NHIAA Previews: Division II

By rbrown
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Updated: September 4, 2024

Division II
2024 Preview

Teams in the division …

Division II East: Bow, Kennett, Kingswood, Merrimack Valley, Pembroke, Plymouth, St. Thomas and Trinity

Division II West: ConVal, Hanover, Hollis-Brookline, John Stark, Manchester West, Milford, Pelham and Souhegan.

2023 champion: Pelham. The Pythons won their fourth straight championship (two in Division III and two in Division II) by beating Plymouth 35-6 in the Division II championship game.

Top storyline: Will anyone beat Pelham? The Pythons enter the season on a 41-game winning streak, which is the fourth-longest active winning streak in the nation.

Players to Watch: Serafin Agramonte (RB/WR/LB) Kingswood, Daven Bailey (WR/DB) Kennett; Philip Berke (OL DL) Hollis/Brookline; Justin Bowlan (RB/DB) Pelham; Jacob Brown (OL/DL) Kingswood; Garrett Burke (QB) Kingswood; Roman Cadwallader (TE/LB) ConVal; Treyvon Cannon (WR/DB) Pembroke Academy; Reece Clermont (RB/OLB) Merrimack Valley; Samson Davis (RB/DB) ConVal; Anthony Digiantommaso (RB) Trinity; Gio Doria (QB) Manchester West; Joey Dykstra (RB/LB) John Stark; Elliot Featherstone (RB/LB) ConVal; Ke’Shawn Foster (WR/DB) Manchester West; David Frechette (RB/S) Hanover; Nick Gakopoulos (G/DT) St. Thomas; Tyler Gammell (OL/DL) Hanover; Dylan Gartside (OL/DL) Trinity; Jackson Hall (G) Bow; Luke Hanson (TE/RB/DE/LB) Pembroke Academy; James Healey (OL/DL) ConVal; Brayden Hickman (TE/DE) Souhegan; Brady Lover (QB) Bow; Roy Lucas (WR/DB) Hanover; Stephen MacKinnon (TE/DL) Pelham; Tyler Medeiros (OT/DT) Plymouth; Nick Muise (QB/OLB) Pelham; Patrick Muise (OL/LB) Pelham; Keegan Murphy (G/LB) Hanover; Emmitt Nossaman (OG/DE) Plymouth; Logan Paradis (WR/LB) Manchester West; Tagert Patton (OL/DL) Hollis/Brookline; Kai Reitnauer (WR/DB) ConVal; Ollie Service (QB) Trinity; Liam Shannon (LB/TE) Plymouth; Brody Smith (WR/DB) Souhegan; Robbie Thorne (RB/DE) Plymouth; Luis Toledo (OT/DE) Souhegan; Ben Valenti (RB) Plymouth; Logan Whitney (DE/DB) Trinity; Grayson Witchley (OL/DL) Kennett.

Key game: Trinity at Pelham (Oct. 18). Last year’s Division II champion faces last year’s Division III champion.

Noteworthy: The gap between Pelham and the rest of Division II may have narrowed a bit since the Bobcats were hit hard by graduation. The Pythons return three starters on offense and four on defense. Tom Babaian guided Pelham to each of its 41-straight wins, but resigned in February and is now an assistant coach at Pinkerton Academy. John Trisciani is in his first season as Pelham’s head coach. Trisciani was an assistant coach at Manchester Central last season. … Trisciani is one of four new head coaches in Division II this season, joining Max Morelli (Milford), Milt Robinson (Hollis/Brookline) and Cory Woodsome. Robinson was Hollis/Brookline’s head coach during the program’s first varsity season in 2003, but stepped down after 12 seasons. … Hillsboro-Deering/Hopkinton and Gilford/Belmont, both of whom competed in Division II last season, no longer have co-op programs and are in Division IV and Division III, respectively. Lebanon, which fielded only a junior varsity team last season, is a Division II team by enrollment, but was granted permission by the NHIAA to play in Division III for the next two seasons. … Kingswood, ConVal and Trinity are the teams that have joined Division II since the 2023 season ended. Kingswood and ConVal were allowed to compete in Division III for two seasons (2022 and 2023) while rebuilding, and Trinity moved up after making three straight appearances in the Division III championship game. … Eight teams make the playoffs in Division II. The top team from each conference receives an automatic berth. The other playoff spots are determined by the NHIAA football point-rating system, which rewards teams for beating strong opponents.

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