10/28-10/29 Games

Lots of big games in all divisions this weekend, determining playoff seeds, who gets in who's out. I'll give my thoughts on D3.

Goffstown @ Conval- This game shouldn't be close, Goffstown should roll them but they have struggled the past few weeks playing teams the should destroy close and getting dismantled by Portsmouth. Goffstown is pretty one dimensional, relying almost solely on Zone Read allowing Benjamin to make the read. Should Conval shut that down this game could be closer than it should be. I'll say 28-7 Gtown.

Milford @ HB- Senior night under the lights for HB, I think they played a night game at home last year on senior night as well. This time though it comes against a rival in Milford and they're playing for the 1 seed. Milford's playing solely for pride first time they've missed the playoffs in something like 12-13 years. They play their rival in HB with a chance to ruin HB's 1 seed hopes. Since coming into D3 HB has yet to be Milford but I expect this to be the night they do. I think Milford will play with Pride and not have it packed in and they'll keep it somewhat close, don't get me wrong HB could just run away with this one and I wouldn't be suprised. HB 21-10.

Souhegan @ Pelham- Not much to say here Souhegan WILL roll keeping there playoff hopes alive. 42-0 Souhegan.

Bedford @ Portsmouth- Big game for both of them. If Bedford loses out they could miss the playoffs, if they win here they clinch. Portsmouth has Pembroke next week so unless hell freezes they pretty much have clinched and they're playing this game to keep there #1 seed hopes. By the sounds of it PHS just couldn't hold onto the ball last week, they can't do that again here if they want to beat Bedford. Bedford's coming off a bye so they've had plenty of time to prepare for this one. I think Portsmouth's front will control the LOS and keep Jordan Garron under control. PHS has good athletes in the secondary to match Bedford's speed. This game could go both ways and I won't really be shocked when I find out who won. I'll go with PHS 28-24.

Hollis 35-14 Milford
Bedford 24-12 Portsmouth
Goffstown 28-7 ConVal
Souhegan 53-6 Pelham

So it's
Hollis 6-1
Goffstown 6-1
Bedford 6-1
Portsmouth 5-2

Next week is for pride for Souhegan, but they can drop Bedford in #3 with a win. Hollis v. Goffstown is probably for #1 seed - although who the heck knows at this point!

H/B beat Milford 35-14. Turnovers and penalties really plagued Milford who even while it was still close were able to move the ball. Milford had sophomore Harrison Urda at QB tonight, while he doesn't throw the ball well he is very mobile so it gives them a much better option at QB. Higgins was also solid for Milford breaking off quite a few big runs. HB for the most part were able to run for a first down whenever needed. Pellerin lead them on offense for the most part. Nathan Ferenczhalmy looked like he got hurt, looked like it could've been a concussion but can't be sure. This was my first time seeing HB this year so could one of you that maybe has seen them more answer this question. Is there pass game solely vertical? Tonight they just looked to go deep and they were able to large in part to them picking on 1 Milford corner who slipped twice, also got helped out with a suspect pass interference call. They tried to attack Mitchell Banuskevich of Milford but he shut down his side of the field. I've been saying this kid could be a stud all year (he's a sophomore) but he's been hurt quite a bit but he was a bright spot for a weak secondary. One thing that baffled me was HB was in 3-4 defense. They held Milford to 14 so it didn't "hurt" them but it certainly allowed Milford to move the ball much easier.

HB seems to be the most all-around team. They certainly can run the ball, able to pass the ball, I think it'd be even better if they went underneath a little. Solid line play, good defense thought it was odd to go 3-4 against Milford's offense, but a the 3-4 will probably serve them better going forward playing all Spread teams from here on. One thing I would have to knock them on is there Special Teams. They couldn't kick EP's for the life of them a few barely got off the ground. They did hit a one or 2 but they barely got in and were very ugly. This could hurt them in a tight game in the playoffs.

Bedford used the big play and some solid defense to defeat Portsmouth 24-12. Bedford's 3 TDs were all over 50 yards. Two of them were real killers. After PHS scored to make the score 7-6 Bedford, Bedford returned the ensuing kickoff 92 yards for a TD. Then, with 15 seconds left in the half, Bedford scored on a halfback option pass, totally fooling the Portsmouth secondary, to make it 21-6 at halftime. Bedford showed a lot of confidence in their defense, going for it on 4th down (and being stopped) at least twice on their own half of the field.

Portsmouth's passing game has really struggled in the last two games, and really could use a confidence builder next week against Pembroke. (Full disclosure: son is a varsity backup / JV starter for PHS).

