The Souhegan Sabers and their coach, Robin Bowkett, have been having a ball this season as they head into tonight's battle of unbeatens vs. Plymouth. (Telegraph file photo by TOM KING)

AMHERST – They trusted The System.

For the better part of the previous two seasons with quarterback Romy Jain and running back J.J. Bright, the Souhegan High School football team had been putting up what head coach Robin Bowkett would refer to as “video game numbers” on offense.

They were probably the best couple of Souhegan teams to not win a championship, falling short in the finals in 2022 and semis last year. Then Jain left after his junior year for prep school, and graduation claimed Bright and other key players.

Would it be a rebuild? Nah. And as a result the Sabers head into a battle of two 6-0 teams with Plymouth coming to town on Friday night, a huge Division II matchup.

“I think once we knew for sure – obviously J.J was going to be graduating, but once we knew for sure Romy was leaving, I think it was ‘Let’s look at the board, see what players are coming back and what their strengths are’,” Bowkett said. “And try to do our best to cater to those strengths.

“We’ve always been a quarterback friendly offense, and we can work our offense around what the quarterback can do.”

That quarterback was junior Michael Fiegno, who has beaten teams this season with his short to medium passing game, accurate and on time, but also his running ability.

“We felt like we were going to get some pretty good run game out of Michael Fiengo, but not to this caliber,” Bowkett said, adding “I’ll be honest, he’s one of the most competitive kids that I’ve coached. He hates to lose, he wants to win, and he wants to win really well. And I think the players feed off that energy. And I think they’ll go to battle for him.” Plus his father coached him in Pop Warner and was a high school coach, so his football acumen is sharp.

So in the off-season, Bowkett and his staff tweaked the playbook a bit, “and it’s coming to fruition now. It’s been a ton of fun.”

The Sabers of course had top receiver Brayden Hickman back after his season got cut short last year by a knee injury. They also felt good about back Ryan Raudelunas running the ball, and he had almost 200 yards in the opener. “We were like, ‘All right, let’s go,'” Bowkett said. “He’s got good speed, a North-South type of guy, and his cutback ability is pretty great.”

Bowkett said the Sabers also felt good about their returning linemen on both sides of the ball “and they’re coming together. They’re big, they’re physical, and one of the bigger lines that we’ve had here.”

Three-year starter senior Luis Toledo, Bowkett said, is “one of the toughest kids I’ve ever coached in my coaching career … He just does everything really well.” Bowkett says that junior lineman Sean Reardon came out of the preseason with flying colors. “He had the best camp out of everybody,” Bowkett said, adding tackle Micah Dibble is bringing “a high level of nastiness that we love to see.” Sophomore Jon Bausha has also played well up front, and has a ton of potential, “and he’s a really smart football player,” Bowkett said.

So this line has played well, and that will certainly help vs. the physical style of Plymouth.

“We always say the winning formula is to run the football and stop the run, and win the turnover battle,” Bowkett said. “If you’re able to do two out of the three, you’re doing OK, but we’ve been fortunate this year to be able to do all three. I know it may seem simple, but it’s Division II in New Hampshire, and it’s only going to get colder. You have to be able to run the ball and stop the run to make it to the third week in November.”

But we’re in the third week in October, and the Sabers not only have Plymouth this week but current ruler of Division II Pelham here next Friday. Souhegan’s closest game by score was its 37-14 win over St. Thomas in the season opener. The next two teams are at a whole different level.

“I think it’s just a matter of what are we going to look like in the fourth quarter when they’re tired, when they’re hurt, when it matters,” Bowkett said. “Will they be able to strain for four quarters against a physical football team.

“And Plymouth might be in the same boat. Other than Kingswood (a 26-14 Bobcats road win) they haven’t been in a four-quarter game.”

So Bowkett has a message for his players.

“Really I just want our guys to get after it, to dominate on every play, to dominate their job,” he said. “One play at a time, no matter what the opponent is, no matter what the score is, no matter where we’re playing. And how we battle through adversity, I’d love to see that too. They know what they’re in for this week and next.”

Bowkett likes the way the schedule has the two powers who played in last year’s title game back to back.

“I actually enjoy the way the schedule is,” he said. “We’ll play these two games, then we’re playing play HB (Hollis Brookline) on Halloween on Thursday, which will give us an extra day heading into the playoffs.

“I’m intrigued to see how this week goes. As long as our guys fight to the end, and compete and get after it, and play as hard as they can for as long as they can, and lean on their teammates when things are going bad, that’s all we can ask. It’ll be fun.”

The Souhegan System usually is.