Football Notes: Windham's Koutrobis makes a quick impression in return

WINDHAM - Jack Koutrobis attended plenty of Windham High School football games over the previous two seasons.

He would show up for games, watching from the sidelines, thinking about what it would be like to be back out there, playing for the Jaguars.

After taking those two seasons off to focus on playing his top sport, basketball, the Windham senior decided it was time to return. With one game in the books, the Jaguars already couldn't be happier with that decision.

In his first football game since he was a freshman, Koutrobis looked like he'd never left, catching three passes for 93 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 61 yards and another score last Saturday in Windham's 53-7 win over Timberlane.

While he didn't expect to have a first game back like that, Koutrobis knew he could contribute for the Jaguars right off the bat.

"With football, I like to play with confidence, because if you don’t play with confidence, you’re going to get rocked," he said. "You’re going to get hit, you’re not going to expect it, so you’ve got to always go in with confidence. Going in there, I feel like everyone had my back, and I had their backs, and it makes everyone so confident."

Confidence and leadership were two reasons Windham coach Jack Byrne was excited to have Koutrobis back.

"Jack Koutrobis has been one of the best leaders the school has ever had in any sport," the coach said. "He’s been doing it on the basketball court for the last couple of years. To have him step in and return to football has been really huge for us. Just to have a good person who is a good leader and he just plays like a grownup. He knows how to lead like a professional."

No matter how much he may have wanted Koutrobis to play, Byrne knew that returning to football was a decision that he had to make on his own.

"I know he was thinking about football and I said if you’re two feet in and you wake up thinking about it, come play," Byrne said. "If not, I already know you’re a great kid. He ended up coming out and it’s working out pretty good for us."

In the end, Koutrobis couldn't turn down the opportunity to play in his final year of high school.

"We just have a brotherhood like no one else," he said. "I couldn’t say no my senior year. We’ve got a great group of kids. I could hang out with any one of them, one-on-one. It’s like I never left."

It didn't take long for Koutrobis to form a connection with junior quarterback Kevin Murphy. The duo showed how far they've come after just working together for a few weeks in the preseason.

"Knowing a guy is always open is the best thing," Murphy said. "I can sit in the pocket and say where is (No.) 20? I find him open every time.

"Basketball, now football, the kid is a weapon. Put him in any sport and he’ll do good."

Koutrobis credited Murphy with putting in the work to make sure they were on the same page heading into the season opener.

"We built this connection over the past two weeks," Koutrobis said. "He’s just a great kid. He works so hard, day in and day out. He finds something that’s wrong and that kid will literally stay for two hours after practice, working hard. To have that in a quarterback and a leader, it’s money."

The Jaguars go on the road for an out-of-state game this week, as they'll travel to face Malden (Mass.) Catholic for a 7 p.m. kickoff on Friday.

Clean It Up

There was one big takeaway for Scott Knight coming out of Nashua South's 21-15 overtime win against Bishop Guertin.

"We can score, we have some dudes," Knight said. "You’re going to see us some weeks where we’re more successful than that. We’ve got to eliminate the penalties."

In the first half alone, South was penalized eight times for 60 yards, seven of them on offense, four of which were false start penalties. The other three were holds, including one on each of the Panthers' touchdown drives.

Both of those infractions came with South inside the Bishop Guertin 10-yard line, and despite getting pushed back 10 yards, the Panthers were still able to score on the next play. Each time, quarterback Cody Jackson found Josh Tripp for a score and a 15-0 lead early in the second quarter.

But after that, the penalties proved to be too much to overcome.

"What killed us was evident," Knight said. "We played behind the chains the whole first half. Then we get great field position down here (to start the second half) and it’s already first and 15. You can’t be doing that stuff."

After a bad snap on a punt and a personal foul on the Cardinals' first possession of the second half, South had the ball on Bishop Guertin's 12. A false start to begin the drive, and a sack of Jackson on third down, ended up causing the Panthers to stall.

Knight believes South will be able to correct those mistakes.

"If there’s one thing they do, they work hard and they love football," he said. "You’re going to see us get better week to week. I think we’re going to be fine."

South hosts Keene for a 2 p.m. kickoff on Saturday.

Run To Perfection

With a young team this season, Bishop Guertin coach Anthony Nalen knows there are just some times that the Cardinals' margin for error will be a lot smaller than it was last year.

During the third quarter against South last Saturday, Bishop Guertin showed it's capable of operating like that.

After getting the ball back on its own 24-yard line with 9:27 remaining in the quarter, Bishop Guertin went on a 19-play drive on which the Cardinals converted three third downs and a fourth down. Their longest play on the drive went for nine yards and they didn't attempt a pass.

"We knew we had to do that," Nalen said. "They did a good job in the first half of stopping that run. We knew that eventually we’d be able to get some yards after contact which we didn’t get in the first half.

"We just went back to the well and kept trying it. It’s hard making a living off that, tough. Last year, we’d have an 80-yard touchdown off a pass. You’ve got to play a perfect game to go 80 yards on 12 plays."

Knight was impressed with how Bishop Guertin was able to go on that drive without any penalties or other miscues.

"Credit to them, they played really clean and make any crazy mistakes," he said. "We knew they were going to do that, get in that double wing. I thought we did a good job of just limiting them and making them work hard for that. That’s what they do. A lot of that is dictated by down and distance."

Maye Day

While Bedford was looking to replace nine starters on defense, the two-time defending Division I champs had perhaps a bigger hole on the other side of the ball.

With Danny Black, who had started at quarterback the last two seasons, graduating in the spring, senior Jack Maye was stepping in last Friday to make his first varsity start. While he didn't have to carry the offense in the Bulldogs' 35-3 win over North, he did plenty, including throwing for three touchdowns.

"That’s Jack’s first varsity start and that’s a testament to him," Bedford coach Zach Matthews said. "This day and age, you see a lot of kids, if they don’t get their opportunity, they’re going to transfer or go to private school.

"He was behind some pretty good players and waited his turn. He spent three years in the program. He knows the system like the back of his hand. I think that poise and his play is a testament to his dedication."

That poise was most evident on Maye's second touchdown pass to Peter Suozzo. With the pocket collapsing around him, Maye kept his eyes downfield, and without being able to step into the throw, fired a pass to the end zone to Suozzo.

"He’s got great leadership at the quarterback position and he really kept his composure throughout the game," said junior Bennett Matthews, the coach's son. "I feel like that’s what helped us pull through. Obviously, if your quarterback is freaking out on the field, that’s not good, because he’s the leader of your team. He really kept his composure when things weren’t going perfect, but that’s what carried us through to the win."

Bedford travels for an out-of-state game against Thornton Academy. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday in Saco, Maine.