Defense leads the way as Winnacunnet football beats Goffstown to reach D1 final (video)

HAMPTON - Ron Auffant thought that if the Winnacunnet High School football team could get a couple of scores, the Warriors defense would be able to take care of the rest.

No. 1 Winnacunnet did just that.

The Warriors offense scored on its opening drive and then added two touchdowns in the second half, while the defense kept No. 2 Goffstown in check for most of the game on the way to a 21-6 win over the Grizzlies in Saturday's Division I semifinals. The win sends Winnacunnet to the championship game, where it will try to complete an undefeated season against Pinkerton.

"It was one of the best defensive performances that I’ve coach in a long time," Auffant said. "I thought they dominated defensively. We were able to move the ball here and there. They have an excellent defense. We felt like we needed three scores (to win). We got three and we only gave up one, and defense was the key (Saturday)."

With the defensive line of James Phennicie, Andrew Mills, Joe MacDougall and Cam Strukel leading the way, the Warriors (11-0) held Goffstown to just 187 yards of offense and five first downs. The Grizzlies (9-2) had just 60 yards rushing, including minus-16 in the second half.

Patrick MacDougall rushed for two touchdowns and led Winnacunnet with 83 yards on the ground while Jordan Fuller added another 62 yards rushing and Phennicie also had a rushing score.

Goffstown's lone score game on a 77-yard touchdown pass from Charlie Keith to Andrew Duval in the final minute of the third quarter, one play after Phennicie's 4-yard scoring run had given Winnacunnet a 14-0 lead. But outside of that play, the Grizzlies had just 33 yards in the second half and Keith completed only three of his other 15 passes for 49 yards and two interceptions.

"We played hard, but Winnacunnet is just a better team," Goffstown coach Justin Hufft said. "That happens sometimes. The kids did what we asked them to do all year long. We had a really good week of practice, in all honesty. The kids came out and fought and competed. I’m really proud of the way they conducted themselves. At the end of the day, it wasn’t enough."

The first half of Saturday's game looked a lot like the second half of the teams' regular-season meeting. Goffstown had just one first down in that half, while Winnacunnet needed a touchdown by MacDougall with 12 seconds left to win 9-6.

This time around, the Warriors got on the board first after forcing a three-and-out by the Grizzlies. Winnacunnet went 66 yards on 10 plays - all rushing attempts - and MacDougall scored on a 1-yard run to make it 7-0 Warriors with 5:56 left in the opening quarter.

Goffstown's defense tightened up after that and allowed 48 yards over the rest of the first half while forcing four punts. But the Grizzlies offense couldn't get much going, as they didn't pick up a first down until their fifth possession, punted five times in the first half and turned the ball over twice.

A lot of that defensive dominance from Winnacunnet had to do with the play of its front four.

"Our game plan was to stop the run and not let Duval beat us," Auffant said. "We have some good athletes and kids in the right spots, we don’t ask them to do too much. I think across the board, it’s weird, we don’t have that one superstar. They’re all just good."

The Grizzlies got something going when they started to hand the ball off to Duval late in the second quarter. The senior carried three times for 37 yards to get Goffstown to the Winnacunnet 16, but on third-and-9, Keith fumbled and Fuller recovered to give the Warriors the ball.

That helped make it a 7-0 game at halftime and that's where the score stood when Keith was picked off by Ryan Kacmarcik midway through the third quarter. Winnacunnet took over at Goffstown's 45, but six plays later, the Warriors faced a fourth-and-2 at the 18.

MacDougall throw a quick pass to Joe MacDougall for a 5-yard gain and a first down, but the Warriors faced another fourth down at the 4-yard line a few plays later. This time, Winnacunnet called Phennicie's number to go up 14-0.

"I went in there knowing I was going to get the touchdown," the junior said. "I put my shoulders down and went in. There was nice blocking and it was a huge hole."

Goffstown answered right back, as Keith found Duval streaking down the sideline on the next play, and the pair connected for a 77-yard score, the Grizzlies' first completion of the game, but the missed extra point left it a 14-6 game with 55 seconds left in the third.

A fumble on Winnacunnet's next play from scrimmage pushed the Warriors back to their own 11-yard line and Auffant started to get a little nervous.

"We got caught off guard there (on the touchdown)," he said. "When they got that big pass and then we had bad field position, I thought, here we go. Credit to (the Warriors), they didn’t give up. If you’re defense plays great, that gives you a lot of confidence."

Winnacunnet's defense regrouped to force two more Goffstown punts, the second of which came from the Grizzlies 1-yard line and gave the Warriors the ball at the 29. Four plays later, Pat MacDougall ran it in from a yard out to make it 21-6 with 3:37 left.

"We knew we had to try to run the ball just to move the chains, keep the score low, and try to win that way," Hufft said. "We hit a big play, which was part of the formula, but we just weren’t able to run the ball enough. It was a one-score game (for a while), but we were having a hard time moving. Their defense is very good. Our offense was bottled up. There are days like that."

Winnacunnet will make its first appearance in the Division I title game, and its first in a championship game since winning the Division II title in 2012, while Pinkerton is in the final for the first time since winning it all in 2014. The teams will meet Nov. 18 at 6 p.m. at the University of New Hampshire.