Cardinals, Broncos have a few things in common

The high school football teams from Bishop Guertin and Alvirne have something in common heading into Friday night’s game in Hudson.

Both Division II teams enter having won two games in a row.

What this game means for each team is completely different. The Cardinals (5-1 in division, 6-2 overall) are playing for the top seed in the playoffs, while the Broncos (1-5, 2-6) are trying to build some momentum for next season.

Both teams have also been forced to play some younger players because of injuries and holes on each side of the ball. Bishop Guertin went into the season knowing it would be young on defense and because of injuries to the few older players, the Cardinals got even younger. Alvirne also went into the year with a few inexperienced players needing to fill key holes, but the Broncos were without some of their own workhorses for a stretch of the year.

Again there is a big difference between the two – Alvirne has gotten most of those players back from injury, while Bishop Guertin has relied on the fill-ins for most of the year.

“They’ve missed some guys, but they go to Winnacunnet (last Friday) and I’m not sure they’re missing that much of a beat,” Alvirne coach Bobby Nimblett said. “Their defense is still flying around. Their speed is impressive. They’re playing some younger guys, but they are fast and athletic. I don’t think there’s a huge drop off.”

While the Cardinals have been able to get by without players like Mike Kelly and Peter Fucci, the Broncos had trouble replacing seniors Jonathan Baldwin, Sean Sipsey and Patrick Reidy when they were out for portions of the season.

“Alvirne is a team that has been struggling and plagued by injuries,” Bishop Guertin coach Tony Johnson said. “(Alvirne senior) Jonathan Baldwin is one of the best athletes in the division and he can make up for a lot of mistakes.

“They’re always excited to play BG and we never take those guys lightly.”

The Broncos have had a little something extra in their step since breaking into the win column two weeks ago.

“Getting the first one, it was big just to get the monkey off our back,” Nimblett said. “For the younger guys, they start to see that we can get wins. For us, if we can end with winning four in a row or three out of four, it carries us into the offseason and gets people excited about the program.”

The biggest thing for the Broncos this week is just competing with the Cardinals, according to Nimblett.

“Sometimes (Bishop Guertin) psyches you out even before they show up,” he said. “They have that swagger to them. We’re trying to tell our kids that if they execute, then we can be competitive.”

Although the Cardinals still won’t see the return of some of their banged-up players, there is good news as they enter Friday’s game.

“Last week, we didn’t sustain any further injuries,” Johnson said. “Week after week, we were plugging in new parts. The kids are understanding the schemes better and understanding the significance.

“What we need to do is get better every week, as boring as that sounds. We did a very good job preparing for Manchester West. We did a better job for Winnacunnet. We’ve had a decent week for Alvirne.”

The Cardinals will find out just how decent at 7 p.m. on Friday at Alvirne.