NHIAA Previews: Division IV

By rbrown
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Updated: September 21, 2020

DIVISION IV
2020 Preview

Teams in the Division: Bishop Brady, Epping/Newmarket, Fall Mountain, Farmington/Nute, Franklin, Mascoma, Newfound, Newport, Raymond, Somersworth.

2019 champion: Winnisquam. The Bears capped a 9-0 season by beating Fall Mountain 20-0 in the Division IV championship game.

Top storyline: Is this Fall Mountain’s year? Before last year’s run to the Division IV championships game, the Wildcats hadn’t qualified for postseason play since 1994. There’s still plenty of experience and talent on the Fall Mountain roster.

Players to Watch: Nick Arivella, OL (Raymond), Jr.; Hawkens Barton, OL (Mascoma), Jr.; Jacob Beaupre, RB (Franklin), Sr.; Kevin Bostaph, WR/CB (Raymond), Sr.; Jon Doheny, DL (Bishop Brady), Jr.; Jerome Donahue, OL (Bishop Brady), Jr.; Marius Edwards, P (Newport), Sr.; Josh Evans, RB/DB (Mascoma), Sr.; Mike Evans, QB (Mascoma), Sr.; Alex Flynn, DL (Fall Mountain), Sr.; Richard Gibby, QB (Raymond), Sr.; Matt Hanchett, RB (Farmington/Nute), Sr.; Caleb Hobbs, OL (Mascoma), Sr.; Malaki Ingram, DB (Newfound), Jr.; Dawson Lafrance, LB (Franklin), Sr.; Izea Long, DB (Farmington/Nute), Sr.; Dylan Martein, WR (Raymond), Sr.; Mike Mbwana, DB (Raymond), Jr.; Tommy Sargent, OL/LB (Bishop Brady), Sr.; Trevor Sawyer, DL (Mascoma), Jr.; Joshua Sharron RB/LB (Newport), Sr.; Tyler Swain, SE/DL (Fall Mountain), Sr.; Ben Washburn, LB (Newfound), Jr.; Izaak Westover, RB/LB (Fall Mountain), Sr.; Josh Williams, DB (Mascoma), Jr.

Key game: The menu is limited because of COVID-19, but Mascoma at Fall Mountain on Oct. 2 looks like a matchup between two of the top teams in the divison. Mascoma missed the playoffs last season, but should be much-improved this year.

Noteworthy: Division IV expanded to 10 teams in the offseason, but two of those teams — Epping/Newmarket and Somersworth — chose not to play varsity football this fall, although Somersworth is still exploring the possibility of having a season. Epping/Newmarket and Somersworth both dropped to Division IV from Division III last season. Newport also dropped from Division III to Division IV. … Winnisquam, which has won the last two Division IV championships, is now in Division III. … Division IV will use an open playoff format, so each of the eight teams playing this fall will have the opportunity to participate in the postseason. The Division IV semifinals are schedued for Nov. 7 and the championship is scheduled to be played Nov. 14. Both games will be played at a neutral high school site. … Farmington/Nute is seeking its first winning season in the program’s 15-year history. … Former Bishop Guertin head coach Tony Johnson is now the head coach at Bishop Brady. … All eight Division IV teams will be in action this weekend and two of them will be playing non-Division IV opponents. The Week 1 schedule: Hanover at Fall Mountain (Friday), Newport at Mascoma (Saturday), Franklin at Newfound (Saturday) and Merrimack Valley at Bishop Brady (Saturday).

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