Scoring frenzy leads Souhegan football to D2 quarterfinal triumph over Hollis Brookline

AMHERST — The Souhegan High School football team gave up more points on Friday night against Hollis Brookline than it had in all its regular-season contests combined this season.

Those circumstances are usually going to spell a doom for any team, but it was a far-from-usual evening for the Sabers.

The inability to contain HB truly didn’t matter because Souhegan went bonkers on its half of the scoreboard in a 63-34 Division II quarterfinal win. Souhegan picked no better time for its season-best nine-touchdown performance, which included four scores from the defense. The drubbing moves the Sabers to next Saturday’s D2 semifinals against Timberlane of Plaistow.

“That felt like a college game with how long it went,” said Souhegan coach Robin Bowkett, noting the game lasted a shade over three hours. “We kept it interesting. Really needed to get a score there at the start of the second half to get that clock (to running time). Credit to HB and how they fought until the end, but scoring four non-offensive touchdowns is awesome and goes a long way.”

The Sabers had Alex Karpawich, Mike Maroun and Reese Colby return interceptions for touchdowns while Tony Garrant scored off one of two blocked punts. Offensively for Souhegan, Riley Lawhorn punched in a pair of second-half rushing scores and Austin Jain had three touchdown passes in the first half.

A 43-14 halftime lead made it feel like Souhegan was destined for running time and an easy escape, but it never got quite that comfortable. HB found some efficiency to start the second half, scoring on each of its first two drives on two of Blake Bergerson’s three touchdown receptions from Drew Gryniewicz. The Cavaliers’ scores all but dared the Sabers to answer or risk the potential for a comeback.

Souhegan in fact rose to the challenge with both of Lawhorn’s scores coming less than one minute after Bergerson’s trips to the end zone, allowing the Sabers to maintain a four-touchdown lead midway through the third quarter.

“It’s not just me, but really the whole offense getting the job done there,” said Lawhorn, who finished with 226 yards rushing on just 15 carries. “I can’t go anywhere without the whole line. I can’t get outside like I did on those scores without (wide receiver Luke Manning) pancaking guys for me. It’s great having guys be unselfish and do their part to help this family get numbers up on the board.”

HB continued to hang around into the fourth quarter by way of Souhegan penalties, which on one fourth-quarter drive helped the Cavaliers go from 4th-and-23 to 4th-and-1. That proved to be the Cavaliers' last gasp, though, as Souhegan used a gang tackle to force the turnover on downs and the Cavaliers never made it out of their own end of the field on any of their final three drives.

“A mentally weak team will crumble under that kind of adversity, but this team is pushed by some great senior leadership,” Bowkett said. “We ‘Charlie-Miked’ all the way through the end. We knew the adversity was going to hit. It always does. It’s just a matter of responding and I’m proud of how the guys did that.”

Karpawich elaborated further on “Charlie-Mike,” noting that it’s Marine terminology for “continue the mission” and a motto Bowkett has instilled in his team.

“He used the example of knowing the other team will score. We have to expect that and not let it beat us down,” Karpawich said. “We applied that mindset there in the second half. Just had to keep doing our jobs and do what we came to do without getting caught up in a couple plays.”

Besides the scoring and timely stops, Souhegan's defense did itself a service throughout the night by holding Marc-Andre Thermitus, HB's star running back, to just 86 yards rushing. Thermitus, whose longest run of the night was 28 yards, registered 11 rushes of two yards or fewer, including six attempts that resulted in negative yards.