Nashua South football coach Josh Porter, left, talks to his players after the Panthers fell to Bedford Friday night in the Division I semifinals at Bulldog Stadium. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

There will be one more high school football game in Nashua on Saturday for the 2025 season, but it won’t involve any local teams.

No, the local high school football season has come to a disappointing end following a lost weekend. Nashua South fell to Bedford 35-21 in the Division I semifinals in Bedford this past Friday night while Souhegan was on the wrong end of a 31-21 score in the Division II championship game in Derry.

However, there will be one more game at at Stellos Stadium, the Division I title game Saturday at 1 p.m. featuring No. 1 Bedford (11-0) will take on No. 3 Pinkerton Academy (8-3).

PANTHERS JUST FELL SHORT

The Panthers, for those who missed it, fell behind 21-0 vs. the Bulldogs on Friday night and couldn’t fully recover, although they closed the gap to 28-21 heading into the final quarter.

It’s the end of an era for South, a group of seniors who had been together in the program for fours seasons – some of whom were on varsity in their freshman year.

South coach Josh Porter told his team that, thanks to the seniors, they had left “a legacy.”

“That senior group from the day they stepped in the room, they brought a standard of excellence and a legacy of not accepting anything less than that,” Porter said. “That’s the tradition they left behind, for sure.”

The Panthers lose players like receiver/safety Josh Tripp, who was thrust into a starting role as a freshman. Others like back/DB Colvin Levesque, who also saw time his first year. Running back Sam Levine, a Panther staple for at least the last three seasons. And of course, quarterback Cody Jackson, who started as a sophomore and became one of the best quarterbacks if not the best QB in Division I, a finalist for the prestigious Joe Yukica Award that was scheduled to be announced late this holiday week.

South made this a season of comebacks, fighting back from 24-8 at halftime to beat Bishop Guertin and 21-7 after three quarters at Pinkerton to win.

“That never-give-up mentality, that’s going to bring them very far in life,” Porter said. “And that’s what this is all about. You get into coaching, help mold young men, and I think that’s something they’ll be able to take with them after football.”

SOUHEGAN STRUGGLED

It was a tough good-bye with hugs galore for the Souhegan football players and coaches while the Pioneers celebrated their win.

“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.”

The Sabers say good-bye to a group led by back Ryland Raudelunas, who went into the latter part of this week as a finalist for the Joe Yukica Player of the Year award, plus QB Michael Fiengo along with several other seniors (about a dozen all told).

They took the Sabers to two straight Finals.. But in this one, Souhegan

found itself in a whole different world, a back and forth battle that they hadn’t really experienced much of all season.

Trinity was led by QB Ollie Service who is moving on to play baseball next year at Umass-Amherst.

“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.”

It’s Trinity’s second title win over a local in three years, as the Pioneers thrashed Campbell in the 2023 Division III title game before moving up the next year to Division II.

GILFORD WINS DIVISION III

Speaking of Campbell, No. 4 Gilford beat No. 2 Laconia in the Division III title game played at Exeter 20-6.

In case you’re wondering, Campbell, which was upset at home by Inter-Lakes in the quarterfinals, beat Gilford 34-7 back on Oct. 4 – at Gilford. Go figure.

LOCATION, LOCATION

A high ranking NHIAA official confirmed that the reason the Division III game was moved from Laconia’s Bank o NH Stadium to Bill Ball Stadium in Exeter was because a football committee by-law stipulates that championship games be played at neutral sites.

Thus the rule had to be upheld with no real process in place to waive it, despite forcing two schools who are just 10-15 minutes apart to trek 72 miles each way.

Sources were mixed on whether Gilford would have had a problem playing at Laconia, but common sense would say they’d have preferred that to Exeter. That same official said the rule may be modified for next year.

The reason this is of interest locally is that had South beaten Bedford, the Division I final would have had to be moved out of Stellos. The official said the NHIAA did not know where it would have moved the game had it been “necessary”.

TV FOOTBALL

Check Nashua ETV for the delayed broadcast of the South-Bedford semi; it may be on tonight at 8 after airing last night at the same time. But definitely check ETV throughout the rest of the week if you miss the local Turkey Bowl, as Turkey Bowls from years past will be replayed throughout the holiday weekend starting later this week, including on Thanksgiving Day and beyond.