HANOVER — With the high school football season right around the corner, eight teams — five from the Upper Valley — converged on Hanover High’s Merriman-Branch Field for a scrimmage on Saturday night.
The Marauders hosted their annual Upper Valley Jamboree at Merriman-Branch Field with proceeds going to the Special Olympics and the New Hampshire Football Officials Association scholarship fund.
Hanover, Hartford, Lebanon, Mascoma, Monadnock, Newfound, Newport and Plymouth participated in three 30-minute, running-clock games. Each team had 15 total plays on offense and defense with drives starting from the 40-yard line.
A few highlights from the afternoon and evening:
Marauders finish turf: Merriman-Branch Field’s artificial turf surface needed a facelift, with small pellets of rubber not evenly distributed and the turf resembling a rug more than fake grass.
A repair project was executed this summer, but the final pieces of it weren’t placed until Saturday morning with the jamboree just hours away. Turf Field spent the entire week working to finish it and worked under the lights a few times.
“Our kids came over during Thursday night and were throwing cheers up at the guys,” Hanover coach Sam Cavallaro said. “The company told our principal that no other school had done that for them. I guess they really appreciated them.”
Colburn begins second year at Mascoma: Kyle Colburn was looking for his Mascoma High football team to compete in all phases of the game across its three scrimmages on Saturday. The second-year coach is seeing more players buy into how he wants his program run, numbers are rising at the middle school level and he hopes to add a few more players when school starts.
The Royals are coming off a 1-6 finish last year in NHIAA Division IV, but Colburn is hopeful that, with a solid group of returning juniors, the Royals will show improvement.
“It’s definitely a lot, checking in on players and seeing how they’re doing play by play,” said Colburn on managing a smaller team at the jamboree. “They’re warriors, so we’re just powering through this.”
Colburn believes that to fully turn around the program, back to when it was a state runner-up in 2012, it will take four years, which means he’s only coming up on the halfway point of the process.
Rainey runs wild: Lebanon’s Wade Rainey put up his share of eye-opening stats last season. Against Newport, for instance, he ran for 107 yards and three touchdowns while also being a force on defense with an interception and numerous tackles.
The senior running back and linebacker looked good on Saturday night, rushing for a touchdown in Lebanon’s first scrimmage against Newfound and flying around on defense.
Now entering his senior year, Rainey’s confident that the senior class he’s a part of is committed to winning a state championship. But now, Rainey will have to deal with more teams focusing on him in scouting reports, and he’s preparing for that.
“I know that eventually teams are going to zero in on what we like to do,” Rainey said. “I think our line deserves a lot of credit, opening up big holes.
“We want to win a state championship. It’s something that hasn’t been done in a while or even very often.”
Traveling across the river: As a VPA Division I program, Hartford got a chance at Saturday’s jamboree to go against teams it won’t face all season.
For coach Matt Trombly, it was an opportunity to revisit teams that the Hurricanes see in 7-on-7 play during the summer. Most importantly, he believed it was the toughest test so far in the Hurricanes’ preseason.
Kyle Hamilton’s wearing a lot of hats this season for Hartford. Just on Saturday alone he caught a pass, ran the ball and made multiple tackles on defense. On the roster, Hamilton’s set to play running back and defensive end, but Trombly said he could play linebacker, fullback and quarterback if needed.
Hamilton’s used to it all; he’s prepared to be a leader in any part of the field. But last season’s 5-4 record and loss in the first round of the state tournament to St. Johnsbury has the senior prepared for whatever the season throws at him.
“I just do whatever the coach wants me to do,” Hamilton said with a smile.
Pete Nakos can be reached at pnakos@vnews.com or 603-727-3306