Futbol has reigned supreme for schools in the capital area. Football, however, hasn’t been as kind and for a multitude of reasons.
Between new coaches, new systems and new faces in familiar jerseys, it’s been tough season on the gridiron. Although a challenging year, that doesn’t mean there hasn’t been some success along the way for teams.
A look for at the local teams as we’ve passed the halfway mark of the season. In pattern with the pieces in the series, we’ll start with Division I and work downward.
■ Record: 1-4.
■ Key wins: Spaulding.
■ Outlook: Going into this season, there were plenty of question marks surrounding the Crimson Tide. How would the team fare with a new coach? What will the style of play be? Ask those questions to anyone within the program and you’ll find that the answers are still being written. A shutout over Spaulding in the season opener has been the highlight for Concord. Its last four games have seen the Tide either ahead at halftime or close marginally; the second half in those games haven’t been kind. Look for the Tide to get back on track this week against Manchester Central, which is still searching for its first win.
■ Record: 1-3.
■ Key wins: Souhegan.
■ Outlook: Purely from a football standpoint, it’s been an atypical season for Bow. This program has had to endure and persevere through more hardship than any on-field test could provide. The Falcons’ 29-26 win over Souhegan will be one of the many things remembered from this campaign. Still, they’re looking for their first home win and have a good chance when they play Hollis-Brookline.
■ Record: 3-2.
■ Key wins: Sanborn, Pembroke.
■ Outlook: Gilford-Belmont holds a unique distinction amongst its area brethren – it’s the only program with a winning record. The Eagles rattled off three consecutive wins to start the season, including a one-point victory over Sanborn, but they’ve run into difficulty the last two weeks with losses to Lebanon and Timberlane. Gilford-Belmont will look to find the win column for the fourth time on Saturday with a game against Kennett.
■ Record: 1-3.
■ Key win: John Stark.
■ Outlook: The Redhawks picked up their first win of the season days ago after defeating John Stark by a touchdown. Do-it-all senior Jack Morrall scored all five of HDH’s touchdowns and continues to impress week in and week out, even if the scoreboard hasn’t reflected it yet.
■ Record: 1-4.
Key win: Merrimack Valley.
■ Outlook: John Stark has already improved upon last year’s results merely by winning a game. It’s a young team and a young program with a new – albeit an experienced – coach. The only difference between the Generals being 1-4 and 3-2 are their games against Manchester West and HDH, which they lost by a combined 16 points.
■ Record: 1-4.
■ Key win: Kingswood.
■ Outlook: Coach Joe Raycraft at the beginning of the season told the Monitor that “we look to improve each game and for players to step up and do their job.” The Pride’s schedule hasn’t given them any favors, but they’ve in bits and pieces accomplished what Raycraft said. Despite being on the wrong end of big losses, they haven’t been shut out and average 20.8 points a game.
■ Record: 1-4.
■ Key win: Kingswood.
■ Outlook: After a four-week stretch that saw the Spartans only put up an average of 11.7 points a game, they finally released some of their frustrations and earned their first victory of the year behind a 28-0 rout against Kingswood. Pembroke now looks to build upon that game with a contest against evenly matched Merrimack Valley this Saturday.
■ Record: 2-2.
■ Key wins: Stevens.
■ Outlook: An 0-2 start was quickly reversed for Kearsarge with wins in the last two behind dominant performances on both sides of the ball. In those two games, the defense has allowed an average of 11 points while the offense scored an average of 37.
■ Record: 0-5.
■ Key game: Stevens.
■ Outlook: The Bears, like several other area teams, are in the midst of finding an identity and rebuilding the program. First-year head coach Tim Hyde has had a tough go with his young team, but it’s building valuable experience week in and week out.
■ Record: 1-4.
■ Key win: Newfound.
■ Outlook: The Giants’ lone win against Newfound was a competitive 21-14 final. Their other games, however, haven’t been as close, but the Giants have games against Franklin and Raymond that should provide good tests for them.
■ Record: 0-5.
■ Key game: Newfound.
■ Outlook: The challenges of navigating a new program in a quasi-post COVID environment have been evident for Franklin’s first-year head coach, Tim Snow. The Golden Tornadoes have scored just once in their five games, but to show up every week, you never know when and how the first win will come. A game against Bishop Brady might be the one for Franklin.