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High School Football Matchups for the week

By Tom King and Hector Longo - | Sep 13, 2019

Division I

SPAULDING (0-1)

AT NASHUA NORTH (1-0)

WHEN: Friday, 6:30 p.m.

WHERE: Stellos Stadium.

LAST YEAR: Did not play.

LAST WEEK: Merrimack 33, Spaulding 28; North 35, Winnacunnet 8.

FYI: The Red Raiders senior-centric team led by Logan Gadbois gave Merrimack a run for its money last weekend, but the Titans have the best player on the field in QB Curtis Harris and also some others who are coming into their own, like receiver Xavier Provost. Tough task for the Red Raiders.

DOVER (1-0) AT MERRIMACK (1-0)

WHEN: Friday, 6:30 p.m.

WHERE: Merrimack High School’s Student Memorial Field.

LAST YEAR: Did not play.

LAST WEEK: Dover 28, Keene 14; Merrimack 33, Spaulding 28

FYI: The stars came out for the Tomahawks in Rochester, with Devin Wood, Jared Dyer, and Zach Twardosky either catching, running, or throwing for TDs under QB James Dowling’s direction. Expect that to happen again, but defensively the ‘Hawks will have to watch out for Green Wave sophomore QB Darien Lopez-Sullivan (65-yard TD run last week) and Dom Sprague (four catches, 109 yards, including a 79-yard screen pass score). It’s a new era for Dover under new head coach Eric Cumba.

NASHUA SOUTH (1-0)

AT BISHOP GUERTIN (0-1)

WHEN: Saturday, 6:30 p.m.

WHERE: Stellos Stadium.

LAST YEAR: Nashua South 33, BG 8.

LAST WEEK: Nashua South 10, Portsmouth 6; Exeter 29, Bishop Guertin 6.

FYI: In a lot of respects, the Cards can’t catch a break. They lost some key players that would have been eligible to play this year for various reasons, and then in the preseason lost QB Hayden Moses for the season to a torn ACL. So it’s baptism by fire for junior QB Josh Larson. His favorite target is already big tight end Kyle Baker, and the Cards will need a running game to take the pressure off their young QB. South, meanwhile, had trouble putting up points last week as sophomore QB Michael Rustein was picked off three times and top target Jason Compoh was just coming back from injury. But the Panther defense was superb and could make it tough for the rival Cards.

Division II

MILFORD (1-0)

AT MANCHESTER WEST (1-0)

WHEN: Friday, 7 p.m.

WHERE: At West High School Stadium

LAST YEAR: Milford 35, West12

LAST WEEK: Milford 35, Hollis Brookline 21; West 23, Sanborn 7

FYI: Each of these two turned in impressive ground performances in the opener. Gavin Urda and JR Ughu rolled up nearly 400 yards of their own for the Spartans. Meanwhile, the Knights had a couple of 100-yard rushers of their own in Xavier Burpee (21-125) and Jamal Tyler (9-107).

Where last week, the Spartans passed the defensive test in the aerial game, it’s the courage part of trying to halt the run this time around.

Kyle Forsley, Samson Hodges, Caden Zalenski and Co. look to be up to the test.

CONVAL (1-0) AT SOUHEGAN (1-0)

WHEN: Friday, 7 p.m.

WHERE: At Sabers Stadium, Amherst

LAST YEAR: Souhegan 13, ConVal 0

LAST WEEK: ConVal 21, Kingswood 17; Souhegan 34, St. Thomas 25

FYI: ConVal snapped an eight-game losing streak with last week’s victory.

The visitors will look to play keep away from Souhegan by keeping the ball in the hands of QB Peter Weatherill and fullback Justin Burns.

Souhegan enjoyed a fine start offensively with the two-headed QB tandem of Luke Manning and Austin Jain.

The winner here gets a huge boost in the early-season race.

ALVIRNE (1-0) AT ST. THOMAS (0-1)

WHEN: Saturday, 2 p.m.

WHERE: At St. Thomas in Dover

LAST YEAR: St. Thomas 26, Alvirne 22 in the regular season; Alvirne 22, St. Thomas 19 in state semifinals.

LAST WEEK: Alvirne 15, Pelham 0; Souhegan 34, St. Thomas 25

FYI: St. Thomas found itself a quarterback last week in Cam Paquette. He connected on 31 of 55 passes for 335 yards and four TDs in the loss to Souhegan. Of course, having a target like Will MacLean will make things easier for any QB.

The Saints are pretty familiar with Alvirne.

Kyle Gora and Co. upset St. Thomas in the state semifinals last November.

Make no bones about. Shutting out Pelham last week was a huge defensive performance by Alvirne.

HANOVER (0-1)

AT HOLLIS BROOKLINE (0-1)

WHEN: Saturday, 2 p.m.

WHERE: At the Swamp at HBHS in Hollis

LAST YEAR: Hanover 20, Hollis Brooklline 14

LAST WEEK: Milford 35, Hollis Brookline 21; Kennett 35, Hanover 0

FYI: A playoff team a year, Hanover graduated a ton, and it showed in the opener. QB Caleb Morse is the only senior returner for a program that might be on the rebuild. Hollis Brookline deserves credit for handling a scramble drill when injuries at key spots sent the Cavaliers deep into the roster. If the Cavs can clean up the penalties, they should be fine behind gunslinger Sander Wimmer.

Division III

CAMPBELL (1-0)

AT EPPING-NEWMARKET (0-1)

WHEN: Saturday, 2 p.m.

WHERE: At Epping High School

LAST YEAR: Campbell 43, Epping-Newmarket 6

LAST WEEK: Stevens 48, Epping-Newmarket 20; Campbell 30, Somersworth 0

FYI: Campbell proved to be as good as advertised last week as a youthful offensive line earned its stripes in the shutout win.

Stevens High of Claremont got physical with the Devils successfully a week ago. Expect more of the same from Keegan Mills, Carter Vedrani and Co.

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