BOW, N.H. — Bow High football knows what it wants to do: Ground and pound on offense, create turnovers on defense.
Both worked to near perfection on Saturday in the No. 3 Falcons’ 32-0 win over No. 6 Hanover in the NHIAA Division II football quarterfinals.
Bow’s defense forced five turnovers, one of which was a fumble returned by Canyon Batchelder for a touchdown in the fourth quarter to cap off the Falcons’ dominant performance. Saturday was Bow’s seventh straight win, a stretch during which the Falcons (9-1) have not allowed more than 10 points in a game.
“This team has recognized that all of them are one integral part of a defensive chain,” Bow head coach Paul Cohen said. “And they allowed themselves to come together in such a way that they’re able to control opposing offenses overall.”
It was Bow’s offense that set the tone initially, with a touchdown reception from tight end Ryan McCabe on the Falcons’ third play of their first possession. Then the defense asserted itself with an interception from Logan Gordon on Hanover’s next drive.
In the second quarter, the Bears seemed to have momentum shift to their side. They blocked a 29-yard field-goal try from Bow and then attempted a fourth-and-1 from the Bow 45-yard line. But instead of capitalizing on the opportunity, Hanover QB Tanner Longmoore threw another interception, this one to Owen Guertin.
Guertin subsequently punched in a four-yard rushing TD with 12 seconds left in the half. The PAT was blocked, but the Falcons carried a 13-0 lead to the break.
Bow continued its dominance in the third quarter, first recovering a Hanover fumble near midfield and adding to its lead with a 24-yard TD run from Hollis Jones to make it 19-0. In the final quarter, Falcon QB Owen Walton ran in a two-yard TD off a bootleg and Batchelder added the exclamation point with a fumble return TD with 39 seconds left in regulation.
The Bears (6-4) roared out of the gate this season, winning their first five games by a combined 221-39 margin. Things changed when Hanover hit D-II’s metal, however, with Souhegan, Gilford-Belmont and Pelham — all tournament treams — handing the Bears defeats during the schedule’s second half.
Eight-year Hanover coach Sam Cavallaro loses just a half-dozen players to graduation.