Souhegan's Brayden Hickman gets a punt off despite pressure from John Stark during Saturday's Division II quarterfinal game in Amherst. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

AMHERST – It’s playoff time, and the Souhegan High School football team has embraced the difference.

So it didn’t matter that the No. 4 Sabers had manhandled No. 5 John Stark in their regular season meeting by 35 points.

Thus they went out and controlled things again, 34-6, in the Division II quarterfinals at Calvetti Field and now at 8-2 head to take on No. 1 Plymouth (10-0) in the semis next Saturday at Plymouth. The Bobcats blew away No. 8 Merrimack Valley 42-7 in their quarterfinal.

“It is coachspeak, but you have to control what you can control, and not worry about any outside factors or who’s going to get upset (in the playoffs),” Sabers coach Robin Bowkett said after the win. “They’re a better team than the team we saw in Week 3, they’ve improved all year … Our guys had a great week of practice, they got better and they just came out and dominated every play, no matter what the score, what the opponent, where they play. We’re in the playoffs now so there’s no tomorrow.

“You’re going to get everyone’s best, you’ve got to give everyone (your) best. You have to stick together and they stuck together today.”

Bowkett felt his players did that on Saturday, despite a few hiccups as they went into halftime leading 21-0 and didn’t let up.

Brody Smith caught a TD pass from junior QB Michael Fiengo, while Fiengo later ran one in as did Ryland Raudelunas right before the half to give the Sabers their 21-point lead.

In the second half, a Fiengo-to-Brayden Hickman deep pass plus a Hickman run to seal the deal. The only blemish was a fumble scoop-and-score of about 50-plus yards by the Generals’ Joey Dykstra.

The game may have turned when an inadvertent whistle caused a John Stark punt had to be replayed, and the Sabers ended up blocking the repeat kick, setting up an easy score.

“We knew they were going to come and they blocked it,” Stark coach Ray Kershaw said, his team finishing up at 6-4. “That was a tough one.”

“I thought we handled the line of scrimmage,” Bowkett said. “I think we wore them out eventually. The defense did a great job. … Our defense let up zero points today.”

“They get off that ball quick and they’re coached very well,” Generals coach Ray Kershaw said. “We knew it was going to be a tough game going into it. We have two sophomores on our offensive line and so we’re young this year. We knew it was going to be tough and they’re a very good team.”

So now it’s back to Plymouth, scene of a semis shocker last year when Plymouth upset the Sabers. And now Souhegan would love to return the favor vs. the unbeaten top seeded Bobcats.

“No matter who the opponent, we’ll look to go 1-0 next week no matter who it is,” Bowkett said before finding out the Plymouth outcome. “Either way it’s going to be awesome, we’re going to love every bit of it.”