Inter-Lakes/Moultonborough football happy with underdog role for D3 title game

Jon Francis knows that his Inter-Lakes/Moultonborough Academy football team hasn't been a popular pick all season, and the head coach knows his team won't be again on Sunday.

But by the end of the day, Francis hopes that a lot of people will be talking about the Lakers.

"We've been off the radar all year," Francis said. "We've made the playoffs and no body worried about us. It's a little surprising."

ILMA (9-1) can surprise a lot of people Sunday, when it takes on Newport (10-0) in the Division III championship game at 11 a.m. at Cowell Stadium at the University of New Hampshire.

It's the Lakers' first trip to the final since winning it all in 2011, but while the players are making their first appearance in a title game, it's not the first for Francis. The coach, who took over in 2012, was a member of the Lakers' coaching staff when they won titles in 2009 and 2011, and before that, played on championship teams at Plymouth.

"There's been a lot of talk to my guys about this week and how not to let the game get too big," Francis said. "Championship week is exciting, it's a fast-paced week. The seniors know for sure that this is it. There is no Monday practice.

"We made it to the end, so there's mixed emotions. The challenge is keeping everything in check and moving forward."

The Lakers were able to do that in the semifinals to a Winnisquam team that hadn't lost a game all season, and had averaged 38.3 points per game in its first nine.

But ILMA was able to contain Bears quarterback Christian Serrano long enough - the senior had 96 yards rushing through three quarters - and held Winnisquam to 20 points, its lowest total of the season.

"You always try to look at a team's most valuable weapon and come up with a game plan to take it away," Francis said. "We had a couple of ideas (against Winnisquam) and the first wasn't working like we wanted it to, so we went to the second and it worked well.

"You can only slow down a player like Serrano, you can't stop him. We were fortunate to slow him down and the offense was able to control the game."

This week, the focus for ILMA will be on Newport running back Noah Wade, who will likely finish Sunday's game as the state's leading rusher this season.

The Lakers have some talented runners themselves, led by brothers Nick and Andrew Brothers. Nick Brothers leads ILMA with 1,338 yards rushing this season and the pair combined for 278 of the Lakers' 375 yards rushing against Winnisquam.

Newport won the regular-season meeting between the two, 34-21, but in the long run, Francis thinks that will help ILMA.

"You at film and see the things you did correctly and the things you didn't," he said. "For whatever reason, it was not our day. We got up on the wrong side of the bed. Since then, these guys have really believed.

"The heart, the will, the determination, that's something this team has that people really can't prepare for. Game film doesn't show you how much heart you really have."

Kickoff between ILMA and Newport is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Sunday.