Andy Hershberger, father of Campbell football standouts Scott and Nick Hershberger, celebrates during the final minute of the Cougars' 48-7 Division III championship win at Souhegan's Calvetti Field. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

There’s nothing like the Fall Tourney Trail.

It starts out in relative warmth, sometimes abnormal warmth, and ends in chilly temps.

And that was the case this last month. So as the winter teams continue their practices with season openers nearly a week away, let’s take a ride one scribes tourney scooter that lasted the better part of 30 days/nights:

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 23

RIVIER UNIVERSITY’S MERRILL FIELD

It’s the first stop, the Division I field hockey preliminary round between Bishop Guertin and Dover. With Stellos Stadium closed to replace the turf, the game was a 2 p.m. However, while its great to get an early game in, 2 p.m. is a pretty crowded time at Riv with students in class. Parking? Try a lot across campus with a long walk, half of which is uphill to the highest point in Nashua, and in nearly 80 degree weather, while nursing a cold that refused to go away. Time was of the essence, too, for we were also working the ETV broadcast and it helps, you know, to be there on time. Probably lost maybe…five pounds?

But that was nothing compared to the uphill climb Dover faced as they fell behind the No.8 Cards early and often en route to a 9-2 BG win. Guertin’s Addison Daddona may have had the Trail’s best performance on just the first stop with six goals and two assists. “She’s been killing it,” Guertin coach Dakota Bilodeau said. Unfortunately, with somewhat cooler weather, BG fell to eventual champion Keene in the quarters three days later.

FRIDAY, OCT. 25

HOLLIS BROOKLINE HIGH SCHOOL STADIUM

Yes, still on field hockey, as it’s the latest sport to have it’s tournament (golf and bass fishing already had theirs). The No. 1 seed Cavaliers won 15 games and were a heavy favorite against Plymouth in the Division II quarterfinals, but the Bobcats tied it up at 1 just before the half. But HB’s Addison Marchant scored with 8:58 left to give the Cavs a 2-1 win and a huge sigh of relief. Notable in attendance, HB standout Sabrina Hill’s dad, former Nashua High athlete and Chicago Cub minor league pitcher Shawn Hill, and his other daughter Aylssa, who is playing lacrosse at Saint Anselm where Sabrina is also headed. “Let’s see what happens moving forward,” HB coach Greg Cochrane said. And you’ll see that further down on the trail.

TUESDAY, OCT. 29

SOUHEGAN HIGH SCHOOL’S CALVETTI FIELD

Bridge Extended: Nashua North vs. South girls soccer, a battle between the No. 8 Titans and No. 9 Panthers to open the soccer postseason. And what a game it was, won in OT when Allison Frye headed in her twin sister Sarah’s 35-yard free kick. The pair dominated the local Division I season, and continued that trend to give Titans coach Jacqueline Thompson her first tourney win in her eight seasons, a year after losing on PKs in the first round of 2023. It wasn’t at Stellos, obviously, but there was still a great crowd on hand – including South football standout Josh Tripp in a walking boot. Tripp looked lost for the season four nights earlier in a defeat at Bedford, but he said that’s not the case, should be good in a week or two – and he was. But the best scene was after the game when a disappointed but also professional South coach Curt Dutilley was getting razzed by some North players who play for his Titans basketball team. Remember, Dutilley, who had a soccer background, is really best known as the North girls hoop coach. “You’ve got to get rid of that Purple Mr. Dutilley,” a Titan player said.

And this week with practice underway he has.

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 30

PINKERTON ACADEMY, DERRY

A trip to see the Panthers against the Astros in the first round of the boys Division I soccer tourney. The Panthers just couldn’t get untracked, losing 2-0. It was good to see longtime Astros head coach Kerry Boles, who back in the day (um, try early 1980s) was a a superb soccer and baseball player at Londonderry and covered his senior baseball season by yours truly, a Lancer Class I title.

Now, speaking of Londonderry, Nashua Athletic Director Lisa Gingras had just come from the first half where North was playing at Londonderry, down 2-0 at the half. Now, follow: South’s game was done fairly early, but after talking to a few people afterward, by the time we meandered our way through the back roads of Derry/Londonderry, we come out onto Mammoth Road with a chance to go left to Route 102 and home or right to Londonderry just on the wild chance North’s game was still ongoing. Nah, couldn’t be, right? Two hours later? So we went left. Wrong decision. North had rallied in the second half and won in penalty kicks to stun the Lancers and advance to the semis. Oops. When in doubt go right. It was an even worse decision because at that time the traffic in Hudson was incredibly backed up due the bridge construction entering Nashua. Ugh.

