Bedford, Merrimack remain at top of Union Leader/ESPN NH football power poll
Here is the Union Leader/ESPN New Hampshire football power poll for Week 6 of the 2016 season.
These are the top 10 high school football teams in New Hampshire, with record, first-place votes/points in parentheses, plus last week’s ranking:
- Bedford, 6-0 (7/70), 1st
- Merrimack, 5-1 (63), 2nd
- tie Windham, 6-0 (47), 3rd
- tie Goffstown, 5-1 (47), 4th
- tie Salem, 4-1 (40), 5th
- tie Exeter, 4-1 (40), 6th
- Bishop Guertin, 5-1 (26), t-10th
- John Stark, 6-0 (20), 9th
- Plymouth, 6-0 (14) t-10th
- Portsmouth, 4-2 (10), 7th
Also receiving votes: Pinkerton, 3-3 (3), NR; Monadnock, 5-0 (2), NR; Dover, 4-2 (2), NR; Hanover, 6-0 (1), NR.
Voters are:
- Roger Brown, Union Leader
- Alex Hall, Union Leader
- Chris Duffy, Union Leader
- Nick Anastos, ESPN New Hampshire
- Pete Tarrier, ESPN New Hampshire
- Dave Haley, New Hampshire Sports Page
- Joe Marchilena, NH-HighSchoolSports.com
And here is how I voted in the poll:
- Bedford, beat Manchester Central 24-16
- Merrimack, beat Londonderry 34-7
- Windham, beat Trinity 62-3
- Exeter, beat Nashua North 42-6
- Bishop Guertin, beat Portsmouth 39-38
- Goffstown, beat Concord 54-33
- Salem, beat Manchester Memorial 47-25
- John Stark, beat Pembroke 56-6
- Dover, beat Alvirne 43-8
- Monadnock, on a bye
Didn't see that one coming from Bedford. The Bulldogs came close to seeing their undefeated season slip away in what was a big trap game. But with that win over Central, and with Bedford playing Manchester Memorial and Concord the next two weeks, the Bulldogs should be unbeaten heading into their final regular-season game at Salem.
Merrimack had a bumpy first half against Londonderry, with turnovers keeping the game close for the first 24 minutes. The Tomahawks did what they've been doing this season, taking care of the Lancers in the second half, and looking like one of the two best teams in the state.
Windham has allowed 43 points this season, or an average of just over seven points per game. The most points the Jaguars allowed was in Week 1, when Hollis Brookline scored 14 against them. That means the Cavaliers accounted for 33 percent of the points scored against Windham this year.
Welcome back, Exeter. The Blue Hawks bounced back from their first loss with a dominant performance against Nashua North and showed why they are always a title contender.
Bishop Guertin remained in first in the West Conference thanks to a furious comeback against Portsmouth, and the Cardinals were one bad game at Keene in the rain away from being undefeated. Bishop Guertin plays its final official home game Friday against Alvirne before trips to Exeter and North.
Goffstown was well on its way to a blowout win and then found itself trying to hang on against Concord last week. It hasn't always been pretty for the Grizzlies this season, but a win over Central on Saturday would put them in a pretty good spot to make the playoffs for the second straight year.
Salem bounced back from its first loss with a big win over Memorial that the Blue Devils really needed. They end the season with a rivalry game against Londonderry followed by games at Goffstown and home to Bedford.
John Stark prepared for its showdown with Plymouth by thrashing Pembroke by 50 points. The Generals have averaged just over 40 points per game this season, or about 30 more than Plymouth's defense has given up per game.
Dover got itself back into the playoff picture with a big win over Alvirne. The Green Wave have three winnable games left on the schedule and could finish the regular season with seven wins - as many as it had in the previous four seasons combined.
The bye week has been the only thing to slow Monadnock down in Division III this season. The Huskies travel to Kearsarge to face a Cougars team that sure could use a marquee win.
