> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Castillo-Diaz, Duval hoping to keep Goffstown football on track
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/castillo-diaz-duval-hoping-keep-goffstown-football-track/
- Published: 2016-08-10T17:20:44.000Z
- Updated: 2016-08-10T17:20:44.000Z
- Description: It hit Franklin Castillo-Diaz the first time he stepped into the huddle. The Goffstown High School football team was participating in its first 7-on-7 practice of the summer, and when Castillo-Diaz looked around at his teammates, a thought popped into his head. "Ever since we did our first 7-on-7, w
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Fall Sports, Division I, football, Goffstown, slider, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

It hit Franklin Castillo-Diaz the first time he stepped into the huddle.

The Goffstown High School football team was participating in its first 7-on-7 practice of the summer, and when Castillo-Diaz looked around at his teammates, a thought popped into his head.

"Ever since we did our first 7-on-7, we did the huddle and talked, and it felt weird," Castillo-Diaz said. "It hit me, I think the first one, I was like 'wow, I'm a senior, this is my last year.' I've just got to take advantage of every little thing."

For Castillo-Diaz and a handful of other Goffstown players who were on the varsity for last season's undefeated championship, this year will be plenty different.

Gone are 20 seniors from last year's team, 14 of whom started in the Division I title game.

"There's a bunch of kids who started last year, who played a lot, who were key members of the team," Goffstown coach Justin Hufft said. "But now they need to transition to that leadership role and kind of be the guy. Some people are able to make that transition easily, and some people struggle with it. It'll be interesting how these guys handle it."

![Goffstown's Andrew Duval tries to stay in bounds after interception a pass. The play was called back on a penalty.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/bc/58/bc5866d0-9fd9-4113-b959-670d6f16471d/content/images/www-nh-highschoolsports-com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/jmbedgoffball111415-g9-1.jpg)

Goffstown's Andrew Duval started on both sides of the ball as a sophomore.

While the Grizzlies look to replace players at key positions on offense, two that they won't have to worry about are Castillo-Diaz and junior Andrew Duval. The pair combined for 11 touchdowns last year, with most of those coming on receptions, but each had a special teams touchdown and Duval had another on the ground.

With a year offseason work - and experience - Goffstown will likely look to the pair to carry some of the load as others get up to speed.

"We're going to have to play a bigger role this year because of the big senior class leaving, but I think the handful of guys who have played varsity are going to do a good job," Duval said. "Our passing game is going to be a big threat this year, maybe even more of a threat than last year. We've gone to a bunch of camps this year. We've gotten more experience together and tried to connect more."

Castillo-Diaz attributes that quick connection to the off-the-field relationship they have with quarterback Nik Moquin, who will be the likely starter replacing Casey Gervais.

"We've been best friends since sixth grade," Castillo-Diaz said. "We've been working to build that connection."

While Hufft doesn't see any one player getting the bulk of the workload, their experience will put Duval and Castillo-Diaz ahead of the other potential playmakers on offense.

"The position they play, they're playmakers and we always want to get playmakers the ball, so we'll try to find ways to do that," the coach said. "We have other guys we feel good about, too. The key for us is to be balanced.

"They both can catch the ball. They're both tough, they'll run through tackles, and they both block very well. They'll both hit you on defense and special teams."

Both players started on offense and special teams last season, but only Duval was a starter on defense. The Grizzlies had planned to use Castillo-Diaz in the defensive backfield more last season, but the emergence of other players allowed them to let the senior focus on offense.

This year, Duval is excited by the prospect of having both seeing quality time on defense.

"Frankie is quicker and faster, he can put someone on their butt," Duval said.

"He's certainly good enough of an athlete that he can be very good on defense," Hufft said. "We haven't used him there. We've had other players who have been able to do that role, but Frankie is certainly in great shape. He's very strong and he works hard in the offseason."

Seeing how hard he and his teammates worked throughout the summer has Castillo-Diaz thinking there might some out there underestimating the Grizzlies.

"I'm very excited," he said. "I think we can do a lot of big things. People are going to think that just because we lost Casey and Connor (Bourque) and all of them that we're not going to be as good. Goffstown is just full of kids who have heart. We're all going to push each other to see what we can achieve."