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# Plymouth rides first-half momentum swings to win over Bow in D2 football final
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/plymouth-rides-first-half-momentum-swings-win-bow-d2-football-final/
- Published: 2017-11-19T14:50:41.000Z
- Updated: 2017-11-19T14:50:41.000Z
- Description: DURHAM - Frustration was bubbling on the sideline of the Plymouth High School football team in the second quarter of Saturday's Division II championship game against Bow. Already up by a touchdown, the No. 2 Bobcats had a chance for more, but turned the ball over twice in the red zone. But in just t
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Division II, Bow, championship, football, playoffs, Plymouth, slider, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

DURHAM - Frustration was bubbling on the sideline of the Plymouth High School football team in the second quarter of Saturday's Division II championship game against Bow.

Already up by a touchdown, the No. 2 Bobcats had a chance for more, but turned the ball over twice in the red zone. But in just two plays, all that frustration was a distant memory.

Plymouth quarterback Ben Olmstead was picked off in the end zone by Bow's Jack Wixon with 5:23 left in the first half, but one play later, Isaiah Crane returned the favor, intercepting a pass from Bow's Matt Harkins.

And on the next play, Plymouth's Garrett Macomber broke free for a 69-yard touchdown to put the Bobcats up two scores and get them rolling to a 27-8 win over the No. 8 Falcons at the University of New Hampshire. With the win, Plymouth gets its second straight D2 title, and second in a row against Bow.

Olmstead added a 53-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Docen with 20 seconds left in the first half to give Plymouth (11-0) a 20-0 lead at the break that felt like it could have been a lot more. The Bobcats outgained the Falcons 304-72 in the first half.

"Getting the lead at halftime, we’d left points on the board, but the defense was playing great," Plymouth coach Chris Sanborn said. "Any time you win a championship, it’s not easy. It’s downright hard. It’s difficult to do. They did a great job all season. We’ve ridden them like dogs all season to get here."

Olmstead finished the day with 161 yards, two touchdowns and an interception on 4 of 9 passing, while Macomber ran 18 times for 153 yards and a score. Docen and Nolan Farina both caught touchdown passes and Colby Moore added a 5-yard touchdown run in the second half.

Bow (8-3) struggled to move the ball against Plymouth's defense, and when the Falcons were able to get something going, drives would stall. The Falcons didn't cross midfield until late in the first half, and turned the ball over on downs at the Plymouth 16 to open the second half.

"Not what we expected," Bow coach Paul Cohen said. "They’re a really good football team. Similar to eight weeks ago (in the regular season), they took advantage of every little inch we gave them, and they turned it into a country mile.

"I give my kids a lot of credit for staying in there and fighting and making a game of it. Clearly, they were the better team. They outexecuted us on offense and we could not get any significant offensive drives going. We couldn’t stop them enough on defense."

Harkins was 7 of 20 passing for 84 yards, including a 23-yard touchdown pass to Steve Guerrette with 1:11 left in the game, and also led Bow in rushing with 42 yards.

While Plymouth didn't record any sacks, the defense continuously put pressure on Harkins and had seven tackles for loss.

"Lot of pressure on the quarterback, and I told them before we stepped out, whatever you do, don’t let them in on our quarterback," Cohen said. "Unfortunately, they did that and it made it difficult for us.

Plymouth took the opening kickoff and drove down to the Bow 31, but turned the ball over on downs. After forcing the Falcons to punt, a 49-yard completion from Olmstead to Wesley Lambert got the Bobcats to the Bow 19, but two plays later, Farina fumbled and Tanner Cammett recovered for the Falcons.

On the Bobcat's next possession, Olmstead found Farina open over the middle for a 59-yard touchdown to make it 7-0 54 seconds into the second quarter. Plymouth forced a three-and-out by Bow and got inside the Falcons' 20-yard line again.

But on third-and-8 from the 17, Olmstead tried to go to Docen in the corner of the end zone, but Wixon came up with the ball. A personal foul on Docen after the play gave Bow the ball at its own 35 and the Falcons tried to even the score, as Harkins threw deep for Ben Kimball, but Crane came down with the ball.

"We were trying to throw a fade to the back corner of the end zone and the ball slipped out of Ben’s hand," Sanborn said. "It was a bad throw, Docen tried to go up and the kid picked it. They throw a pass, go for the home run. We went for a home run on a trap play. We were thinking jet and came back with a trap and hit it for a home run."

Macomber barreled toward the right side of the line, found the hole and went untouched the rest of the way for the 69-yard score to make it 14-0 with 5:16 to go until halftime.

After the score, Plymouth executed an onside kick to get the ball back at midfield, but Bow's defense forced the first Bobcat punt of the day, and the Falcons got a drive going. Bow converted three third downs on the drive, including two runs by Harkins, the second of which set up a first down at the Plymouth 43.

But two incompletions and an intentional grounding call on Harkins pushed Bow back onto its own side of the field and the Falcons punted the ball away with 46 seconds left in the half.

Farina ran for a yard on first down and Olmstead connected with Docen down the right sideline, as the senior receiver outjumped the Bow defender for a 53-yard score.

"This group of seniors, I remember when they were in eighth grade, going to met them and trying to get them to play," Sanborn said. "They were a squirrelly bunch. They’re a group that we’ve been on for four years. We told them it’s not going to be easy. We pushed them and got it."