NHIAA previews: Division IV

By rbrown
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Updated: August 28, 2018

Division IV
2018 Preview

Teams in the Division: Bishop Brady, Fall Mountain, Farmington/Nute, Franklin, Mascoma Valley, Newfound, Raymond and Winnisquam.

2017 champion: N/A. NHIAA football expanded from three to four divisions in the offseason. This is the first time the state has had four divisions since 2013.

Top storyline: Will the creation of a fourth division do more than keep games close? The division was added to help programs improve, not just avoid lopsided losses. If a team can’t compete at this level then that school should take a hard internal look at its program.

Players to Watch: Bradley Andrzejczyk (DB) Fall Mountain, Sr.; James Blair (OL/DL) Fall Mountain, Sr.; Patrick Brust (QB/DB) Bishop Brady, Jr.; Evan Fernald (DE) Farmington/Nute, Sr.; Justin Garneau (WR/DB) Fall Mountain, Sr.; Alex Gaughran (OT/DT) Raymond, Sr.; Greg Gibby (WR) Raymond, Sr.; Mike Loader (OL/DL) Raymond, Sr.; Chandler Peterson (RB/KR) Farmington/Nute, Sr.; Brett Pidgeon (RB) Newfound, Jr.; Caiden Remillard (OL/DL) Winnisquam, Sr.; Paul Roy (FB/LB) Farmington/Nute, Sr.; Jacob Shoemaker (QB) Fall Mountain, Sr.; Hunter Stickney (OL/DL) Newfound, Sr.; Josh Totte (RB) Raymond, Sr. ; Morgan Wilbur (DE) Fall Mountain, Jr.

Key game: Bishop Brady at Franklin (Sept. 29). Hard to say where the strength of this division lies, but these two programs each have a richer tradition than any of the six other teams. Bishop Brady has won seven state titles, Franklin has five. The Green Giants and Golden Tornadoes have a pretty good rivalry as well.

Noteworthy: Four teams will make the playoffs in this division. Although the teams will play a balanced seven-game schedule, the football point-rating system will be used to select the four playoff teams. The head-to-head result will be the tiebreaker for a two-team tie. It should be noted that a tie occurs when teams have the same rating, NOT the same record. Two teams that are each 5-2 are not “tied” in the eyes of the NHIAA if their rating is different. … Division IV teams will kick things off a week later than the other divisions. All four openers are Sept. 8, and each team will have a bye following its fourth game. … The Division IV championship game will be played Nov. 10 — one week earlier than the three other title games — at Laconia High School. … Johan Rosario, an all-state selection as a freshman at Raymond last season, has transferred to Pinerton Academy. … Fall Mountain may be ready to take a step forward. The Tigers return eight starters on each side of the ball. … Jermaine McKenzie (Bishop Brady), Kyle Colburn (Mascoma) and Seth Wentworth (Farmington/Nute) are the first-year head coaches in the division. … No one is facing a tougher task than Wentworth, who is Farmington/Nute’s fourth coach in five years. The Tigers haven’t had a winning season in their 13-year history, and finished winless in each of the past two years.

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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.