Souhegan coach Robin Bowkett comforts Saber Aidan Reardon after their 31-21 loss to Trinity in Saturday's Division II finals in Derry. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

DERRY – They had sailed through nearly all the season, trailing just one time.

But on Saturday, the top-ranked Souhegan High School football team found itself in a whole different world, and as a result the Sabers fell 31-21 at the hands of No. 2 Trinity of Manchester in the Division II championship game at Pinkerton Academy’s Memorial Field.

“They never really separated themselves from us,” Trinity coach Rob Cathcart said, “which they were used to doing most of the season. I don’t think they were used to having teams hang around with them like we were doing. And I think that helped us a little more and a little more as the clock ticked down.”

“Hats off to those guys,” Souhegan coach Robin Bowkett said of the 11-1 Pioneers. “They’re a great football team, well coached. They have great players, it starts with Ollie Service, and trickles down after him, right? We just didn’t do a great job on the perimeter, on the defense, which is something we’ve been great at all year. And offensively we didn’t execute as well as we would’ve liked.”

Service was outstanding, rushing for 111 yards and a score – 100 in the second half – and throwing for 65 and a TD. Conversely, the Pioneers held top Souhegan back Ryland Raudelunas to a miniscule 25 yards on the ground.

Here’s when things changed: The Sabers were up 14-7 thanks to Raudelunas’ first of two TDs and Brody Smith had just picked off Trinity QB Ollie Service after multiple tips at midfield with just under five minutes to play in the first half. But on the very next play Service, playing free safety, returned the favor by intercepting a Michael Fiengo pass in Trinity territory intended for Smith. Two plays later Trinity’s Davey Durepo zipped 73 yards to paydirt and the PAT kick evened the game at 14. The game’s momentum seemed to change, and another big Trinity defensive play – Connor Bishop stopping Raudelunas on the 1-yard line on the final play of the half – put an exclamation point on that momentum with the game still tied at 14.

“That (a TD) would have been awesome, obviously,” Bowkett said.

“We felt like when we needed a big play, we were getting them,” Cathcart said.

“They made us earn it, they didn’t give up big plays,” Bowkett said. “It comes down to fundamentals in the playoffs, and we weren’t fundamentally great today.”

Souhegan’s squib and short kickoffs, designed to be onsides or at least catch the opposition off-guard, gave the sure-handed Pioneers a short field most of the day. And they took advantage of that needing to go just 41 yards in nine plays with Alex Garand’s 2-yard run giving the Pioneers their first lead at 20-14 (PAT was blocked) with 7:16 left in the third quarter. Three minutes later, after forcing a Saber punt, Service took off 74 yards for another TD, and ran in a two-point conversion to give the Pioneers a 28-14 lead. Souhegan had trailed just once all year, 9-7 at Plymouth over a month ago.

Again, unfamiliar territory.

“Three games wearing these white jerseys when we were dog tired, tied up with a team at halftime but we were used to that,”Cathcart said. “And Souhegan is not used to that. This is foreign territory for them. So let’s take advantage of the fact we know this feeling and they don’t.”

The Sabers cut the margin to 28-21 on Raudelunas’ second TD, a 2-yard run with 1:58 left in the third period. Plenty of time but Trinty took an incredible 14-play march from its 48 down to the 15 that shaved 9:43 off the clock. The Pioneers didn’t score a TD, but they did get a 32-yard field goal by Bishop to make it a two-score game with 4:19 to play. It seemed over.

Souhegan’s Ryland Raudelunas is wrapped up by a diving Trinity defender Dominic Detone during Saturday’s Division II finals in Derry. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

Early on the Pioneers proved they could hang tough. The Sabers took the opening kick 65 yards in 13 plays with Fiengo scoring from a yard out and Andrew Healey added the PAT to make it 7-0. But Trinity came right back with a 15-play, 51-yard journey with Sevice finding Durepo from 2-yards out and Bishop hitting the PAT to tie things at 7. This was not going to be a cakewalk for either team, especially the Sabers.

And thus a season that was had championship signs all over it ended in disappointment. But the most disappointing thing for Bowkett was the fact this was it for his seniors.

“I love this group,” Bowkett said. “This group of seniors and captains, they were everything we could have wanted and then some. They continue to leave their mark on Souhegan football. They do it with heart, class, continue to go about their business the right way. If our senior classes can continue to be like this senior class, we’re going to have a shot every year.”

They had a shot Saturday, but the Sabers were more used to calling the shots.

Souhegan’s Ryland Raudelunas is sandwiched by Trinity’s Ollie Service (5) and Tate Zubhuza during Saturday’s Division II title game vs. Trinity at Pinkerton Academy in Derry. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)