AMHERST – Plymouth had ground Souhegan High’s 20-7 halftime lead to a pulp. The Sabers, who had hardly trailed all year, were down, 21-20, and reeling with the state’s most heralded small-school football power ready to deliver the knockout.

Heads hung, panic was imminent. For answers, the Sabers searched … desperately.

They found each other.

“Adversity is going to happen. There’s no way around it, especially in a championship game against a great, great team,” said Souhegan coach Robin Bowkett. “We just kept playing, continued the mission. We held fast. We got in the boats. We stuck together. And there we go.

“Our kids, my gosh, you talk about mental toughness, it speaks volumes to those guys, that senior leadership.”

The Sabers simply found a way, rallying late in the fourth for a dramatic 26-21 victory in the Division 2 state championship game.

For Souhegan, it was the school’s first football title since 2010, fifth ever. Competing in its fifth-straight title game, 17-time champ Plymouth suffered its second-straight championship defeat.

“Souhegan has been waiting for this for a long, long time,” said running back Riley Lawhorn, who ripped off a run for the ages, a 70-yard game-winning TD with 4:01 left in the contest. “Every single senior here has wanted this championship since freshman year. We told ourselves we’d be back. We did that.”

Souhegan finished at 8-0, and Plymouth 7-1, as this battle of heavyweights more than lived up to the billing.

The Bobcats set the tone for the day early, opening with 10-rush, 68-yard touchdown march that chewed up the first 6:02 on the clock. Lawhorn squelched that chatter on the visitor’s side with a 69-yard touchdown run on the Sabers’ first play, making it 7-7.

Oh, it was on.

“We knew it was going to happen. We talked about it all week. ‘They think they’re more physical than you. They think you’re soft Amherst/Mont Vernon kids,'” said Bowkett. “We’ve been tough all year, physically, and mentally tough. It’s different when you punch back.”

Souhegan built the early advantage with big plays. Quarterback Austin Jain clicked on his first four passes – three to Connor Holland and one to Luke Manning – to set up Mitch Hauser’s 13-yard touchdown speed sweep. Later in the second quarter, Jain threw a quick one to Manning, who dashed 28 yards to paydirt, making it 20-7 at the break.

But Plymouth’s body punches were taking their toll. The Bobcats dominated time of possession, 18:43-5:17 in the half (33:27-14:33 for the game). And the visitors fought like champs.

Throughout this fall, Souhegan had checked all the boxes – athletic, explosive, physical, dynamic – but one final test remained. Could the Sabers counter-punch and win the close one when it mattered?

“I’m proud of how we responded, and we pushed through,” said Lawhorn. “We haven’t really had many close games, but I just knew as a family, we could push through. Back and forth the entire game, it was just a matter of guys stepping up.”

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