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# Pelham football cruises past Campbell to advance to D3 semifinals (video)
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/pelham-football-cruises-past-campbell-to-advance-to-d3-semifinals-video/
- Published: 2020-11-03T12:30:33.000Z
- Updated: 2020-11-03T12:30:33.000Z
- Description: PELHAM - It wasn't always pretty, but at this point, the Pelham High School football team will take it. The Pythons took advantage of limited possession time with big scoring plays and their defense came up big against Campbell once again, as Pelham recorded its fifth shutout of the season, beating
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Division III-IV, Campbell, Division III, football, Pelham, playoffs, slider, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

PELHAM - It wasn't always pretty, but at this point, the Pelham High School football team will take it.

The Pythons took advantage of limited possession time with big scoring plays and their defense came up big against Campbell once again, as Pelham recorded its fifth shutout of the season, beating the Cougars 35-0 in the Division III quarterfinals.

The win is Pelham's first playoff victory in almost 12 years and sends the Pythons to the semifinals, where they will likely host Monadnock on Saturday.

"We had some issues in the first quarter," Pelham coach Tom Babaian said. "We took care of those and they played very well after that. Overall, it was a team effort, more so than most nights. We played very good team defense toward the middle of the game. They all played very well."

And the Pythons almost missed out on the opportunity for the win. The game was initially scheduled for Friday night, but the potential prevalence of Covid-19 at the high school led to the announcement of a forfeit by Pelham.

But school officials and the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services continued discussing the situation on Saturday, and Pelham was allowed to return to the postseason and play the game.

"It’s a blessing," Pelham senior Jake Herrling said. "We got our season taken away from us over the weekend, so to be out here (Monday) is just a blessing. We played well."

Herrling led the way for the Pythons (6-0), as he rushed for 104 yards on nine carries, including touchdown runs of 55 and 6 yards in the second quarter that helped make it 28-0 going into halftime. Ethan Demmons added 46 yards and a touchdown on the ground while Kevin Bodenrader and Alex Carroll also had touchdowns, as Pelham rushed for 223 yards.

"It’s great that we have a lot of diversity in the backfield," Herrling said. "Everybody is a threat to score so that’s definitely a plus for us."

Campbell (2-4) opened the game with a drive that took up more than six minutes, as the Cougars took their time getting plays into the huddle. Although Campbell had just 45 yards in the first half, it had the ball for 18:35 of the opening two quarters.

"You’ve got to be patient," Babaian said. "When a team does that, they’ve got to score touchdowns. Luckily for us, we did very well on defense, got the ball back and scored ourselves. We put them in a hole."

Nathan Perry led Campbell with 21 yards rushing on 16 carries, as the Cougars had 30 yards on its first possession, and in the second half, recorded minus-3 yards, as they failed to cross midfield all game.

"We just got back to basics," Babaian said. "In the first quarter, we weren’t playing like we’re capable of playing technique-wise. We were very far off from where we should have been. We made some adjustments and then the kids were good."

Pelham has allowed only 13 points this season, none to teams in D3\. And for the first time since 2008, when the Pythons won the Division V championship, they have won a playoff game and have advanced to the final four. The meeting with Monadnock will be the first since 2015.

"I expect a great game," Herrling said. "I know they’re going to come out firing. It’s going to be a dogfight."