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Hilltoppers, Cougars claim titles

DIVISION IV
Championship

Somersworth 14, Newport 6

Top-seeded Somersworth extended its winning streak to 17 games and won the Division IV championship for the second consecutive season by earning a 14-6 win at Laconia High School.

Somersworth’s Calvin Lambert scored on a 24-yard run, and the Hilltoppers (9-0) also scored on a 19-yard pass from quarterback Jeff DeKorne to Dante Guillory. Lambert rushed for 98 yards on 21 carries.

Second-seeded Newport (7-2) scored on a 4-yard run by quarterback Kyle Ashley as time expired.

Somersworth, which led 7-0 at halftime, beat Newport 35-7 during the regular season.

DIVISION III
Championship

Campbell 16, Trinity 14

Sophomore running back Scott Hershberger rushed for 198 yards and two touchdowns on 42 attemps to carry the third-seeded Cougars to the Division III championship.

Hershberger also added the two-point conversion following each of his touchdowns.

Top-seeded Trinity (10-1) trailed 16-7 until running back Anthony DiGiantommaso scored on a 54-yard run on the final play of the third quarter. Campbell (9-2) stuffed conversion attempt, which would have tied the game.

Trinity made it an 8-8 game with quarterback Jack Service scored on a 5-yard run and DeVohn Ellis added the two-point conversion with 8.4 seconds remaining in the first half.

DIVISION II
SEMIFINALS

Souhegan 29, Gilford-Belmont 28

Running back JJ Bright scored on a 66-yard run with 6:25 to play and Joey Bernasconi added the point-after kick that capped the scoring in Souhegan’s 29-28 victory in Gilford.

Bright also scored on a 53-yard run in the first half and added the two-point conversion following quarterback Romy Jain’s 1-yard TD run in the third quarter. Jain, who completed 8 of 13 passes for 113 yards, also scored from a yard away in the first half.

Junior quarterback Isaiah Reese (28 carries for 158 yards) and senior running back Michael Kitto (28 carries for 111 yards) each ran for two touchdowns to help the top-seeded Golden Eagles (10-1) build a 28-14 halftime lead.

Fourth-seeded Souhegan (10-1) will face second-seeded Pelham in Saturday’s championship game.

Pelham 28, Bow 7

The second-seeded Pythons stretched their winning streak to 29 games by beating Bow 28-7 in Pelham.

Ethan Demmons ran for 124 yards and Pelham limited third-seeded Bow (9-2) to 106 yards of offense. Dom Herrling (3-yard run), Jake Travis (1-yard run) and Demmons (28-yard run) scored Pelham’s offensive touchdowns. Herling also ran back an interception 29-yards for a TD.

Pelham scored one TD in each quarter.

Bow scored on a 7-yard pass from quarterback Owen Walton to Ben Berube.

Pelham (11-0) will face Souhegan in Saturday’s Division II championship game at Bedford High School.

DIVISION I
Quarterfinals

Londonderry 21, Merrimack 7

Eighth-seeded Merrimack dominated the game statistically, but Londonderry prevailed where it counts the most.

The top-seeded Lancers (9-1) led by seven points at halftime and added two third-quarter TDs to extend its season with a 21-7 victory. The Lancers scored on a 90-yard kickoff return by Andrew Kullman, a 4-yard run by Trevor Weinman and a 44-yard pass from quarterback Drew Heenan to Anthony Amaro. It was the only pass Heenan completed in the game.

Merrimack scored on a 16-yard run by Reimello Hyde, who carried the ball 36 times for 174 yards.

Merrimack ran 71 plays for 280 yards. Londonderry ran 37 plays for 129 yards. The Tomahawks had a 20-8 edge in first downs, and converted 10 of their 16 third down opportunities.

Londonderry will play fourth-seeded Pinkerton Academy in the semifinals.

Timberlane 29, Exeter 28

The sixth-seeded Owls overcame a 14-point deficit with seven minutes to play and will face 10th-seeded Bedford in the semifinals.

Timberlane quarterback Dom Coppeta scored from a yard away to pull the Owls (9-2) within a point with 37.8 seconds remaining and then added tw0-point conversion to complete the scoring.

Timberlane made it 28-21 when Coppeta connected with Jaden Mwangi for a 45-yard TD pass with 6:53 to play. Mwangi caught two TD passes in the victory. The Owls also received a 68-yard TD run from Liam Corman in the third quarter.

Exeter quarterback Evan Pafford completed 9 of 15 passes for 81 yards and two touchdowns, and also ran for a 23-yard TD. Ethan Moss caught both TD passes. Exeter’s Aidan McGinley also scored on a 2-yard run.

The Blue Hawks completed their season with a 7-3 record.

Bedford 7, Nashua North 0

Bedford, the No. 10 seed, scored in the second quarter on a 55-yard pass from quarterback Danny Black to Colby Snow and then relied on its defense. It was Bedford’s sixth shutout of the season, and second in the playoffs.

Second-seeded North (9-1) was without defensive end/offensive tackle Toby Brown (knee), who is among the top players in the state. Then the Titans lost quarterback Derek Finlay (knee) and running back Amaury Almonte (hamstring) to injuries in the first half.

Junior Gavin Flynn replaced Finlay and had the Titans in business after he completed a 21-yard pass to Nick DiGesse early in the fourth quarter. That play gave the Titans a first down on the Bedford 5-yard line, but after the Titans failed to score on three running plays Evan Cibotti intercepted Flynn’s fourth-down pass in the end zone

North moved the ball to the Bedford 29 on its final possession, but Dom Tagliaferro intercepted a third-down pass with 1:37 to play.

The victory raised Bedford’s record to 8-3.

Pinkerton 14, Bishop Guertin 12

The Astros stopped a two-point-conversion attempt late in the fourth quarter and hung on for a two-point victory.

Fourth-seeded Pinkerton (9-2) scored on an 87-yard run by sophomore Matt Morrison (11-128) with 4:52 remaining in the first quarter, and on a Cole Yennaco 6-yard run with 9:29 remaining in the half. Halfback Jacob Albert added the two-point conversion.

Fifth-seeded BG (8-3) received a 1-yard TD run from quarterback Matt Santosuosso and a 14-yard TD pass from Santosuosso to Ronan Balistreri. Santosuosso ran for a game-high 131 yards on 26 carries.

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