Having now seen the four playoff teams this year, at this point I would have to give a slight nod to Bedford as the top team in D3 over H-B. Portsmouth and Goffstown are more evenly matched than their score (49-7 PHS) would indicate. Final seedings won't be decided until next week, but I believe PHS can only be 3 or 4, and Bedford can only be 1 or 2. This assumes PHS beats Pembroke next week.

bigman44 wrote:H/B beat Milford 35-14. Turnovers and penalties really plagued Milford who even while it was still close were able to move the ball. Milford had sophomore Harrison Urda at QB tonight, while he doesn't throw the ball well he is very mobile so it gives them a much better option at QB. Higgins was also solid for Milford breaking off quite a few big runs. HB for the most part were able to run for a first down whenever needed. Pellerin lead them on offense for the most part. Nathan Ferenczhalmy looked like he got hurt, looked like it could've been a concussion but can't be sure. This was my first time seeing HB this year so could one of you that maybe has seen them more answer this question. Is there pass game solely vertical? Tonight they just looked to go deep and they were able to large in part to them picking on 1 Milford corner who slipped twice, also got helped out with a suspect pass interference call. They tried to attack Mitchell Banuskevich of Milford but he shut down his side of the field. I've been saying this kid could be a stud all year (he's a sophomore) but he's been hurt quite a bit but he was a bright spot for a weak secondary. One thing that baffled me was HB was in 3-4 defense. They held Milford to 14 so it didn't "hurt" them but it certainly allowed Milford to move the ball much easier.

HB seems to be the most all-around team. They certainly can run the ball, able to pass the ball, I think it'd be even better if they went underneath a little. Solid line play, good defense thought it was odd to go 3-4 against Milford's offense, but a the 3-4 will probably serve them better going forward playing all Spread teams from here on. One thing I would have to knock them on is there Special Teams. They couldn't kick EP's for the life of them a few barely got off the ground. They did hit a one or 2 but they barely got in and were very ugly. This could hurt them in a tight game in the playoffs.

Couple of things, as I was at this game too (wanted to see Port / Bed, but driving out to the seacoast didn't really excite me)

1. H/Bs passing game is actually largely short underneath stuff. Against Bedford it was all quick 3-step timing spit pass stuff. and lots of stuff to the TEs, and that's the same I saw against Souhgan. I think tonight, they must have felt like they had some matchups (#24 on just about anyone) in their favor to go deep. One deep TD was on playaction with an underneath option, The other was just a quick slant that the inferior Milford secondary couldn't stop. If you notice, though, H/B's primary possession receiver (#10 Frick( was out of the game.

2. In fact, H/B was down 3 starters by my count. #10 and #11 started at CB's in all the games I've gone to, including last week at Port. Both were out, which I think is a big reason why the wide running of #36 was so effective. They were also missing #66 Boivin who went down at Bedford and was probably one of the best linemen in D3.

3. I'm not sure how being in a 3-4 defense matters. A 3-4 is just the old 5-2, except now we call DE's OLB's so they feel better about themselves, adn the 5-2 is great against the run. HB had trouble stopping ONE play, which was the motion sweep to #36, and mainly I'd say that has a lot to do with both starting CB's being out.

4. Milford fought hard, and actually outscored H/B in the second half. In the first half, it looked like HB would overwhelm Milford and it would be a blow out. That didn't happen. Milford's biggest loss was that Albina didn't play. That made the Milford offensive play selectoins even more one-dimensional. #11 Urda can't throw to save his soul, but he really kept a few drives alive with some nice improvised scrambling.

5. #33 Nate F. DID go down in the second half for H/B, but they moved #24 from receiver / WB to FB, and he was a beast at that position too...in fact maybe even ran the ball better than #33. Kid scored 2 TD's in the air and one more pounding it on the ground. Losing #33 is a bigger blow on defense though.

Overall, it was actually a pretty entertaining game. It was a fun atmosphere, and Milford made a valiant fight of it, using onside kicks and whacky formations in a very "we have nothing to lose" attitude / approach to the game.

At this point, I think Bedford has the inside track on the one-seed, correct? If Bed beats Souhegan next week and H/B limps to a victory vs. Goffstown, I think Bed and HB are tied and Bed gets the 1 spot by virtue of head-to-head tie breaker, correct? Wow..Hat's off to Bedford. Maybe a Bedford H/B championship is in the works. Remember, that game would have ended in regulation at 7-7 if it wasn't for the pick-6 Bedford got. That would be a fun re-match. It would also be the battle of the "new kids on teh block" with HB and Bedford being D3's youngest programs. The question is: will HB be healthy enough to win in the first round? If they have to play any of these teams without their 2 starting CB's, #33, and #66...that's tough sledding.

The 3-4 could've mattered because of how they played it. Nose was in a 0 there two "ends" were in a 9tech unless it just looked that way since I was at a horrendous angle with people in front of me. and there OLB's were outside of the "ends" Albina likely could've had a field day running in between the tackles a little suprised they didn't try bourne or higgins and just try and pound them in the middle more.

Ya Urda cannot pass what so ever. But considering there other options they don't throw well either and one is not mobile the other Banuskevich is similar to Urda can run cannot throw maybe even worse than Urda.

I missed the 1st quarter and like I said first time seeing them this year so didn't see the underneath but I believe that there game is primarily underneath.

The kid that filled in for Nathan Ferenczhalmy, did do a great job should've pointed it out ran real physical.