Campbell's Brody Pinciaro runs past a pair of Monadnock defenders on his way to completing a 42-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter of Monadnock's 46-12 win on Saturday. (Photo by Dan Doyon)

LITCHFIELD — From the beginning, defending Division III champion Campbell High School was in trouble against Monadnock in Saturday’s regular-season finale.

But competing against a group of peers who have gone through a traumatic experience puts everything in perspective.

On Monday, Monadnock senior Tucker Johns’ death touched many in the East Swanzey community. Johns didn’t play football this season, but he was a standout on last year’s team and was a beloved friend to many.

The Huskies honored one of their fallen by completing an undefeated regular season with a 46-12 victory over the Cougars.

“At the end of the day, that school, that community is going through something greater than the sport of football,” Campbell coach Glenn Costello said. “Hopefully this game provided them an opportunity to be normal for a couple of hours. My condolences, and I couldn’t express enough empathy for Coach Avery and his staff for what they are going through right now.”

Monadnock coach Ryan Avery was proud of the way his kids handled things all week and delivered in the capacity they did on Saturday. Monadnock (9-0 overall, 8-0 in D-III) will be the top seed in the Division III playoffs.

“They’re very resilient and they just want to go play football for Tuck,” Avery said. “I’m just proud of the way they came out and played hard.”

Campbell (6-2) will likely be the No. 3 seed in the playoffs and host a quarterfinal game next Saturday. If the Cougars get another shot at Monadnock down the line, they’ll have to figure out a way to match them at the point of attack.

Monadnock’s line dominated in plowing a path for running backs Liam Hart and Nick Ball. Ball scored the first of his five touchdowns on a 37-yard run on the game’s opening drive and finished with 141 yards on 22 carries with four touchdowns.

Ball followed when he capped off a 10-play drive with a 6-yard scoring run to give Monadnock a 14-0 lead with 2:21 left in the first quarter. He finished with 140 yards on 22 carries.

Monadnock’s lead grew in the first after Hart recovered a fumble and returned it 40 yards for a touchdown. Koby Kidney’s 34-yard touchdown pass to Cameron Hobbs gave the Huskies a 26-0 lead early in the second.

“The Campbell/Monadnock rivalry throughout the years usually goes by whatever team is more physical wins that day,” Costello said. “Today they beat us physically, they were able to capitalize on some mistakes. We had some kids playing out of position for (various) reasons and they took advantage of that.”

Jadon Ucello scored Campell’s first touchdown on a 41-yard run, but Hart countered with a 1-yarder to give Monadnock a 32-6 halftime lead.

Campbell’s Brody Pinciaro caught a 42-yard touchdown pass from Michael Grace in the third quarter. Pinciaro added 92 rushing yards to pad his top spot on the Division III leaderboard with around 1,200 yards.

Costello said he’s been pleased with the progress of his team that graduated a number of players from last year’s championship squad.

“Brody is a sophomore, so we’re starting all over again and the offensive line has been playing well,” Costello said. “Goal No. 1 was to get to November and try to be as healthy as possible. We should be getting some kids back next week and then it’s November football. Obviously, our physicality can’t be what it was today.”