New Hampshire Football Report

Epping/Newmarket turns to Ross

It was an offseason of change for the Epping/Newmarket program. The Blue Devils moved from Division IV to Division III, and Ron Ross replaced Nick Derocher as the program’s head coach.

Derocher resigned last spring to become an assistant coach at Lunenburg (Mass.) High School, where he will be reunited with former Epping/Newmarket head coach Anthony Nalen. Ross, 52, was an assistant on Derocher’s staff last season.

“Nick did a great job promoting the program in both towns,’ Ross said. “There was some hesitation about applying when he resigned because it’s fun being an assistant. Not everything is on you. I was the next guy in line and I think I’m in it for the long haul.”

Ross certainly isn’t lacking experience. He was the head coach at Traip Academy in Kittery, Maine, from 2002 to 2016. Ross graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1988 and currently lives in South Berwick, Maine.

Epping/Newmarket went 7-3 in Division IV last season, and returned 11 starters from that team.

“I’d say we have about an even mix of kids from Epping and Newmarket,” Ross said. “We have 41 kids in the program and next year we could be at 60. We’re in Division III and we’re going to embrace it. I know Trinity and Campbell are going to be very good so we’ll be challenged there, but I think we can compete against with everyone else in that division.”

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