Turnovers, lightning delay helps Bishop Guertin football knock off Manchester West

NASHUA – For 21 minutes, Saturday nights’ game was right there for Manchester West High School football team.

But in the span of three minutes, Bishop Guertin turned 7-0 game into a 27-0 advantage moments before halftime. And just like that, the game was over.

The Cardinals and Blue Knights played a half of football at Stellos Stadium, but a lightning delay at the beginning of halftime postponed play for the better part of an hour before officials called the game.

After getting off to watch head coach Travis Cote called a “sluggish start,” Bishop Guertin scored three touchdowns in the final 3:02 of the half. The Cardinals took advantage of two fumbles by West quarterback Zach Ziemba to go up 27-0 and that’s where the score stood when the game was called.

“It took us a while to get going and we were able to capitalize on a couple of turnovers late in the first half,” Cote said. “That kid doesn’t fumble and we were able to somehow get the ball out. The big thing was being able to capitalize.”

Nick Marino had 77 yards and a touchdown on six carries to lead Bishop Guertin (1-0 in Division II, 1-1 overall) and Kyle Kiczuk had 43 yards and a touchdown on the ground and caught a 24-yard touchdown pass from Thomas Hurley.

Ziemba led West (0-1, 1-1) with 22 yards rushing and was 4 of 6 for 41 yards through the air, but it was the two fumbles that changed the game.

“Three touchdowns in three minutes is absolutely ridiculous,” West coach Jimmy Lauzon said. “We played 21 minutes of good football and three minutes of terrible football.”

The Blue Knights opened the game ready to play, forcing the Cardinals to go three-and-out before putting together an eight-play drive that got them down to Bishop Guertin’s 36-yard line. But on fourth-and-4, Ziemba picked up just two yards to turn the ball over on downs.

Two plays later, Marino raced down the sideline for a 62-yard touchdown that put Bishop Guertin up 7-0 with 4:41 left in the opening quarter.

The Cardinals moved into West territory on its next two drives, but both times, Bishop Guertin turned the ball over on downs.

With 6:20 left in the first half, West’s Jared Camire crushed a punt deep into Bishop Guertin territory. The ball hit the knee of the Cardinals’ Mike Devereaux and took a long carom back toward midfield. Somehow the ball went past two West players and right to two Bishop Guertin players.

“I’m most upset that BG almost gave us the game with fumbles of their own and we didn’t get any,” Lauzon said. “The punt, I don’t know where my players were on that return. We should have been there.”

Eight plays later, Hurley scored on a 14-yard run to give the Cardinals a 14-0 lead. West fumbled on its next two possessions, and Bishop Guertin needed just one and three plays, respectively, to get into the end zone.

The lightning delay started not long after the teams left the field for halftime. After waiting close to an hour to resume play, officials called the game and Bishop Guertin took the win.

“Obviously, you want to get the kids into a complete game, but only playing a half, nobody is hurt,” Cote said. “Maybe we’ll come out with a little more energy next week.”

Lauzon wished his team would have a had a chance at redemption, but knew the Blue Knights had to move on to next week.

“I’m disappointed, but we shouldn’t have put ourselves in that hole,” he said. “It should only be 14-0 nothing, and then I’d be even more disappointed. The refs made a decision and it is what it is. Now we’ve got to worry about Winnacunnet.”