Fourth-quarter comeback helps Bow football beat Souhegan, complete undefeated regular season (video)

BOW - The Bow High School football team went into the fourth quarter of Saturday's game against Souhegan in a position it hasn't been in all season long.

Trailing by two points at the start of the final frame, and with the Sabers driving to extend the lead, the Falcons needed a big play.

Bow got it, recovering a Souhegan fumbled at its own 25, and then did what it does best, going on a 13-play, 75-yard drive to take the lead on a touchdown run by Steve Guerrette and the Falcons held on for a 41-31 win over the Sabers in a Division II game.

The win completes an undefeated regular season for Bow (9-0), who will be the No. 1 seed in the Division II playoffs, and will get to host Souhegan (5-4), which will be the eighth-seed, in the quarterfinals on Nov. 9.

"They really played this game the way it’s meant to be played," Bow coach Paul Cohen said. "We made a lot of mistakes early on. I said to them it’s three points at halftime and it could have been 33 points. It’s a true testament that they were able to battle back.

"At this stage in the season, we played these guys two times in a row last year and lost both times, so that was kind of the proverbial monkey on the back. We also knew that they are beatable. They’re a good, solid football team, but I thought we had the capacity to beat them, we just had to show it and needed to believe it. Once we had some momentum changes, things like that are really a game-changer at this level."

Steve Guerrette had one of those momentum changers, as his 79-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter got the Falcons within 31-29. The senior ran for two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter, including a 1-yard run with 4:49 to play that Bow in front for good.

Guerrette finished with 253 yards and five touchdowns on 28 carries while Andrew Robbins added 131 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries, as the Falcons ran for 370 yards as a team.

"Our coach coming in said it was going to be a ground-and-pound day, so get your yards when you can get them," Guerrette said. "We want to play like we’ve got something to prove. They’re a good team, we knew that coming in. We knew it was going to be a high-scoring game. We knew we needed to make plays when we needed to, and that’s what we were able to do."

Souhegan made its fair share of plays as well, responding to a touchdown on Bow's opening drive with two touchdowns of its own to take a 14-6 lead early in the second quarter. After the Falcons took the lead right after halftime, the Sabers came back to go up 31-21 with 2:21 left in the third.

Austin Jain led the Sabers by completing 16 of 27 passes for 247 yards and two touchdowns while Ryan Hauser caught five passes for 73 yards and a touchdown and Riley Lawhorn carried 17 times for 86 yards and a touchdown. But Souhegan lost three fumbles in the fourth quarter, the first of which ended an opportunity for the Sabers to extend the lead.

"They played inspired and played hard, and kept swinging," Souhegan coach Robin Bowkett said. "I think if we don’t fumble at the start of the fourth quarter, then we’re scoring there. We’ve got to clean some things up on defense."

A 4-yard run by Guerrette capped a seven-play, 65-yard drive by Bow to open the game, but the Falcons missed the extra point for a 6-0 lead. Souhegan answered with 12-play, 82-yard drive that included an 8-yard completion from Jain to Luke Manning on fourth-and-4 at the Souhegan 45.

Six plays later, Manning ran in from 18 yards out for a 7-6 lead, and after forcing a punt, Souhegan went up 14-6 on a 20-yard touchdown run by Lawhorn. An interception by Jake Civiello gave the Sabers the ball back at the Bow 47, but Souhegan had to settle for a 23-yard field goal by Lawhorn and a 17-6 lead.

Bow responded with another long touchdown drive, going 63 yards in 12 plays and finding the end zone on a 5-yard run by Robbins. The junior ran in the conversion to cut Souhegan's lead to 17-14, which is where it stood at halftime.

The Sabers got the ball first to start the second half, but the Falcons' defense forced a punt. Souhegan called for a fake, but Lawhorn came up a yard short and Bow took over at the Sabers' 35. Seven plays later, Guerrette carried three defenders into the end zone from 10 yards out to give Bow a 21-17 lead.

Souhegan answered with a 5-yard touchdown pass from Jain to Civiello to go in front 24-21, and after blocking a Bow punt, the Sabers got the ball back at Falcons' 18. Four players later, Jain connected with Hauser on a 21-yard touchdown and a 10-point lead with 2:21 left in the third quarter.

"Our kids did a great job executing in practice and it carried over to (Saturday)," Bowkett said. "That’s just how football goes. You’re going to have ups and downs, but how you respond is what’s going to matter at the end of the game."

Bow responded right away, as Guerrette ran 79 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the Falcons' possession. The run failed, but Bow trailed by two, 31-29, with 1:54 left in the third quarter.

"As soon as that opened up and (Guerrette) took off, you could see the momentum, even though it’s an intangible, you could see it shift," Cohen said. "We did not start the game well. Fits and starts, lot of missed tackles, lot of missed blocks. You’re better than this, you have to show what you’re capable of, that’s all I want."

Souhegan came right back, moving down to the Bow 20-yard line as time ran out on the third quarter. Facing a second-and-10 to start the fourth, Jain and Hauser failed to make a handoff and Andrew Berube fell on the fumble at the Bow 25.

The Falcons went right to work, as Robbins picked up 11 and 9 yards on back-to-back carries, and Guerrette added another 13 yards to get Bow into Souhegan territory. The drive lasted 13 plays and covered 75 yards, taking up over seven minutes before Guerrette's 1-yard touchdown run made it 35-31 Bow with 4:49 to play.

"That’s just pure perseverance," Guerrette said. "All that stuff you work for. The line really showed there. Ground and pound and finish the game. You know it’s coming, stop it."

On Souhegan's first play on the ensuing possession, Berube ripped the ball out of Lawhorn's hands while the junior was trying to cut, and Bow put the game away with a 24-yard touchdown run by Guerrette.