I am not sold on BG winning four in a row.

Unfortunately, I will be going to Boston with one of my daughters to visit another daughter Saturday afternoon. You know me. I couldn't go to Boston without going to a concert, so I will have the privilige of seeing Airborne Toxic Event at the Orpheum Saturday night. Sorry to miss all the festivities at the 99 and Stellos.

You know what..... I'm picking BG 20 to 14. I have a habit of picking a team until they lose (Like Salem in basketball with Kimball and Jones a couple of years ago). Even though there are serious cracks in the BG football foundation this year and FOR YEARS TO COME, I get the sense this championship for BG will be like the one the Celtics won in 1969 vs the Lakers. The Lakers had all the balloons ready to go to celebrate winning the 7th game in the ceiling at the old Forum. One thing LA didn't count on was player/coach Bill Russell pulling one more ounce of energy out of his championship heart {See, I can mention Heart too} to win one last title.

Mrs GNG gone for 2 days? I hope the Merrimack police are on "checking out" alert like when some one goes on vacation.

The guy who drove me home had some great info. 21 -17 EXETER.

This is my final, final , final prediction.

Exeter contains Pinkerton with a masterful defensive gameplan devised by genius Billy Ball and EXETER GETS A LATE FIELD GOAL TO WIN 24-21.

People in the know think BG- DOVER will be a low scoring affair. I'm saying I know more then the people in the know. BG 35- Dover 21.


I must admit that one of my very good friends is A EXETER GUY. He gave me all the reasons last night why Exeter could pull off the upset. It made sense last night so I gotta stick with it.

It is that time of year and here are your locks for championship weekend.

DI: This year is all about PA, they will win in a landslide over a 41-17. There is no stopping PA, it is all just a pipe dream.

DII: With this years potential Coach of the Year roaming the sidelines, Travis Cote (Milford Grad) will hoist up another one for the Cardinals of BG. This team will also win in a landslide, 28-7.

DIII This is probably the game of the day, but in the end it will be Portsmouth in a late TD pass from Hartmann to Lane on a dump, PHS will be celebrating on enemy turf. Portsmouth 21-14.

I thank GOD for giving me the power to forecast these games before they are played an predict with 98% accuracy. GOD gave me a tool and I am using it. The rest of you are not as blessed as me. This is not Tim Teebow.
T@F, GNG, and JAF enjoy your celebrations, and can't wait to read GNG's post game blog of how BG will stink next year. LOL
Be careful, be safe.

Well 1st final of the day is in. I am 1 for 1 . Nobody had Exeter but me. That's why you people come to this forum. Your welcome.

Boxout by my calculations you are 0-1.

Now I need Guertin to start cashing in on these missed red zone opportunities.

Paul Lipari scores to start the 4th BG 10 Dover 7

Lipari has played sparingly this year on the offensive side of the ball. Today he is THE MAN. Couldn't happen to a nicer kid.

16-7 BG. Zach Mailloux with a 55 yard td run on THE OPTION PITCH.

Young Mr Mailloux is a Merrimack resident.


I am hearing 2 big dropped passes on consecutive plays cost Dover the victory.

If you accept turnovers are going to be part of the game and that you have to limit them and not allow a score directly off of one, then the only mistake BG seemed to make yesterday was the opening drive fumble and score by Dover. Other than that, yesterday was truly a complete game domination by BG in all phases of the game. It was a game where BG could have been up or won by at least 23 and up to 31 (two potential scores negated by turnovers). The Dover offense, while good, was held totally in check by a recently maligned BG defense. Dover played BG twice and in both games BG was able to contain them. The primary reason is that they don't have a punishing runner like Keene or Timby has. One play that worked well for Dover was the slant to big #48 and Seawards play throughout the game. In the end though playing only 14-18 players probably hurt Dover as they just ran out of gas. The BG defense was just stifling and the offense had the ball most of the game. A couple of key 3rd down conversions and punishing inside running by Lipari on the 3rd/4th quarter drive showed BG was in control. The offensive line really did their job - even Fahey remarked after the game that he felt he had more protection. It felt like the offense went 400 yards at least (even though it was closer to 300). The fake punt call and execution was perfect - the receiver had no one around him for 10 yards. The coaches had recognized what Dover was doing and once they saw the alignment they wanted the play was on. Yes, the red zone offense was frustrating, but two turnovers don't help either. The second one came after the fake punt and BG had two opportunities with open receivers that Fahey missed. To be fair though - Fahey was playing injured - it was obvious that he just wasn't moving well, but it doesn't seem Dover was able to take advantage other than the underthrown balls. Even injured he ran the middle option play a few times in the second half for big gains - then the pitch (which was put in this week ) for Mailloux was executed perfectly to ice the game.