THURSDAY, OCT. 31

HOLLIS BROOKLINE HIGH SCHOOL GYM

Welcome to the start of the Division I girls volleyball tourney, and no better place to spend Halloween than the Hollis Brookline gym, right? The Cavs were taking on Nashua North, so it made sense with an all-local battle. No. 7 HB topped a tough No. 10 Titans squad in three close sets. While there in kibitzing with those in the know we found out that HB was merging its hockey co-op with Derryfield with Merrimack to form a tri-op, with Merrimack as the lead school. Wow. Then up the hill to catch the second half of the Souhegan-HB football game, after which interim coach (and program founder) Milt Robinson expressed doubt he’d return for a second year and his Souhegan counterpart, Robin Bowkett, talked about the win being a “get right” game. Boy, did the Sabers get right, as you’ll later read.

Hey, all this beat handing out candy to trick-or-treaters, right? That was a wrap on TourneyTober.

The Nashua North girls soccer team celebrates its 2-1 Division I quarterfinal upset win over Bishop Guertin, a game that was decided by penalty kicks at Rivier’s Merrill Field on Friday. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

The Nashua North girls celebrate their Division I girl soccer quarterfinal upset of top seed Bishop Guertin at Rivier University’s Merrill Field. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING

FRIDAY, NOV. 1

RIVIER UNIVERSITY’S MERRILL FIELD

If you thought the North-South girls soccer game was good, you should have been at the BG-North girls quarterfinal at Merrill Field. A lot of local names were, including Titan alum and Holy Cross safety Curtis Harris-Lopez. Parking was easier than the previous week; heck, college kids don’t want Friday classes, right? The game itself was a classic, as it went to penalty kicks,thanks to Sarah Frye following Thompson’s “five minute rule”, that if a team scores on you, you respond in five minutes and she did with under 10 minutes to play. Tied at 1, Guertin missed several chances OT, but what counted was the fact the Fryes don’t miss in PKs and they didn’t, helping North prevail. The interesting thing was a couple of weeks earlier Guertin coach Chris Millett said North might be the most dangerous team in the tourney. Turns out he was right. It was a long day; we also called the play-by-play down the stretch for ETV, and then the crew packed up and it was off to Calvetti Field for Nashua South’s final game of the regular season vs. Goffstown. But the Titans were headed to the semis, which is what mattered most.

SATURDAY, NOV. 2

BISHOP GUERTIN’S COLLIGADOME

A two-stop day, as the Cardinals were hosting Concord in the Division I girls volleyball quarterfinals late in the morning. No Saturday cartoons for this scribe, right? Guertin prevailed in four sets, winning the last won 26-24 to earn a spot in the following week’s semifinals vs. Bedford. While there we saw a former Nashua figure who coached middle school girls hoop plus did the Stellos PA, Steve Largy. Largy parlayed a good run as Goffstown’s head girls hoop coach into his first year as the athletic director at Concord. He explained the maroon at Concord (Crimson?) was a slightly different shade than what looks like the same color at Goffstown. OK, we’ll go with that.

BEDFORD HIGH SCHOOL’S BULLDOG STADIUM

Bedford is Title Town, but on this extremely cold night the title belonged to Division II Hollis Brookline, wrapping up the finals tripleheader. HB downed John Stark for its first field hockey championship, with Emily Tebbetts getting the only goal the Cavs would need. Her rocket shot is about as fast as the fastball her dad Sean used to throw on the mound for BG. It’s a big win for head coach Greg Cochrane, who is accomplished in softball but got his first state title win in his first field hockey head job, and coaches both at HB.

“I feel like I opened the door, and showed them the way, and they definitely kicked that door in and ran with it,” he said.

But boy was it darn cold.

MONDAY, NOV. 4

EXETER’S BILL BALL STADIUM

The biggest stops on the tourney trail begins, and it does with an easy Hollis Brookline 5-0 Division II girls soccer semifinal win over the program the Cavs beat in last year’s finals, Coe-Brown.

