Undefeated season will be hard for Cardinals to follow

How do you follow up an act that was the best ever?

That’s the challenge that awaits the Bishop Guertin High School football program. Things will be remarkably different for the Cardinals next year, although they will enjoy the fruits of their dominant 12-0 championship season for a while, capped off by Saturday’s 31-0 win over Winnacunnet in the Division II final.

But eventually, the reality of losing 34 seniors will hit. With many clamoring for Cardinals coach and athletic director Tony Johnson to push for a move up to Division I, it would still be hard to imagine the Cards being as good next season, understandably. The program is certainly stacked long-term, but this 2009 team almost seems like it was a once-in-a-lifetime deal. The 31-point output in the title game was the lowest the team had all year but its defense pitched four straight shutouts, all against playoff teams, almost unfathomable in the sport.

“Thirty-four kids,” Johnson said. “We don’t know how bare the cupboard is going to be. We’ve got a few people, but it’s going to be interesting to see how we re-tool this thing.

“This, I think, is going to be my toughest coaching job, and for our staff to get this team back. The last time we lost as many seniors was the ’98 team and I think we went 4-6.”

In fact, the team that some might say will be the one to beat in any re-organized Division II will be Winnacunnet, which should have 20-plus seniors next year, including quarterback Steve Cronan, whom the Cards defense stifled completely on Saturday after his 1,000-yard rushing, 1,000-yard throwing regular season.

“My opinion, that Winnacunnet team, because they have Cronan and so many backs back, that’s definitely the pieces to be a favorite, no doubt,” Johnson said. “They look a lot like us last year, they have a lot of talent on that team, a lot of speed, a lot of tenacity.”

But Johnson will have the tandem of quarterback Steve Cuipa and all-purpose back Mike Kelly. The pair hooked up on a long pass to start the regular season against Pinkerton, and on Saturday capped off their remarkable on field compatibility with a 46-yard touchdown pass.

“We have a lot of seniors going, but Kelly’s coming back, I’m coming back,” Cuipa said. “A couple of guys know what spots we need to fill. We all need to work in the off-season and get ready.”

“Coop was on,” Johnson said. “He did a great job. He was right on the money.”

But it was that non-league opener against Pinkerton, a 35-7 win, that began the Cards storybook road.

“The Pinkerton game was kind of an eye-opener,” senior running back Adam Hall said. “We expected it to be a lot closer, like the previous year. But seeing how we beat a very good team 35-7, it was kind of like ‘Wow. Something special could happen.’”

And it did.

The pressure had to mount on the Cards as the season went on. But Hall said he sensed this team was up to the challenge as far back as the summer.

“Double sessions,” he said. “I could feel that we were having very good practices instead of OK practices. I’d go home and I’d talk to my Dad (Steve Hall), who is very into football, and tell him we had a good practice today, we’re looking good, we’re in shape and we’re doing a good job this year.”

Now the focus is on next year.

“These guys are always going to be tough because (Johnson) is a great coach,” Guertin senior linebacker Nick Phillips said. “They’re always going to be well-coached. There’s probably going to be some holes to fill, but we’ve got some guys, Coop, Kelly coming back, couple of linemen. They’ll be fine.”

Ironically, one of the spots that may need a replacement could be on Johnson’s staff. There are strong rumors that Phillips’ father, Mark Phillips, may hang up his longtime offensive coordinator duties. He has been Johnson’s right hand man throughout the Guertin resurgence.

“No comment,” Phillips said when asked about the rumors after Saturday’s game. “Let the kids enjoy this. As of today, I’m still a member of this staff, let’s put it that way.”

And a valued one at that. Phillips’ brother, Ted, the president of the Chicago Bears, flew back for Saturday’s game and delivered a pre-game pep talk to the players. The game, unlike the season, started slow as it was scoreless for much of the first half.

“We knew Winnacunnet was going to be tough,” Nick Phillips said. “They were the toughest team we faced all year.”

Which is what every team on the schedule ended up saying about Guertin. A team, and a season, for the ages.

Keep away

From its first drive to its first kickoff, Nashua North’s strategy was obvious in Saturday’s Division I title game. The Titans did everything they could to keep Salem game-breakers Max Jacques and Jerickson Fedrick from getting the ball in space, where they killed teams all season.

After going 16 plays, all runs, to score on its first drive, North’s first kickoff was an onside kick. It would try another in the third quarter when North kicked off from the Salem 45-yard line following an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Salem.

“A good defense is the offense holding onto the ball and keeping their offense off the field,’’ North coach Jason Robie said.

North used precision squib kicks by senior Anthony Guidice rather than his usual booming kickoffs on its other kickoffs, preventing long runbacks.

Iron men

North took full advantage of senior Dylan Brodeur and junior Andre Williams on Saturday. The duo rarely left the field, getting their only breaks on defensive kickoffs and punts.

“Champion’s effort today,’’ Robie said. “They are champions. I know they didn’t get the big piece of wood or the banner, but they are champions, all of them.

“I wouldn’t trade any kid in the locker room for anyone else. I didn’t know what to tell them after the game. I didn’t prepare a speech because I honestly thought we were going to win today. Take nothing away from Salem, they are a good football team and the best team in the state.’’

Now he has just a few days to get his team ready for Thanksgiving. Nashua South faced the same challenge the last two years.

“It’s going to be tough,’’ Robie said. “We have to switch gears, but you don’t have the kind of season we had without being ready to play ball.’’

Staff writer Gary Fitz also contributed to this story.