If the current alignments remain the same - does BG play Exeter game 1 next year or PA to open the "crossover" part of the season.

JAF, were we watching the same game?

Dover's D shut down BG for the majority of the game, and eventually wore down since they were on the field for most of the contest. Dover's Defense also faced a short field numerous times, yet only surrendered 2 TD's (on on the 65 yard Mallioux run).

BG was the better team yesterday, and deserved to win, but to say it was dominance is ridiculous.

Yes we were, but I think it really depends on your perspective... Things I saw yesterday were much better than the last few BG games. If you were at those games, then you'd know. Alvirne ran that single wing, pop warner offense quite well getting several long gains with Beaulieu - who was a beast. If it wasn't him, it was Rule until he got injured. Keene who always plays BG tough ran the ball hard with Parenteau and got enough passing offense from Loupa to make the plays necessary. Loupa converted several long 3rd downs - a couple on runs. Keene also got 2 or 3 picks and a couple fumble recoveries which really killed BG - who had no energy in that game. Timberlane ran and passed almost at will against BG - they actually gave BG a tougher game than Dover. That's my opinion...

Even you note the Dover defense "wore down since they were on the field for most of the contest.". So BG's defense kept Dover's offense off the field (dominated that phase of the game) and while BG offense didn't score a lot, they certainly got yards. Dover's only real chance to score offensively was that pass dropped in the end zone. Did Dover ever get in BG's red zone? BG's offense was limited because Fahey couldn't do his normal thing - you had to see he was moving slowly/gingerly many times after plays... Sore ribs are hard to play with... In the kicking game, Dover kept the ball away from CJ, but they lost that battle due to not getting any return yards on punts *and* losing the 2nd half kickoff. I think you'd agree while CJ didn't do anything offensively, he was down on every BG punt and kickoff which didn't allow Seawards to make any plays. Don't forget the fake punt. Dover D was pressing 8-10 guys up, BG saw it and exploited it. There was no one within 10 yards of the receiver on that play. Sure the Dover D played great - hence my comment why it felt like so much more. They limited BG's scoring and forced several punts, but not as many 3 and outs as Timberlane the previous week (read my recap - there wasn't a possession in the 2nd half where BG had more than 4 plays). As Foster's writers said "bend but don't break", thus the BG offense had more opportunities and real scoring chances - the Dover D didn't stop them for the whole game - they stopped them from certain plays, but from mid 3rd quarter on - with Lipari taking 5 yards at a time - the battle was won by BG. Once BG got the lead, they looked to protect it and hope their D would hold Dover's O. The real killer is that Dover did squat on offense. The papers say that's because they had no running - which is true. They tried a lot of east/west runs - which don't work against BG as well as the ones up the middle. BG's defense dominated more than Dover's defense. That's an offense that scored 54 vs. West, 56 vs. Timby, and 24 vs. Spaulding - an offense that was said to be playing very well and was expected to put up 21 on BG.

If you take away the opening drive fumble and it's 3 or 7 points for BG and 0 for Dover. Take away the 2nd qtr interception in the endzone and it's 3 or 7 points. That's 6-14 more BG points leaving one with as little as 22 or as much as 30 points. I know you cannot do that, just like Dover cannot take away the Mailloux run (which probably wouldn't have happened if BG was up by greater than 2 scores at the time). Things happened like they did and game flowed like it did due to how it was played, but still in my opinion Dover didn't play all that well "overall" vs. expectations for the second time against BG proving to me the first time in Dover wasn't a fluke. Compare that to how Dover played the previous few weeks and I come to the conclusion that BG dominated Dover in all facets of the game.