The Bears played the Cavs in the regular season, and the combined score was 11-0

“I told Peter (HB coach Clarke) that my 19th year that’s the best team I’ve ever seen in Division II girls soccer, hands down,” Coe-Brown coach Josh Hills said, his No. 4 Bears done at 11-4-3. “They’re so well prepared, so quick and athletic. Hats off, Peter’s done a heckuva job getting them ready.”

The HB student fans showed up to counteract the CB hecklers, some right at field level on the other side of the fence. One group acknowledged yours truly and said we had a lot to keep track of. “Little secret,” we whispered. “Blowout games are often easier to write.”

TUESDAY, NOV. 5

MANCHESTER MEMORIAL HIGH SCHOOL

Yes, Election Day. But no, we’re not here to vote but to cover the Nashua North girls soccer team in the Division I semis vs. Winnacunnet. Yet there were tons of others there to vote, which more or less questions the wisdom of having that kind of traffic crunch, right? Anyway, we did find parking on a night much warmer than the previous stop, but it wasn’t too warm for the Titans who came out on the short end of a 3-0 game.

“I think it just comes down to experience,” Thompson said. Very true, and the Titans will use this experience to try to return to the same spot next year, as that philosophy worked for this season. Should be interesting.

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 6

PINKERTON ACADEMY’S HACKLER GYM

Ahhh, the great indoors. This is the first back-to-back stops at the Hackler, this night being the Division II semifinals with Milford taking on Coe-Brown.

What looked like a quick 5 p.m. match with the Spartans getting off to a quick 2-0 set lead turned into a two-hour plus marathon – with another semifinal match to follow. Pinketon AD Brian O’Reilly pointed to his wrist to signal time and said “I told my wife I’d be home by 8,” he said, shaking his head. That’s about when the next semi was going to start after the Spartans won 3-2 to make the finals. “It’s all about energy, it’s all about believing in yourselves,” Milford coach Haley Patch said. Spoiler alert: Milford went on to fall to Somersworth, but still a great season.

THURSDAY, NOV. 7

PINKERTON’S HACKLER GYM

Yes, we just put the breaks on for a two night stop on the Trail, this time being the Division I semifinal between No. 4 Bishop Guertin and unbeaten No. 1 Bedford. This was perhaps one of the best games/matches on the Trail, because the Cardinals gave the four-time defending champion Bulldogs all they could handle, taking them to five sets.

The Cards had that Final Four feeling all season, and certainly proved with their Player of the Year Coravos that they belonged.

“I think part of it was we just ran out of steam,” Cards coach Kyle Clement said. “I told them during the week that if we were going to do this, it was going to take four or five. I tried to condition them for it, but I think we just ran out.”

FRIDAY, NOV. 6

EXETER’S BILL BALL STADIUM

Back to a familiar stop on the Trail, with not one but two championship soccer games. It would be a night for history. One, the Hollis Brookline girls completed their epic run of back to back unbeaten seasons with a hard-fought 1-0 win vs.nemisis Bow. The Cavs knew it wouldn’t be easy; the Falcons beat them in the semis in 2021 and last year took them to penalty kicks in the same round. They got a first-half goal from Marleigh Kreick and that was it. But offensively Bow rarely challenged.

“Having two unbeaten seasons in a row,” HB coach Peter Clarke said, “that’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing.”

Now there was a little break as we had another game to go, and just before the boys title game started, a would be ball boy comes up to yours truly wanting to know where he was supposed to go.

We told him to check with the NHIAA officials, pointing to a group by the entrance that included NHIAA Executive Director Jeff Collins.

“No, no,” the youth said. “They told me to come and see you.”

Gee, thanks guys.

The ball boy found his spot, and the second game brought another historic moment as the Milford boys downed Campbell 5-4 in a classic Division II boys game. The one thing about this was the high winds in the first half that made you wonder if Dorothy and Toto would be flying overhead on their way to Oz. This was a back-and-forth affair with Spartan standout Avery Wilson bodying in a free kick with just over four minutes left.

The most poignant moment was when Milford coach Anson Thibault said earlier in the day he was in the gym and noticed that there were no soccer banners. Well, that will soon change.

“We have the joy,” Thibault said, “of putting one up there.”

