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FOOTBALL FRIDAY: A capsule look at key final weekend

By Tom King - Staff Writer | Oct 29, 2021

Nashua South's Josh Compoh can't recover to stop Windham's A.J. Fox from picking off a pass in last week's Panther win. South is at Keene tonight while Bishop Guertin will have to deal with Fox and the Jaguars on Saturday. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

It’s the end of the line this weekend for a lot of area high school football teams.

As it stands now, only Bishop Guertin, Milford and Campbell have secured post season berths, and there are a couple of teams still barely breathing or looking to play spoiler.

Here’s a capsule look at the final regular season weekend:

DIVISON I

NASHUA NORTH (4-4) at LONDONDERRY (7-1)

WHEN: Friday, 7 p.m.

WHERE: LHS Sawyer Field.

LAST WEEK: Salem 35, Londonderry 21; North 42, Pinkerton 41.

LAST YEAR: North 36, Londonderry 7.

FYI: The Lancers will be anxious to rebound from their only loss of the season, while the Titans are playing some of their best football under QB Derek Finlay & Co. Londonderry claims top seed with a win; North likely can’t make the playoffs, but that doesn’t mean they won’t play hard as they have all season.

NASHUA SOUTH (3-5) at KEENE (4-4)

WHEN: Friday, 7 p.m.

WHERE: KHS Alumni Field.

LAST WEEK: Nashua South 20, Windham 14; Keene 42, Merrimack 35.

LAST YEAR: Did not play.

FYI: It’s an abrupt end to the season for the Panthers, who expected bigger things. They’ll be without senior QB Mike Rutstein, who broke his collarbone toward the end of last week’s win; Karsten Lemire may take that spot. The Blackbirds are led by back Jarod Rokes, and are very effective in pounding the ball.

MERRIMACK (3-5) at SALEM (5-2)

WHEN: Friday, 7 p.m.

WHERE: Salem’s Grant Field.

LAST WEEK: Keene 42, Merrimack 35; Salem 35, Londonderry 21.

LAST YEAR: Salem 48, Merrimack 13.

FYI: Merrimack, with its offense led by QB Kyle Crampton, is the type of team that could give the Blue Devils trouble. Likewise, Salem, with its speed game led by Aidan McDonald, will give Merrimack fits as well. The Blue Devils would love to head into the playoffs on a good note with an outside shot at top seed.

ALVIRNE (0-7) at PINKERTON (6-2)

WHEN: Friday, 7 p.m.

WHERE: Pinkerton’s Alumni Field.

LAST WEEK: Bishop Guertin 42, Alvirne 18; Nashua North 42, Pinkerton 41.

LAST YEAR: Did not play.

FYI: The Cole Yennaco/Nick Campos-led Astros will certainly want to recover from the last minute loss to the Titans and go into the playoffs on a good note, likely but not definitely at Bishop Guertin. Alvirne is dying for a win and has some talent in tight end Brendan Graham, wideout Anthony Ferullo, and back Bryant Montgomery.

BISHOP GUERTIN (6-2) at WINDHAM (1-7)

WHEN: Saturday, 12 p.m.

WHERE: Windham HS.

LAST WEEK: Nashua South 20, Windham 14; BG 42, Alvirne 18.

FYI: The Cards will just try to keep things rolling and come out of this one healthy to be ready for a home playoff game against likely Pinkerton or possibly Londonderry, depending on how things shake out. Back Charlie Bellavance was held out the last two weeks with a sore shoulder, his status for this week was up in the air but wouldn’t be surprising to see him out one more week. Watch out for Windham back Tiger An, especially in what should be a wet, sloppy day.

DIVISION II

MILFORD (6-1) at TIMBERLANE (8-0).

WHEN: Friday, 7 p.m.

WHERE: Timberlane Regional in Plaistow.

LAST WEEK: Timberlane 49, Kingswood 0; Milford 35, Hillsboro-Deering/Hopkinton 7.

LAST YEAR: Did not play.

FYI: Obviously the strength of Milford offensively and defensively are with the foursome of Caden Zalenski, Logan Barnhill, Ben Kilgore and junior QB Charlie Urda. The Spartans will watch out for Owls back Dan Post, who ran for two TDs and 93 yards last week, as well as Dom Pallaria. The closest game the Owls have had was a 28-13 win over Plymouth; they’ve scored over 40 points in all of their other games.

HANOVER (5-3) AT HOLLIS BROOKLINE (2-6)

WHEN: Friday, 7 p.m.

WHERE: HB High School.

LAST WEEK: Lebanon 42, Hanover 0; St. Thomas 18, Hollis Brookline 8.

LAST YEAR: Did not play.

FYI: The Marauders will be looking to snap a three-game losing streak after starting out 5-0; they’ll be sure to have a playoff spot if they win this, rather than get caught up in the point system, etc. HB showed a lot of improvement in playing a hot St. Thomas team tough; as always QB Riley McQuilken will set the pace in this season finale.

SOUHEGAN (4-3) at JOHN STARK (1-7)

WHEN: Saturday, 2 p.m.

WHERE: JS Regional in Weare.

LAST WEEK: Bow 45, John Stark 12; Souhegan did not play.

LAST YEAR: Did not play.

FYI: The Sabers will certainly need this to get a playoff spot, but may need help in the form of a Manchester West loss at Bow – certainly possible. Otherwise it looks like the Blue Knights would be in,but all that is conjecture. Key for the QB Romy Jain-led Sabers is to win, period.

DIVISION III

LACONIA (4-4) at CAMPBELL (6-2)

WHEN: Saturday 11 a.m.

WHERE: Campbell High School.

LAST WEEK: Campbell 15, Stevens 7; Trinity 28, Laconia 21.

FYI: It appears the Cougars are locked in to playing Trinity in the semifinals, but you never know. Laconia played the Pioneers tough last weekend so expect a tough game for the Nate Perry/Jackson Kanaley led Cougars. Check the school to make sure this one isn’t moved to Sunday due to the recent passing of Laconia principal Robert Bennett after a fight against cancer.