So if you take away Matt Brown pressuring Fahey into a bad throw that was picked in the endzone, and you take away the defensive strip of CJ, and if you take away this and that, etc.... If you take away my bad looks and crappy personality, I'd have a shot with Natalie Portman

You can't take these things away, because it's football. Aside from the first Drive, BG didn't do squat on offense until Lipari got a hot hand. Listen, I understand that BG fans tend to be a bit.... passionate. Nobody's trying to take away from the fact that BG was the better team and deserved to win. But the facts are that it was a defensive stalemate until about 3 minutes to go in the 3rd.

Jaf, I have to side with Justin on this debate. If the Dover receivers had some Fred Biletnikoff stick em on their hands yesterday Dover would be the D2 state champ.

Just saying.

OK - whatever - semantics. You call it pressure by Dover and I'll tell you he had an injury and just couldn't make the throw like he wanted to or normally could have. You call it a stalemate and I'll say BG's offense was at least moving in the right direction. It's all perspective when you're comparing BG performances as of late! I don't have the statistics in front of me, but from your perspective and note taking - where did BG and Dover start/end their drives? How many 3 and outs? What was the average length of drive? How many turnovers?

You are 100% correct about being passionate, but I hope you believe that if I think BG played poorly then I would have put that out there - check out my previous posts. Also, you'll note I didn't say I know you cannot take it away what happened in the game, but it is part of the story... Could've, would've, should've... HS football is a 48 minute affair. For 36 of those minutes Dover led, but how many Dover fans felt at all comfortable with that lead? I felt pretty comfortable that BG would win that game and that's something I could tell from both teams opening drives. If that ball is caught in the endzone and Dover wins - sure I'm singing a slightly different tune, but it wasn't just like BG didn't score on two of their possessions inside Dover's 10.

Just trying to provoke discussion! I know it wasn't "domination" by the normal definition. It was a great game and it was won by the better team on the field and not by some fluke DPI call (otherwise we'd be talking about 8 straight - hahahaha).

I hear ya dawg- I haven't seen BG play at all, so my perspective is probably a bit different. Plus everyone's gonna see the game a different way.

Just out of curiosity, do you think Spaulding's offense would've done any better against BG's D?

Now, this is what I like. Respectful debate between Forum gentlemen.

Tuesday and Friday wrote:Now, this is what I like. Respectful debate between Forum gentlemen.

Oh there was never any animosity T&F, though I do tend to debate everything like I'm yelling across the bar

I know there was never any animosity. I just wish some members of the Forum would follow the lead of you two nice gentlemen and agree to disagree respectfully and with aplomb.

Did someone say bar?

I never got to see Spaulding so I cannot say how their offense would have done, but I would have loved to have seen them in the Championship as well as their fans. Don't think too many BG hoop fans will forget having the Coligadome invaded by a sea of red and almost losing to the Red Raiders last winter/spring. I like those "more festive" games/events. Beyond the competition on the field - seeing/hearing the "athletic supporters" doing their cheers is the best part of the day. Dover fans before coin flip doing the "I think we will win" cheer - to which I remarked - "I guess they'll be satisfied just winning the coin flip".

The last couple of years have had a certain "air" missing during championship games. Nothing in my years of going to D2 championship games beats an Exeter v. BG final regardless of where it's played. The noise, excitement, and air of the game is unmatched. I have a feeling a Spaulding/BG final would have done just that as Spaulding seems to bring more than just parents. I feel very fortunate to have had my older 2 boys be part of something special for all their years they played HS football - I only wish I could convince my youngest to get back out there!

I have attended a couple of those finals between BG and Exeter and I agree. However this weeks game with Bedford and Portsmouth was pretty close to those.

