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# Opening kickoff return set the tone for Bishop Guertin football
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/opening-kickoff-return-set-the-tone-for-bishop-guertin-football/
- Published: 2018-09-25T12:00:51.000Z
- Updated: 2018-09-25T12:00:51.000Z
- Description: Joey DaSilva was nervous Saturday before he made his first varsity start for the Bishop Guertin High School football team against Keene, and when the Cardinals were to get the opening kickoff, those butterflies fluttered even more. But just as DaSilva was psyching himself up to take the field, Joey
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Division I, Bishop Guertin, football, Keene, NH High School Sports Insider, slider, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

Joey DaSilva was nervous Saturday before he made his first varsity start for the Bishop Guertin High School football team against Keene, and when the Cardinals were to get the opening kickoff, those butterflies fluttered even more.

But just as DaSilva was psyching himself up to take the field, Joey Lupo gave him a reprieve.

Lupo fielded the opening kickoff at the Cardinals' 15-yard line made a move and found a wide open lane, racing 85 yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead just 12 seconds into the game. Bishop Guertin would go on to get its first win of the season, 42-0.

"My stomach dropped and I took a nice, deep breath and relaxed," DaSilva said. "From there, it made me play a lot better. If he didn’t return that kick, I don’t know, maybe I would have had a bad start. Thankfully he did (return it)."

He wasn't the only one who enjoyed Lupo's kickoff return.

"That’s a coach’s dream," Bishop Guertin coach John Trisciani said. "You practice the special teams stuff, but if you can get one at any time throughout the course of a game, it’s usually a momentum shift. To start the game up 7-0 like that, the kids are excited. Joey is really good at returning kicks. He had another on a punt that got called back (in the third quarter). He’s a good return kid. He’s fast.

"It probably took off a little bit of pressure. It’s something for a kid making his first start at quarterback, you get to come in and now you have that lead, it’s nice for sure. It hurts a lot the other way. If it takes the edge off, the kids get to play a little more relaxed."

Lupo also caught DaSilva's first touchdown pass of the night on the Cardinals first actual offensive possession. On fourth-and-8 from the Keene 28-yard line, DaSilva had time to wait for Lupo to get down field and hit his receiver along the sideline of the end zone for a score that gave Bishop Guertin a 13-0 lead.

"We’ve been practicing that play all the time," DaSilva said. "(The coaches) want me to try to hit the shorter guy, but I just threw the ball and it worked, so I was happy about it."

DaSilva and the Cardinals had a lot to be happy about after the game, as he went 15 of 21 passing for 198 yards and three touchdowns to go with 75 yards and a touchdown rushing on 15 carries.

And perhaps most importantly, Bishop Guertin had no turnovers.

"I think he did a good job," Trisciani said. "On the surface, it looked real good, but we’ll look at the film and see what we have to correct. It definitely seems like we found something there."