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# Bishop Guertin football hangs on to beat Winnacunnet, keep playoffs hopes alive (video)
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/bishop-guertin-football-hangs-on-to-beat-winnacunnet-keep-playoffs-hopes-alive-video/
- Published: 2019-10-20T18:24:25.000Z
- Updated: 2019-10-20T18:24:25.000Z
- Description: NASHUA - For everything that the Bishop Guertin and Winnacunnet high school football teams did Saturday night, both sides were left holding their collective breath late in the game. Down five points with the clock running down to two minutes remaining, the Warriors went for it on fourth-and-2 at the
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Division I, Bishop Guertin, football, slider, Winnacunnet, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

NASHUA - For everything that the Bishop Guertin and Winnacunnet high school football teams did Saturday night, both sides were left holding their collective breath late in the game.

Down five points with the clock running down to two minutes remaining, the Warriors went for it on fourth-and-2 at the Cardinals' 13-yard line.

Quarterback Elliot Beals tried to plow through the line on a keeper, and after the pile was cleared, the ball was spotted close to the first down marker. The officials called for a measurement, and as they stretched the chains out, the Bishop Guertin defense started celebrating.

Winnacunnet came up a couple of links short of the first down, and the Cardinals were able to run out the clock for a 21-16 win over the Warriors in a Division I game at Stellos Stadium. The victory keeps the playoff hopes alive for Bishop Guertin (4-3) as the regular season creeps closer to its end.

"It was nerve wracking," Bishop Guertin senior Kyle Baker said of the measurement. "I thought we got a stop, but it was really close."

Baker had given the Cardinals an 11-point lead with a 7-yard touchdown reception with 9:25 remaining in the game, part of a six-catch, 84-yard performance. But three plays later, Beals connected with Ben Chase for a 61-yard touchdown to keep the Warriors (1-6) in the game. The two-point conversion failed, leaving Winnacunnet down five points with 8:32 to play.

"Sometimes better lucky than good," Bishop Guertin coach John Trisciani said. "I knew even if they got it, we were trying to think in our heads, what was the time situation going to be. I was thinking all we needed was one more stop and the game was probably going to be ours. Then it got really interesting."

Bishop Guertin was able to take more than four minutes off the clock, but the ensuing drive stalled once it crossed midfield, and Jacob Baker had his punt blocked by Jack McCann. The Warriors recovered at the Cardinals' 21, setting up the fourth-down play.

"They say it’s a game of inches," Winnacunnet coach Ryan Francoeur said. "Sometimes the bounces don’t go your way. The kids made a nice play to put us in that spot.

"I think if we run a better play on first down, we put ourselves in a better situation. We gave ourselves second-and-10 on a play we thought we would get four or five (yards) on. That’s what puts you in that situation. Really happy with how the kids responded (Saturday). We’re getting closer."

Winnacunnet decided to give sophomore Dom Gould the start at quarterback, but the Warriors struggled to move the ball in part due to trouble with the snap. Francoeur switched to Beals after the Cardinals got out to a 14-0 lead, and the junior led Winnacunnet on a 13-play, 74-yard drive that ended on a 2-yard touchdown run by Chris McClelland on fourth-and-goal on the final play of the first half.

"We’ve had different quarterbacks all year and no one has found a real comfort zone," Francoeur said of the change. "Dom (Gould) is an athletic kid, so we wanted to give him a shot there. He’s looked good in practice, but he was having trouble handling snaps. We were getting two plays out of three instead of three out of three."

McClelland finished the game with 51 yards rushing on 12 carries and Beals completed 2 of 6 pass for 81 yards and the touchdown to Chase.

Dylan Santosuosso continued to show improvement at quarterback for the Cardinals, going 10 of 18 passing for 127 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. The junior also had 71 yards rushing and a touchdown on 22 carries and Ethan Holt added 43 yards on the ground.

The Cardinals opened the game with a 13-play, 65-yard drive that got them inside the Winnacunnet 5\. But on fourth-and-goal from the 3, Thomas Ouellette was dropped for a 5-yard loss.

After a scoreless first quarter, Ben Plumley got the scoring started, taking a pass in the flat from Santosuosso 36 yards for a touchdown to make it 7-0 with 11:09 left in the first half. Bishop Guertin forced a three-and-out on the Warriors' next drive and the offense went 60 yards on 10 plays, take a two-score lead on Santosuosso's 7-yard touchdown run.

The Warriors cut the lead in half at the break and got within four, 14-10, on a 27-yard field goal by Hunter Madore with 4:12 left in the third quarter.

But the Cardinals answered with another time-consuming drive, going 85 yards in 15 plays and taking a 21-10 lead on Kyle Baker's touchdown.

"I just pushed my way in and just got in the end zone," Baker said. "I felt pretty open and I turned around and saw that it was foot race to the corner of the end zone and I just squeezed in."

Bishop Guertin goes on the road on Friday to Spaulding while Winnacunnet returns home to face Keene, also on Friday.