I saw the Dover/Spaulding game plus a bunch of BG games so I'll throw my 2 cents in. No, Spaulding's offense would not have done any better against BG's defense than Dover's did. Spaulding has way too much youth, first off. Two of their best players (Tanner Danels and Trevon Scott) are only sophomores and their QB Sam Oullette is only a junior. These 3 kids are all good players and are definitely players to watch over the next couple years but I'm not sure how they would have responded to the high pressure, 'bright lights" and big stage of playing in a championship game at Stellos vs. BG. Also Dover mixes up their plays on offense a lot more than Spaulding does. Spaulding often runs that play where they give the ball to Daniels, Dow or one of their other bruising backs and basically has all their other guys surround that player with the ball and have everyone just keep pushing forward. Then every now and then they'll have Oullette throw a bomb down field to Nathan Zriny (very talented, athletic receiver who makes tough grabs). This strategy is good when you're going against a quicker but smaller team (like BG) and want to try and beat them up and wear them down at the line of scrimmage. Those running plays up the middle aren't going to get you big gains, but if they consistently get you 5 to 7 yards every time you're able to slowly grind out drives and move the ball down the field. So while this strategy might work vs. BG because they're a smaller but quicker team I just think BG would have seen the film, made some adjustments defensively and shut it down because it's such a straight forward playbook. That, plus the inexperience on a big stage factor and I don't see how Spaulding's offense would have done any better than Dover's did. Congrats to BG, obviously their defense stepped up big time and they deserve the win.

I was at the BG Spaulding game and got to see Spaulding's offense. I think Spaulding's tough, wedge-style running would have been MUCH more successful than Dover's running game. BG was weakest up the middle this year (actually, almost every year), but Dover decided to try and beat them on the outside. Didn't work. I think BG has some very good interior linebackers in Cornell and Miller, and Jim Carver has been a strong player on the D-Line (especially tho game, 4 or 5 tipped passes and several sacks/tackles-for-loss), but teams have generally tried to run right at Carver, where his quickness is negated, and the other down lineman that BG has played (usually one of the beefier kids) has been handled easily, allowing guys to get off and get in the linebackers' faces. Spaulding's defense also stacks 7-8, sometimes even a 9th guy in the box and just goes all out. It worked in the first half of the BG-Spaulding matchup until Guertin got the ball to Mailloux on the outside and Vailas and Chartrand hooked up for some big plays. I think BG may have had a tougher time against Spaulding to be honest. Their first game against Dover was similar to this one--stifling defense that kept Dover's offense off the field most of the game, with a strong offensive push that just never seemed to make it there (missed FG, fumble on the 2 yard line, etc.).

I have to complain about something I've noticed. NOBODY - in any of the newspaper stories, videos, interviews, blogs, forum posts - has given credit to BG's offensive line. I've said it before, I'm a former lineman, they're who I watch at games, and I have to give them credit. JAF says BG dominated, and it did, because up front they were opening holes, getting movement, and allowing guys to make 7-8 yard runs. In fact, when they put Lipari in at the end of the game, the YPC actually went DOWN, the difference was that the senior fullback made sure to hold onto the ball. BG drove several times in the game and came up empty handed because of fumbles and interceptions.
Offensive line is a completely underrated, under-noticed position (even defensive lineman get credit when they play well). Everyone is quick to notice when they do not do their job, yet no one gives them kudos after some dominant performances they had recently (Alvirne, Timberlane, and yesterday, where they got 221 yards on 43 carries). Their coach, the fans, Tom King, Jeremy (sorry to call you out), the running backs, all seemed to leave them out. The only person to compliment the BG offensive line? Dover coach Ken Osbon. He should know, his team lost a state championship because of it.

I guess I was remiss in writing it, but yes I do agree the line in this game was tremendous whether it was opening holes or pass blocking for Fahey (which I thought I mentioned). My oldest son was a OT at BG so I usually take it for granted when BG runners are gashing the middle that means the line is doing its job. My middle son was a TE which in BG's offense meant he was primarily a blocker. I agree it's a often overlooked position and against Dover we matched up well size wise - unlike quite a few teams the previous week where there were a couple of very large lineman. Dover had #79 who was pretty big, but he was usually well controlled. Unfortunately for lineman, the general reading public doesn't want to read about how their stunts, drive blocks, traps, pulls, pancakes, etc. allowed the backs to be successful.