Champions times two.

One local high school title in a day is always something to celebrate, but to win two championships in a day, well, that’s special.

It’s happened before. Hollis Brookline went two straight springs with baseball and boys volleyball titles; and last spring we had the Bishop Guertin lacrosse crown plus HB’s volleyball threepeat. Heck, we had one this fall already with two soccer crowns in the same night at Exeter, first the Hollis Brookline girls soccer team and then the Milford boys.

In football? Well, it had been four years, the last time being the Nashua North championship in Division I and Souhegan’s in Division II.

Well, Saturday marked another one involving the Sabers, as they edged Pelham 14-11 at Pinkerton Academy for the Division II crown and then at about the same time, Campbell throttled the clearly overmatched Inter-Lakes/Moultonborough Lakers, 48-7.

The scores tell you the difference, dont’ they? The Cougars were expected to win, heavily favored not just in this game but from the start of the season. They had the Hershberger twins, Nick being perhaps Division III’s best defender and all Scott did was wrap up a career as the state’s all-time leading rusher. But the challengers were few and far between. Trinity, who split the last previous two finals with the Cougars, moved up to Division II. Pelham had moved up a few years earlier. Monadnock, a longtime rival, got knocked off by Inter-Lakes/Moultonborough in the semis, but the Cougars had already beaten the Huskies soundly during the season.

Yes, this was Campbell’s year to shine.

“We had the mindset from the get-go that if we could stay healthy we’d be one of the best teams in the division,” Campbell coach Glen Costello said. “We were able to overcome some injuries early.”

They were dominant. None of their wins was by single digits. Two years ago, when the Hershbergers were sophomores, they rose up through the ranks and upset the Pioneers, and celebrated like crazy. Yesterday, while they celebrated, everything seemed routine. It’s why Scott Hershberger said afterward that it was a sense of “relief” after the game ended and he and his brother Nick were basically able to fulfill what has become their legacy.

But don’t get us wrong — we had the opportunity to watch two great football players and a great, well-coachd team. That’s special.

About 25 miles away, ironically, it was another Souhegan championship that to be honest was very much like what Campbell did in 2022. The Sabers lost back-to-back games at their home, the same Calvetti Field where Campbell won yesterday, to Plymouth and Pelham in late October. They got back on track with a big win over local rival Hollis Brookline in what Souhegan coach Robin Bowkett called “a get-right game”, and boy, did they get right and then some. They went up to Plymouth two weeks later and handed the Bobcats their first home playoff loss since 1999. Then they snapped the Pythons’ string of four straigh state titles, two in Division III and two in II, by the slimmest of margins. And remember, last year was the year Souhegan thougt would be theirs, with QB Romy Jain and running back J.J. Bright, he of the 400-plus yard game. Both were now gone, and there was some unknown going into the season. But along came a junior QB named Michael Fiengo who can run like crazy and also hit the key passes. Fiengo said during this past week that the win over the Bobcats “was as close to perfect as you can get” and he said that Pelham would be a challenge. “We haven’t beaten Pelham yet,” he said early in the week. “I think there’s a lot of revenge built up coming into this game. It’s a good Pelham team, but we’re ready.”

Boy, were they ever. Bowkett is a supreme coach and motivator, filled with energy that kids eat up and has simply made the Sabers a landmark team in Division II. They may not win it every year, but you know that if you’re another team in the division and have title aspirations, you’re going to have to beat the Sabers at some point to do it.

Two teams, two champions, two great programs that rarely have losing years, and two reasons why this area is second to none when it comes to high school sports.

(Tom King may be reached at tking@nashuatelegraph.com, or you can follow him on X (formerly twitter) @Telegraph _TomK.)