Hanover
Marauders coach Sam Cavallaro spoke to the mood of his fourth-seeded squad shortly after its undefeated season crashed to a halt at 9-1.
“These guys really believed that they were gonna go to UNH (for the state finals) next weekend,” Cavallaro said. “I think it’s like a shock to them — I think they just didn’t see any other possibility but that.
“It wasn’t a cocky thing, but it was just a belief that that’s where they were going to be.”
No. 8 Bow (8-2), which upset top-seeded Windham in the quarterfinals, will face Plymouth on Saturday in a rematch of last year’s championship game. Plymouth won, 27-24.
Hanover won Saturday’s coin toss and elected to kick off, which senior Moises Celaya did on a clear and frigid afternoon.
The Marauders forced a fumble — recovered by Jeffrey Holt — on Bow’s first offensive series, and it looked like a good omen for a defensive-minded squad that forced five turnovers in last week’s quarterfinal win over Hollis Brookline.
Quarterback Alex Mosenthal ran for 33 yards during the Marauders’ first offensive possession, but the drive ended in a missed 40-yard field goal attempt by Celaya.
Hanover forced the Falcons into a three-and-out on the ensuing series before Mosenthal and company took over at the 50-yard line. A Simon Roach 2-yard touchdown run capped the seven-play drive, and Celaya booted the extra point with 3:45 remaining in the first quarter.
That was it for Hanover’s offense for the day.
Bow countered with two second-quarter touchdowns on running plays by Ben Kimball and Jack Corriveau. Tanner Cammett booted the extra poitn on Kimball’s score, and the visitors took a 13-7 lead into halftime.
Unaccustomed to being down at intermission, Hanover looked forward to receiving the second-half kickoff. Calen Thomas returned for six yards and Hanover took over at its own 35, earning three first downs before an incomplete pass by Mosenthal on fourth-and-16.
Bow took over at its own 26 and manufactured a 15-play drive with five first downs that culminated in a 9-yard touchdown pass from Falcons QB Matthew Harkins to Corriveau. Bow was stuffed on its 2-point conversion attempt with 10:34 remaining in the game, permanently notching the score at 19-7.
Hanover then went three-and-out before Bow embarked on another clock-eating mission. This time the Falcons ran 18 plays before turning the ball over on downs. The Marauders got the ball on their own 25 with a mere 44 seconds remaining, and there simply wasn’t enough time left to extend the undefeated campaign.
Corriveau, a senior, turned in a dominant performance, rushing for well over 100 yards.
“It stemmed from last week,” Bow coach Paul Cohen said of the victory. “I felt that if we could beat (top-seeded) Windham, I didn’t think that we would lose again. The fact that we were able to take on Windham and beat them at their place was a big springboard for us.”
Putnam, who entered Saturday’s game just 30 yards shy of 1,000 for the season, finished with 50 rushing yards on 12 carries.
Cavallaro said the team’s word of the week leading up to Saturday’s semifinal tilt was “trenches.”
“(We knew) it was going to be a close game,” the Marauders’ third-year head coach said. “The passing game was not going to be a major factor in this. It’s exactly what we expected; I think the only thing we didn’t expect is for them to be a little more physical than us.”
Hanover took pride in physicality this season, with a sign of encouragement posted on a team bulletin board.
“It said, ‘Road to UNH starts here,’ with a little arrow, ‘Second door on the left,’ which was the door to the weight room,” Cavallaro said. “They saw that every day, and they were reminded of that. And they stepped up. So many kids lifted and so many kids committed. We just came up a little short today.”
Celaya, who plans to kick for Colby College next year, was one of 12 Hanover seniors on Saturday’s roster.
“It’s been a hell of a four years,” Celaya said. “All I know is we left it all on the field. Fighting with our brothers, (we) did it for our seniors, did it for everyone. That’s all I can say — we left it all out there.”