Souhegan running back Riley Lawhorn was the Division II Southern Cluster Player of the Year. (Telegraph file photo by TOM KING)

The transition from fall to winter continues with honors from the last few months and news heading into the abbreviated winter schedule:

From the fall: Souhegan dominated the Division II Southern Cluster en route to the state title, and that was reflected in the South’s All-State team in which senior running back Riley Lawhorn was named Player of the Year and Robin Bowkett Coach of the Year.

The FirstTeam Offense had five Sabers on it: senior quarterback Austin Jain, senior wideout Luke Manning, senior Reese Colby, and senior linemen Nate Fritz and Ryan Charest.

The Sabers had six on defense as well: senior defensive linemen Alex Karpawich and Will Boyle, senior linebacker Mike Maroun and junior linebackers Tony Garrant and Mitch Hauser, and senior defensive back Jake Civiello.

Other locals on the team were dynamic Hollis Brookline senior running back Mark Andre-Thermitus, plus fellow Cavaliers Blake Bergeron (senior wideout), senior defensive lineman Adam Slater, and senior linebacker Quinn Connors.

Milford also had its share of players: junior running back Caden Zalenski plus senior linemen Owen Marble and Drew Hodges on offense, and senior defensive back Darrion Kimball on defense.

GUERTIN ADDS BEDFORD

The high school basketball season doesn’t get underway for another two to three weeks, but there is a date from the first weekend of Division I play to circle on the calendar: Sunday, Jan. 17.

That’s when the Bishop Guertin High School girls visit Bedford in a 4 p.m. clash. The Bulldogs weren’t in BG’s schedule cluster but it looks like the Cards will play Nashua South (in their opener) once and Nashua North once, and inserted Bedford for that Sunday game. They also face Pinkerton, Salem, Windham and Merrimack twice. Those home-at-home meetings are all back-to-back.

It was a great move for fans to get the Cards and Bulldogs on the floor against each other as, depending on the growth of BG’s young players, the two look to be the top Division I contenders. They were slated to meet in the semifinals last March before the plug got pulled on the rest of the tournament due to the pandemic.

In case you’re wondering, Bedford’s schedule cohorts are Manchester Central and Memorial, Trinity, Concord, Goffstown and then, besides the one game vs. BG, one more vs. Portsmouth.

Should be fun. Don’t forget, if they follow the fall system in most divisions, teams will play their way out of their cohort groups to make the semifinals.

NO NASHUA HOCKEY MATCHUPS

Unless there’s a schedule change, the Nashua North-Souhegan and South-Pelham hockey teams won’t face each other, thanks to the pause at Souhegan that forced the cancellation of all the January Saber-Titan games, including one vs. South-Pelham.

And Bishop Guertin isn’t slated to face either Nashua co-op team. The Cards cohorts are Salem, Pinkerton, Londonderry, Windham and Hanover, with single games vs. Trinity (opener),Bishop Brady and Exeter.

ON PAUSE

As a reminder, there are no practices this week for any local schools as there was an agreed holiday pause from Dec. 24 through New Year’s. Teams are back at it on Monday, Jan. 4.