PELHAM, N.H. — The Stevens High School football team’s roller-coaster season came to a close Saturday with a 40-0 loss to Pelham in the NHIAA Division III state championship game.
The Cardinals (3-4) knew they were facing an uphill battle against the undefeated Pythons (8-0) and tried their best to get going early, but to no avail.
“Our goal to come in was try to get some points early and put some pressure on them as the favorite,” said Paul Silva, Stevens’ 10th-year coach. “It didn’t work out for us, but it doesn’t change the way I feel about (the Stevens players).”
The Cardinals won just a single regular-season game, beat Laconia in double overtime in the D-III quarterfinals and then advanced to the championship with a forfeit win (due to COVID-19) over Winnisquam.
The underdogs began Saturday’s game on offense following a 10-yard kickoff return by Clayton Wadsworth. Senior quarterback Owen Taylor threw an incomplete pass on first down, then ran for 11 yards on the next play. Luke Forrest started the new set of downs with a short run before a Taylor pass was intercepted by Pelham’s Mason Fecteau, who ran it back for an early touchdown.
“Our defense set the tone every game for us,” said Pythons coach Tom Babaian. “And they did the same again today. We came right out, got the pick, created first downs, and then next thing you know, we’re scoring.”
The visitors went three-and-out on their next possession before Pelham launched a nine-play, 70-yard drive, culminating in a 4-yard touchdown run by Jake Herrling.
Herrling (124 rushing yards) had a tremendous day for Pelham, which hadn’t appeared in a championship game since winning a title in 2008.
“He’s the heart and soul of our team,” Babaian said of his primary rusher. “And he showed it today.”
Down 14-0 early, Stevens embarked on its longest drive of the day late in the first quarter.
Taylor (113 passing yards, 17 rushing yards) completed four passes during the 13-play march, including two connections each with Wadsworth (95 receiving yards) and JJ Tursky. The Cardinals advanced as far as Pelham’s 11-yard line but were eventually pushed back and came up empty.
Overall, Taylor finished 8-for-21 in his passing attempts.
“We threw the ball a little more today because they do good job of taking the run away,” Silva said. “We’re typically two runs to one pass, but I think it was the other way around today.”
The Pythons got second-quarter touchdowns from Herrling (run), quarterback Jake Travis (run), and Zach Jones (pass). Derek Muise ran for a touchdown with 5:39 remaining in the third quarter, which triggered running time the rest of the way.
“We thought we could do a few things, but they took it away from us,” Silva said. “They’re just a fantastic team. They’re very physical, they’re very well-coached, disciplined.”
Silva plans to return next season, but Taylor and his five fellow seniors will move on.
“There’s no way to know how it’s going to feel until you feel it,” an emotional Taylor said about processing his final high school football game. “Honestly, I thought we played pretty good. We made it hard on them. We made them work harder than they thought they were going to, and there’s no words for how proud I am of this group of guys.
“We never quit. Stevens football never quits. I’ve never been on a team that has laid down and taken a loss without playing until the very end.”
Notes: Saturday marked Babaian’s third state title during his 21-year tenure as Pelham’s head coach. … The Cardinals last won a championship in 2016. … Stevens’ seniors are Taylor, Wadsworth, Forrest, Tursky, Braxton LeBlanc and Eddie Brodeur.