New Hampshire Football Report

NHIAA Review: Week 3

Perhaps the worst news to come out of Week 3 was the knee injury to Concord running back Elia Bahuma.

Bahuma left the first half of Thursday’s 28-14 loss to Salem in the first half and did not return. The extent of his injury is uncertain.

Concord coach Jim Corkum said via text message that Bahuma is scheduled to have an MRI.

Bahuma, a senior, is among the top running backs in the state, and entered the season as a strong candidate to win the inaugural Yukica Player of the Year Award. He rushed for 1,536 yards and 22 touchdowns last season.

Concord is scheduled to play at Manchester Central on Friday night.

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Pinkerton showed plenty of team speed when it went on the road and beat Timberlane 51-13 Friday night.

Pinkerton outscored Timberlane 24-0 in the second quarter and led 38-7 at halftime.

Fullback Ryan Catineau and halfback Caden Michaud each scored two first-half touchdowns for the Astros. Catineau scored on runs of 4 yards and 1 yard; Michaud had a 7-yard touchdown run, and caught a 58-yard TD pass from quarterback Tim Hersom.

Pinkerton’s first-half scoring also included halfback Matt Morrison’s 40-yard TD run, and a 38-yard field goal by Peyton Harmony.

“This Pinkerton team is really good,” Michaud said. “One word to describe us is fast. … We have speed everywhere, so we’re a fast team.”

The Astros finalized the scoring on a pair of Colin Gearing TD runs (5 and 4 yards) in the fourth quarter.

Pinkerton (3-0) has scored 106 points in its three wins.

“I’ve got as much speed as I’ve ever had in the backfield,” Pinkerton coach Brian O’Reilly said. “And I have a fullback (Catineau) who I probably should have used a lot more last year. I have a quarterback who’s experienced and can throw the ball, run with the ball, and we have a good offensive line.”

Pinkerton, the No. 3 team in the Union Leader Power Poll, will face No. 2 Londonderry (3-0) Friday night in Derry.

“(Our kids) will be ready to play (and) Londonderry will be ready to play,” O’Reilly said. “The crowd will be there. We’ll have our 5,000-plus people and we’ll go at it.”

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Neither Pelham nor Souhegan, teams that met in the Division II championship game last season, has allowed a point through three games. Pelham has outscored its opponents 111-0, and Souhegan has a pair of 53-0 victories and a 39-0 win.

Meanwhile, is anybody betting against a Campbell-Trinity rematch in the Division III championship game? The Cougars and Pioneers are the only unbeaten teams in that division.

Trinity has scored 148 points and won each of its three games by shutout. Campbell has outscored its three opponents 123-20.

The teams will meet Sept. 29 in Litchfield.

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Thumbs up to Kingswood coach Tom McCullough for guiding the Knights to a 23-8 victory at Kearsarge on Saturday. It was Kingswood’s first victory since McCullough took over as head coach last season.

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Bedford running back Brody Helton rushed for 209 yards on 20 carries in a Week 1 victory over Bishop Guertin, and rushed for 173 yards on 12 carries in last week’s victory over Keene.

Bedford’s only other game, a 21-0 victory over Nashua South, ended in the second quarter because of lightning.

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