Telegraph photo by TOM KING Souhegan's Alex Karpawich wraps up Bishop Guertin quarterback Dylan Santosuosso during the Sabers; 17-7 win on Saturday night in Amherst.

AMHERST – When you think of Souhegan High School football, you usually think of a high scoring offense attack, the fastest show on turf.

This year, think defense. Make that deeeeefense.

In eight quarters, the Sabers have allowed one touchdown, that coming in Saturday night’s 17-7 inter-divisional win over Bishop Guertin at Saber Field.

And that came partly because the 2-0 Sabers had turned the ball over in the red zone.

And meanwhile, Souhegan forced the 0-2 Cardinals into a whopping seven turnovers.

“Two weeks in a row, we’ve given up seven points in two weeks,” Sabers coach Robin Bowkett said, crediting defensive coaches J.T. Anderson, Jacques Elias and Brandon O’Connell. “The defense has been awesome. Seven takeaways; your winning percentage goes up exponentially if you’re plus-five in the turnover margin. Just a great effort by those guys.

“Is that what it was, really?” Guertin coach John Trisciani said when told the turnover total was seven for his team. “I don’t think I’ve ever coached in a game where I saw that.”

It didn’t help the Cardinals that the Sabers held them to 97 total yards, just 20 on the ground. Guertin could never get in a rhythm. But the Sabers didn’t have that same problem, and after a scoreless first quarter they took a 7-0 lead into the half thanks to Austin Jain’s 11 yard TD dart to Jake Civiello with 6:13 left in the second quarter.

The Cards had a chance to answer on their next possession, with a first and goal at the 4. But they moved backwards, losing 17 yards in the next three plays.

“We had guys running the wrong play three plays in a row,” Trisciani said. “I’ve got to do a better job coaching.”

Saber Riley Lawhorn, a non-ground factor after a 236-yard rushing night in th opener, was a factor with his foot, adding a 20-yard field goal to the Souhegan cause with 1:56 left in the third quarter for a 10-0 Souhegan lead.

However, the Cards took advantage of a Saber fumble early in the fourth quarter, setting up at the Souhegan 12. Guertin’s Dylan Santosuosso rumbled in on a QB draw and the PAT made it 10-7 with just over 10 minutes to go.

That was the score when Guertin took over at its own 15 with 6:15 left. However, after recovering a high snap, Santosuosso tossed an interception to Saber Mike Maroun at the Guertin 8.

Jain took just one play to turn it into points, finding Luke Manning – who also had two interceptions – for the 8-yard score and it helped make it 17-7 with 6:05 left.

The Cards then turned it over three more times. Souhegan’s defensive timing was perfect.

“When it counts, when it matters, when the game’s on the line,” Burkett said. “We practice that way. And let them know that situation. The games are easy compared to the way we do it in practice. Just so proud of these guys the way they executed.”

“There were a lot of missed throws,” Trisciani said. “We had a lot of frustration after Week 1 (a 21-14 loss to Merrimack) …So we tried to do a good job this week, correcting things , correcting mistakes, get guys lined up. To come out here and have guys still running the wrong routs.

“The offense is the issue. We didn’t have good quarterback play, I’ve got to be better with the play calling. It was a nightmare. I don’t know if I could pinpoint one thing.”

If you ask the Sabers, they’ll pinpoint seven things, say thank you and get ready for Milford next week.

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