Souhegan football coach Robin Bowkett saw his methods come to fruition as the Sabers won the Division II title this past Saturday in his fourth season on the job. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

AMHERST – He arrived back at Souhegan High School four years ago as a man with a plan.

After all, Robin Bowkett was a Saber alum, a former quarterback who was ready to be the man in charge of the Souhegan football program.

And a few months after he arrived in the spring of 2017, a freshman class arrived that becoame the core of the program’s first state championship in four years.

“You put on the tape, Souhegan has always had athletes,” Bowkett said. “We had athletes all over the place, so it’s how can we best utilize these guys.

“Number two, if I’m going to be the head coach here, I’ve got to be in the building, and I’m not taking this job unless I’m in the building. I’m the guy who needs to be around these kids all the time for what they’re asking that position (of head coach) to do. Once that was solidified, that made it easier.”

So did the fact he was an alum.

“Being an Amherst kid, playing at Souhegan, playing for Coach B (former longtime head man and current assistant Mike Beliveau), I think that carries a lot of weight with these players,” Bowkett said. “I can relate to them, I was here 20 years ago. Just putting my own twist on it, having fun at practice, competing, playing music, enjoying every day at practice because it can be a grind at times.”

Indeed, it was an upbeat, high flying act that the players embraced.

“Look, if we’re going to work really, really hard, in 85 degree weather, and it’s practice No. 12 in the middle of August, we might as well have fun if we’re working really, really hard,” he said.

And Bowkett also became close with the man he replaced, Mike Lochman, and got some great input. Lochman stepped away in 2016 due to family and work commitments.

“He was awesome with the transition, and he’s been awesome the last few years,” Bowkett said. “But I think just like anything, change is sometimes, people just need to change. At the time, it couldn’t be better for me and my family, and for the program and school as well.”

Bowkett’s teams got the eighth seed in Division II his first year, and were eliminated by Plymouth. His second year, the Sabers made the semis after running the regular season table following a 2-3 start. Last year’s was shellacked by Bow in the quarters, losing best player Trey Johnson to a summer knee injury.

Thus last November he then asked his future senior leaders what would it take to get to the finals when they were watching Hollis Brookline win it all at UNH’s Wildcat Stadium last year. The answer from top player Riley Lawhorn was hard work and senior leadership.

“We deserved to get our tails kicked in in that game against Bow,” Bowkett said. “It was a good, teachable moment for our kids.”

And the words from Lawhorn signaled to him his message and lessons were being received. “One hundred percent,” he said. “Right after that, it was without hesitation, that was their answer. It was like ‘Can’t wait to get back to work, get in the weight room, and let’s move on from this and let’s look forward.’

“A good friend of mine at Holy Cross, (head coach) Bob Chesney, said champions aren’t won on that final day, they’re won months before with a lot of hard work and great leadership.”

This was the plan. And the players drank the Kool-Aid. “Building the trust and comradery, the thing it takes is time,” Bowkett said. “We invested a lot of time in these kids and these kids lives. That’s where you build that trust amongst the players.”

Bowkett knew this senior group better than anyone as they went through the program with him.

“We felt really good about this senior group,” Bowkett said. “They were studs as freshmen, they played about a five game schedule. We knew this group was going to be awesome.”

Of course, Bowkett’s plan was nearly derailed by the pandemic. So he tried to keep a steady hand, and the Sabers played all five games on their regular season schedule, losing only the first round game vs. Manchester West.

“Each game I wasn’t too high, wasn’t too low,” Bowkett said. “Heck, if we only played two games, great; we weren’t sure what to expect. There were times that it felt like a JV game, with not many in the stands.”

But then it changed, and early in the season Bowkett felt he had a team that could be special.

“The biggest difference that we had this year was that the senior leadership was well seasoned, been in a lot of close games, and this group is going to take us to the promised land, wherever we want to go.

“So we’re going to come out to practice flying around, enjoy it, enjoy being a high school kid, playing high school football, nothing better than that. And our kids did that from Day One all the way to Saturday…

“It’s going to be a memory they’ll cherish forever.”

A memory their coach was hoping for the last four years.