Before the fall sports season even had a chance to begin the questions that circled around it loomed.
Would fans have to be masked up? What would happen if a school had an outbreak? Was it a forfeit or just a postponement?
Thankfully for area schools, there wasn’t much in the way of outbreaks to halt the fall season for any of the autumn programs. The wins and losses aside, the fact that schools were able to play full-length, divisional schedules without the parameters of a regional schedule counts as the biggest highlight in the waning months of 2021.
With the August heat ever so present, the fall season began with a loaded schedule that saw the return of more naturally-balanced competition. The return of a divisional-based schedule revved up some great games across all sports.
Girls’ soccer featured a heavy amount of local schools that showcased talented rosters. Concord posted one of its best seasons in recent memory with a 13-3 regular-season record that included wins over Timberlane, who until it played the Crimson Tide was undefeated.
Division II was a collision course between local girls soccer powers Bow and Pembroke at the onset of the season. The Falcons and Spartans met in a dramatic regular season match near the halfway mark, both with undefeated records. It was the Spartans who won the regular season match in the closing seconds of regulation, but over a month later the Falcons won the state championship in overtime.
Of course, the darling of the soccer season was Hopkinton girls. En route to their fourth consecutive Division III state championship, the Hawks won every game on their schedule and it wasn’t close in score until the championship game – a 2-1 victory over St. Thomas.
Hopkinton’s girls’ soccer team wasn’t the only fall team to experience championship success, however. Both the field hockey and cross-country programs achieved champion status.
There were some boys’ soccer teams too who made noise with late season runs into the playoffs. Highlighted by an upset win over No. 2 Hopkinton, the Giants of Bishop Brady found themselves in the final four before losing to Gilford. Coe-Brown also made it to the final four before losing to the eventual state runner-up Oyster River.
On the gridiron, plenty of new faces took the field but first-year head Concord coach Jim Corkum highlighted the bunch. Even though the Tide’s (3-6) immediate on-field success was difficult to come by, over the course of the season there were changes that were seen. The ability to play all four quarters to the best of their abilities was sought after and eventually found, setting the foundation for an even better year two.
Division III teams saw successful regular season campaigns end in tough playoff losses as Kearsarge and Gilford-Belmont both made it to the postseason but didn’t advance past the first round.
Rounding out the rest of the highlights that capped off a successful fall: Coe-Brown volleyball champions, Bow and Concord golf, Coe-Brown boys cross country and John Stark field hockey.