SATURDAY, NOV. 9

CAMPBELL HS, LITCHFIELD

It’s a brisk but sunny Saturday morning in the woods of Litchfield, and the top-ranked Campbell Cougars were taking their first step toward unbeaten glory with a 46-27 win over Somersworth. It was a game that put the spotlight on Cougar back Scott Hershberger’s quest for the state rushing record, as the stat people and yours truly compared numbers on the side. Hershberger was within some 30 yards and would have had the record but a holding call wiped out a long TD run. As it was he was 15 away by game’s end.

“It’s obviously exciting,” Hershberger said. “Today I tried to come out and do my best and just earn another game … Every game is so valuable at this point being a senior.

“That (penalty) was a little annoying, but 20 yards the next game isn’t that crazy. I know it’s coming, I just have to stay patient and be humble.”

He snapped it the following week in a semis win vs. Gilford.

SOUHEGAN’S CALVETTI FIELD

Did we have time to catch any of the Sabers’ Division II football quarterfinal with John Stark? The Campbell game started at 11, Souhegan noon, but the Cougars’ win took two and a half hours and the Somersworth post-game pow-pow seemed that long. Finally, we gave up on trying to get the visitors’ side of the game and off to Amherst. We arrived with 2:39 left – in the game. Photo? Shot of Saber Brayden Hickman barely getting off a punt. That works. And with a 34-6 game the rest of the info was easily attainable, and of course Souhegan coach Robin Bowkett was his usual helpful and quotable self afterwards.

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

Well, they loved every bit of the next weekend, as they blew by Plymouth 36-7 en route to a 14-6 championship win over Pelham. Wow.

Glad we got there just in time. Heck, almost qualifies as being in two places at once, right?

Nashua South senior Kyle Emmons (8) gets a hug from junior Cole Patno (17) while Panther Trevor Stevens weas a disappointed look after the Panthers’ quarterfinal loss at Londonderry. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

Nashua South senior Kyle Emmons (8) gets a hug from junior Cole Patno (17) while Panther Trevor Stevens weas a disappointed look after the Panthers’ quarterfinal loss at Londonderry. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

SATURDAY, NOV. 16

LONDONDERRY HIGH SCHOOL’S SAWYER FIELD AT LANCER PARK

Welcome to LancerLand, where the Nashua South football team was hoping to get its second straight playoff win and upset the No. 3 Lancers. Just like our visits to Pinkerton, this was a chance to see some old friends. One was Londonderry gymnastics guru Tony DeFrancesco who pregame had an important announcement over the public address system while yours truly was chatting on the sidelines: “Tom King, stop talking.”

Well that was hard to do since we were broadcasting the game on Nashua ETV in the stands. The game didn’t start well for South, as the Lancers did most of the talking. South fell behind 14-0 early en route to a 28-13 season-ending loss. But it was still a good season for team that hadn’t been to the playoffs since 2020 and won its first playoff game in a while.

“Big progress,” South coach Scott Knight said. “We hope to take the next step next year.”

After the game, was leaving the Londonderry side after talking with Lancers coach Jimmy Lauzon when someone I didn’t recognize ran up to me.

“I was in the stands and heard you and was thinking I know that voice,” he said. “I just wanted to tell you I miss that show you did (ESPN NH Radio) with Christian (Arcand, currently on WEEI in Boston).”

Yes, that daily sports talk show “Christian and King” ended in 2017 with the reformatting as a prep for sale of the station. You never know who you’ll see, right?

SATURDAY, NOV. 23

SOUHEGAN’S CALVETTI FIELD

Yes, three stops on the Trail to Calvetti, including the final one. This was the legacy fullfilling 48-7 Division III championship win for Campbell High School over Inter-Lakes/Moultonborough. Quite frankly, the Cougars ran out of competition in the postseason, but was a fitting ending for a half dozen Cambpell seniors but even more so for the Hershberger twins, with Scott going for 148 yards and 2 TDs, and brother Nick 100 yards and a whopping four touchdowns. The wind was whipping all day, and certainly helped limit Inter-Lakes’ passing game but really, it didn’t matter.

“I think it’s just a huge relief,” Scott Hershberger said. “Getting to play with everybody, and going out on top. Knowing in 30 years I’ll be able to say I gave it my all, I kind of left my stamp on New Hampshire football.”

“I guess,” Nick Hershberger said, “it’s surreal. It’s like a dream, exactly how I wanted it to go.”

And there can’t be a better way for the 2024 Fall Tourney Trail to come to an end.