We have to prove we belong in that conversation.”

Norris has a stunning 1,449 rushing yards through five games this season. But he’ll be facing a Monadnock defense that shut out its first four opponents before giving up its first points of the year in its last game, a 27-12 win over Inter-Lakes. The Huskies use a run-stopping 6-2 defensive front with four big and effective interior linemen.

Kearsarge’s Tucker has been excellent at middle linebacker, and he will be tested by Bassingthwaite and Monadnock’s wishbone offense.

PREDICTION: Kearsarge 21, MONADNOCK 20

Plymouth (6-0) at John Stark (6-0)

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Stark – Drew McQuarrie, QB; Kyle Booker, RB; Jacob Fitts, WR; Plymouth – Garrett Macomber, FB; Evan Martin, QB; Nolan Farina, RB

NOTES: In what is sure to be a high-scoring affair between two of Division II’s North Conference undefeated teams, the Generals will have their hands full slowing down the rotating slew of runners in the Bobcats backfield, including the powerful Macomber, whose rushed for 1,353 yards and 17 touchdowns through six games.

“They’re always tough and physical and we have to match that,” Stark Coach Rod McQuarrie said. “They do what they do and they do it very well. We’re not built that way offensively and it’s tough to stop. We’ve watched countless hours of film on them already and they do a lot of different things.”

The Generals, averaging 41 points per game, will lean on dual-threat quarterback Drew McQuarrie while hoping to control the game in the trenches, both offensively opening up holes, and getting pressure defensively to stop Plymouth’s wing-t offense.

“Our offensive line and defensive line to be honest with you have controlled every game that we’ve played. We go how they go,” Coach McQuarrie said.

PREDICTION: JOHN STARK 36, PLYMOUTH 28