NHIAA Preview: Division III

By rbrown
- Tweet
- Pin It
Updated: August 28, 2018

Division III
2018 Preview

Teams in the division: Campbell, Epping/Newmarket, Hillsboro-Deering/Hopkinton, Inter-Lakes/Moultonborough, Kearsarge/Mount Royal Academy, Laconia, Lebanon, Monadnock, Newport, Somersworth, Stevens and Trinity.

2017 champion: Campbell. The Cougars capped an unbeaten season with a 12-8 victory over Monadnock in the Division III championship game.

Top storyline: Addition by subtraction? The division became much stronger when eight schools left to create Division IV. In addition, Hillsboro-Deering/Hopkinton, Laconia, Lebanon and Trinity have moved from Division II to Division III.

Players to Watch: Christian Abkarian (RB) Somersworth, Jr.; Joey Ackerman (RB/DB) Newport, Sr.; Nate Alley (OL/DL) Monadnock, Sr.; Aiden Almstrom (OL) Newport, Sr.; Cam Barrett (DB) Somersworth, Jr.; Quentin Bicknell (QB/LB) Stevens, Jr.; Lincoln Blodgett (LB) Monadnock, Jr.; Adam Breton (QB) Campbell, Sr.; Kelby Brooker (RB/LB) Laconia, Sr.; Jacob Brown (LB) Trinity, Jr.; Leo Carten (OL/DL) Campbell, Sr.; Ryan Caswell (OL/DL) Inter-Lakes/Moultonborough, Sr.; Logan DeCarolis (OL/DL), Campbell, Sr.; Ryan Dee (QB/DB) Laconia, Jr.; Bobby Edwards (DB) Epping/Newmarket, Jr.; Avery Fraser (LB) Trinity, Jr.; Tim Hart (RB/DB) Monadnock, Sr.; Kyle Hernon (TE/DE) Kearsarge, Sr.; Joey Joslyn (OL/DE) Monadnock, Sr.; Robert Ladd (FB/DB) Campbell, Sr.; Jasper Fougere (RB) Trinity, Jr.; Jak Jallah (QB/WR/DB) Kearsarge, Sr.; Gavin Lovely (OL/DL) Newport, Sr.; Gavin Magistro (QB/RB) Kearsarge, Jr.; Chad Martel (WR/DB/PK) Campbell, Sr.; Thayer Maughan (OL/DL), Hillsboro-Deering/Hopkinton, Sr.; Chandler Matson (RB/LB) Monadnock, Sr.; Keaghan McAllister (RB/LB) Stevens, Jr.; Bryce McCrea (OL/DL) Laconia, Jr.; Anthony McHugh (LB) Somersworth, Sr.; Daniel Merritt (OL/DL) Newport, Sr.; Brodie Messer (DB) Kearsarge, Sr.; Deandre Miller (QB/DB) Inter-Lakes/Moultonborough; Sr.; Keegan Mills (RB/LB) Campbell, Jr; Shane Moore (DE) Epping/Newmarket, Sr.; Joe Morrell (DB) Monadnock, Sr.; Wade Rainy (FB/LB) Lebanon, Sr.; Caiden Remillard (OL/DL) Winnisquam, Sr.; Tyler Richter (OL/LB) Laconia, Jr.; Baylor Rozell (WB/KR/DB) Stevens, Sr.; Tim Santaw (QB/DB) Monadnock, Sr.; Chase Sprague (OL) Somersworth, Sr.; Foster Stacey (QB) Trinity, Sr.; Jakob Steele (RB/DB) Laconia, Sr.; Ryan Sullivan (RB/DB) Lebanon, Sr.; John Thibault (RB/LB) Trinity, Jr.; Devon Titus (RB) Epping/Newmarket, Sr.; Carter Vedrani (TE/LB) Campbell, Jr.; Garrett Whitney (FB/LB) Laconia, Jr.; Jon Willeman (QB/DB) Lebanon, Jr.; Caleb Yianakopolos (QB/DB) Hillsboro-Deering/Hopkinton, Sr.

Key game: Campbell at Monadnock (Oct. 19). Each team returns the majority of its starters from a year ago, when they were both undefeated entering the Division III championship game.

Noteworthy: Division III figures to be much more competitive this season thanks to an offseason shuffle that moved most of the smaller schools in the division to Division IV and added four former Division II programs. Campbell and Monadnock may still be the teams to beat, however. The Cougars return nine starters on each side of the ball, including Keegan Mills, a junior running back/linebacker who was Campbell’s leading tackler last season (88 overall, 23 solo) and led the team in rushing as well (1,440 yards and 18 touchdowns on 119 carries). Monadnock, which capped last season with a victory over Division I Keene on Thanksgiving, lost three starters on its offensive line, but returns running back/defensive back Tim Hart, running back/linebacker Chandler Matson and quarterback/defensive back Tim Santaw. Matson was named the Division III Player of the Year last season, when he rushed for 1,573 yards and 21 touchdowns in Monadnock’s 11 Division III games. Defensively he provided 8.5 sacks and 31 tackles for loss. … Epping/Newmarket, Somersworth, Newport, Stevens and Inter-Lakes/Moultonborough all qualified for the Division III playoffs last season. … Campbell has a new head coach in Glen Costello, who was the team’s defensive coordinator last season. The Cougars are still running the Single-Wing offense. Like Campbell, Epping/Newmarket (Ben Bourgoin) and Newport (Dennis Borcuk) each have a first-year head coach. … Laconia is the only new Division III team that didn’t finish below .500 last season. The Sachems posted a 4-4 record in Division II, but failed to qualify for postseason play. Lebanon and Hillsboro-Deering/Hopkinton each went 1-7, and Trinity didn’t field a varsity team. The Pioneers competed at the junior varsity level. … Kearsarge has formed a cooperative team with Mount Royal Academy, a private school in Sunapee. … Junior running back John Thibault has transferred from Newport to Trinity. Thibault ran for 123 yards and two touchdowns on eight carries to help Trinity beat Manchester West 14-8 in the Queen City Jamboree.

*****

Note: Here are links to the NHFR Top 50 (top 50 players in the state) and the NHFR Preseason Top 10 (top 10 teams in the state). These items are available to XTRA members only.