HK Photography presents Pete Tarrier's Power Poll Ballot
2014-11-11
UNION LEADER/WGIR/WMUR FOOTBALL POWER POLL Nov. 9, 2014
The top 10 high school football teams in New Hampshire, as voted by the staffs of the New Hampshire Union Leader, WGIR AM and FM, and WMUR-TV after Week 10, with first-place/points in parentheses:
1. Pinkerton, 10-0 (6/60)
2. Bedford, 10-0 (54)
3. Exeter, 8-2 (45)
4. Londonderry, 8-2 (43)
5. Salem, 7-2 (35)
6. Windham, 9-0 (29)
7. Kennett, 9-0 (23)
8. Concord, 6-4 (15)
9. St. Thomas, 8-1 (10)
10. Bishop Guertin, 5-5 (8)
Others receiving votes: Portsmouth, 6-4 (4); Bow, 9-0 (4)
Here's how I voted...
1. Pinkerton...watching the Astros take apart a really good Londonderry team for the 2nd time this year makes me feel quite confident placing them 1st on my ballot. Stud running back TJ Urbanik struggled on Saturday against the Lancers fumbling on 2 1st quarter carries and finishing with only 46 yards on the ground, but QB Jack Hanaway said "hop on my back, I"ll carry the team to the Final Four" with a 177 yard, 2TD rushing game to go along with 95 yards passing and a score. And thanks to a tiebreaker that gives Pinkerton the top seed in the division over Bedford, it's a much easier path to the Championship game for the Astros with a Semifinal matchup with .500 Bishop Guertin.
2. Bedford...tough break, literally, for the Bulldogs and injured QB Mike Vailas who suffered a broken fibula in the 1st half of the playoff win over Concord. I gotta admit, I was second guessing coach Kurt Hines a couple of weeks ago during the Goffstown game when he shifted Vailas back to receiver and started Tyler Cibotti at QB against the Grizzlies. He ended up putting Vailas back in at QB that night as Bedford pulled out a victory, but that big game experience Cibotti got that night may have been just what Hines was looking to accomplish in the 1st place. Now can Bedford beat surging Exeter without Vailas? That's a good question. Look for the Bulldogs defense to step up their game even more to see if they can overcome the loss of their leader.
3. Londonderry...I chose not to drop the Lancers from the 3rd spot on my ballot despite the 31-14 loss to Pinkerton on Saturday. That will probably change next week, especially if Exeter gets by Bedford. Londonderry was able to move the ball once again vs the Astros defense, but for the 2nd time in 2 meetings the Lancers fumbled the ball away on the goaline in the 1st half and the turnover proved costly as it really shifted momentum in Pinkerton's favor.
4. Windham...the Jaguars shook off Milford to the tune of 40-16 on Saturday to advance to the D2 semis this weekend against Hollis-Brookline, a team Windham beat 56-0 in the season opener for both teams back on September 6th. The winner of this game gets the survivor of the other Division 2 semi between Kennett and Saint Thomas.
5. Salem...Judging from my Pinkerton/Londonderry final score tweet getting "favorited" by some of the Salem players, I think the Blue Devils felt just a little better about how their season ended on Halloween Night after they learned that Pinkerton had knocked off Londonderry on Saturday. Still, I imagine the sting of that bitter loss to the Lancers will be something that sticks with those kids, their coaches and fans for a lifetime.
6. Exeter...is this Exeter 2011 all over again? 2011 was the 1st year of the back to back Championship run for the Blue Hawks, the one that wasn't expected as Bill Ball's team started to really come together late in the season before shocking everyone(but themselves) in a 24-14 upset of highly touted Pinkerton in Derry on Championship Saturday 2011. The next year Tyler Grant and company rolled to an undefeated season for the 2012 title. This year's team has that 2011 feel where no one really gave Exeter much of a chance, but here they are heading into Final Four weekend and now they're probably the favorites in a game vs the Mike Vailas-less Bedford Bulldogs. It's the type of game that makes me wish I could be I 2 places at once.
7. Kennett...that's because I'll be in Conway with Jon Kesty and the NHSportspage video camera for an awesome D2 semi featuring undefeated Kennett against 8-1 Saint Thomas. Thank goodness for Twitter so I can follow all the semifinal games! This matchup between the high powered Eagles and Saints should be a shootout in the North Country and I can't wait til kickoff is here! Looking ahead to the weekend forecast it's supposed to be a chilly 40 degrees on Saturday which could make things tough for these 2 pass oriented offenses.
8. Concord...hats off the the Tide for hanging tough thru a lot of injuries this year after graduation hit the defending Champs hard following their magical run last season. Robert Law will go down as one of the best QBs in Concord history and coach Eric Brown is one of the best in the business and an even better guy.
9. Portsmouth...this is probably the last time I will have Portsmouth in my Top 10 as now that the Clippers have been eliminated they won't have a chance to improve their position and I'll probably move a deserving St. Thomas team into this spot if they can hang with or even beat Kennett on Saturday. In the end for Portsmouth, the superior depth and size of the power D1 teams on their schedule like Exeter, Concord and Bedford proved to be too much for the Clippers to overcome.
10. Bow...someone please help me understand this one...how does Bow absolutely destroy yet another opponent on their way to their 19th straight win(54-14 over Bishop Brady)...and the other voters in this poll aren't impressed enough to give them their vote in the 10th spot over a much improved, but still only 5-5 Bishop Guertin? Again, do I think Bow would beat .500ish D1 teams like Goffstown, Memorial and even BG head to head? Probably not, but why not reward the little guys for a truly dominating season by showing them some love with your vote? I'll finish by quoting Dr Evil, "throw me a freakin' bone here, Scott"!