Souhegan football rolls into semifinals with win over Bow

AMHERST - The Souhegan High School football team went into Friday night's playoff game against Bow feeling like the offense would be able to put up points.

Making sure the defense and special teams were on par was the focus during the week and that focus paid off.

The Sabers' defense kept the Falcons' running game in check for most of the night and the special teams created a turnover that helped put the game close to running time, as No. 3 Souhegan rolled to a 54-6 win over No. 6 Bow in the Division II quarterfinals.

As for the offense, Souhegan ran for 314 yards, averaging 11.6 per carry, and seven touchdowns on the way to its fourth semifinal appearance in six seasons. The Sabers will face either No. 7 John Stark or No. 2 Plymouth, who will play a quarterfinal game on Saturday.

JJ Bright led the Sabers (8-1 in D2, 8-2 overall) with 156 yards and three touchdowns on six carries, including a 91-yard scoring run, the second week in a row the senior has had a rushing score from 80-plus yards.

Romy Jain added 48 yards and two touchdowns on three carries while completing 5 of 9 passing for 119 yards and another score. Michael Fiengo had 63 yards rushing and two touchdowns while Brody Smith caught a 49-yard touchdown pass.

Souhegan outgained Bow 433-119, including 267-101 in the first half, despite running half as many plays as the Falcons (5-5).

"We know (the offense) is going to take care of it for us and we know our offense is going to score, we’ve just got to take care of things on defense and no one can touch us," Souhegan senior linebacker Sam Stevenson said. "Our defensive line was making a lot of our big plays.

"Sometimes when (Bow) would have their heavy set, with wings and tight ends on one side, and we weren’t shifted toward that, they’d get outside of us and we had a tough time containing them. But we recovered by adjusting our defense and making sure we could stop them."

Bow finished with 110 yards on the ground, getting 54 from Caleb Schumacher and another 40 from Ryan McCabe.

But while the Falcons were able to pick up some first downs in the first half, they struggled to keep drives going against the Souhegan defense. The Sabers finished with three takeaways on defense and recovered an onside kick in the first half.

"On defense, we flew around on each play," Souhegan coach Robin Bowkett said. "We played very physical against a physical football team. That’s what it is going to take in the playoffs. You win games with offense and you win championships with defense. If our defense plays like that for the remainder, then we’re going to be all right."

Bright scored on a 48-yard run on Souhegan's first offensive snap, and after a 26-yard completion from Jain to Cole Manning, he added a 4-yard scoring run on the Sabers' third possession to make it 14-0.

The 91-yard scoring run made it 21-0 with 5:50 remaining in the first half, and on Souhegan's next possession, Jain hit Smith for a 49-yard score and a 27-0 lead. The Sabers got the ball back on the kickoff, and after Jain connected with Chase Knuckles for a 33-yard gain, the junior scored from 3 yards out to give Souhegan a 33-0 lead at the break.

Jain capped the opening drive of the second half with a 38-yard touchdown run, but Bow got its lone score on the ensuing kickoff, as Thomas Schegel returned a short kick 60 yards for a touchdown.

Fiengo added touchdown runs of 15 and 31 yards to round out the scoring.

"We were opportunistic on special teams and did a great job for the most part, minus one kickoff," Bowkett said. "Offensively, we felt like we were going to score points. If anyone was going to stop us, it would be ourselves. They did a great job executing. Our guys stayed on blocks and made plays."