Goal-line stand seals Bishop Guertin football's win against Winnacunnet

HAMPTON – With the Division I playoffs on the horizon, the Bishop Guertin and Winnacunnet high school football teams delivered a memorable end to the regular season on Friday.

All the way down until the last play.

Facing a fourth-and-goal, Winnacunnet quarterback Sean Griffin was stuffed on a keeper attempt by a surge led by linemen Bishop Kearns and Dom Grande to seal a thrilling 21-14 Division I victory for Bishop Guertin on Alumni Field.

“In the second half we had a lot of offensive mistakes, but our defense played our hearts out,” Kearns said. “Me and Dom Grande just bull-rushed the middle and I just grabbed onto (Griffin).

Both Bishop Guertin (6-2 in D1, 7-1 overall, No. 5 in the New Hampshire Orthopaedic Center/NHHSSports Coaches Poll) and Winnacunnet (5-3, 6-3, No. 7) will likely host first round games in the D1 playoffs next weekend after the official NHIAA pairings are announced on Monday.

“Any time you can come into Winnacunnet on a Friday night and walk away with a win you’re happy,” Bishop Guertin coach Anthony Nalen said. “We played a really bad second half, but we pulled it off with our back against the wall and I’m proud of them.”

The Warriors turned the ball over four times on the night, but they countered with three of their own. Jaxon MacDonald’s interception of Bishop Guertin quarterback Nate Bowen helped set up a 3-yard touchdown run by Dom Mancini to bring Winnacunnet with 21-14 entering the fourth quarter.

The whipping winds off Hampton Beach played their part in holding the teams to a combined 35 yards in the fourth quarter until Mancini (13 carries, 113 yards) ripped off a 50-yard run down to Bishop Guertin’s 30-yard line with 5:03 remaining.

After Winnacunnet gained two more first downs to get to Bishop Guertin’s 10, Mancini rushed three times to get down to the 1-yard line with 3.5 seconds left in regulation.

Coming out of a timeout Griffin tried to sneak behind his left side of the line. Bishop Guertin pushed back. Grande’s initial surge was finished off by a tackle from Kearns to drop Griffin’s knee down at the 2.

“Hindsight is 20/20; there were a lot of different directions we could’ve gone,” Winnacunnet coach Ryan Francoeur said. “But you’re talking about the half-yard line and we’ve run the sneak all year there. I knew they knew it was coming, but it’s kind of hard handing the ball off three yards in the backfield because you know they’re going to send the house.”

Bishop Guertin opened the game with a 12-yard drive that ended with a 25-yard touchdown completion from Bowen (15 for 23, 109 yards) to Rocco Roy. Alex Dolan’s interception of Griffin helped set up a 3-yard scoring run by Logan Curran to give the Cardinals a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter.

The Cardinals threatened to put Winnacunnet in a deep hole, but Mancini recovered a fumble at the Warriors’ 14. Six plays later, Mancini hauled in a 68-yard touchdown pass from Griffin to close Winnacunnet’s deficit to 14-7 with 5:03 left in the second quarter.

Bishop Guertin answered with a nine-play drive that ended with a 1-yard scoring keeper by Bowen. The Cardinals took their 21-7 lead into halftime after Gavin Harnum recovered a Thomas Lyons’ fumble on BG’s 30.

“It was heart-pounding at the end there,” Nalen said. “Our defense played outstanding. That is such a hard offense to stop. The offense kept putting them in bad positions and the defense bailed them out. I’m very proud of them.”