Tigers Hang Around, Lose 14-6

By Tyler Maheu
EAGLE TIMES STAFF
LACONIA — Saturday’s NHIAA Division IV Championship contest between the Newport Tigers and Somersworth Hilltoppers may have been much closer than their previous match-up and then expert opinions may have predicted, but the results stayed the same, with Somersworth grinding out a 14-6 victory at Laconia High School’s Jim Fitzgerald Field.

The two squads previous contest on September 30th saw Somersworth dominate Newport to take a convincing 35-7 victory on their home turf. This result weighed heavy on the minds of Newport’s coaches and players going into Saturday. “We told them at the beginning of the day, no one gave us a chance,” said Tigers Head Coach John Proper. “We were 20-point underdogs. They (Somersworth) were talking that they could maybe compete, and win, Division III.” Newport was hoping to just keep it close, and if they could capitalize on key opportunities, they could steal the upset. And keep the game close they did.

The Hilltoppers won the opening toss, and elected to receive, but after gaining one first down, they were forced to punt the ball away. A 25-yard return from Junior quarterback Kyle Ashley set the Tigers up with strong field position at their own 47-yard line, but then disaster struck. Senior running back Tyler Gobin took the drive’s opening hand-off and fumbled, giving Somersworth the ball on their opponent’s 47-yard line. Sadly, for the Hilltoppers, they could not capitalize and would turn the ball over on downs.

Newport took over on their own 22, but made no progress, forcing the punting team to come onto the field. But, Senior Karter Pollari, a last second addition to the squad after a season-long injury, had a trick up his sleeve. He took the long snap, and instead of punting the ball away, he waited, and then waited some more. Finally, he saw the opening he was looking for and raced up field for 15 yards and a first down. Pollari would finish the day with 50 yards rushing on 10 carries, as well as 16 yards on two catches. Despite the exciting play, the drive stalled once again, and the Tigers were forced to punt the ball back to their opponent.

The first quarter would end with both teams knotted at zero and appearing to be feeling each other out. However, Somersworth was driving deep into Newport territory. On just the second play of the period, the Hilltoppers’ Senior running back Calvin Lambert took the ball on a misdirection play and scurried 23 yards into the endzone to give his squad a 7-0 lead. “I think we kinda lucked out a little bit there,” said Somersworth Head Coach Jeremy Lambert about his son’s run. “We got a good angle, somebody probably bit on one of our fakes a little bit, cause all of a sudden we were only running against two guys instead of three.” The senior would wind-up leading all players in rushing, going 92 yards on 20 carries, and scoring the touchdown.

On the ensuing drive, Newport finally began to make some headway against the stout Somersworth defense. Behind a heavy dose of runs from Gobin (36 yards on 11 carries) and Ashley (eight carries for -16 yards, TD), the Tigers drove into Hilltopper territory. But Sophomore Aaron Fellows would be picked off in the endzone by Somersworth Junior Owen O’Brien, ending the scoring chance.

A few plays later, Fellows would repay the favor with an interception of his own to set the Tigers up with great field position with only 4:06 remaining before the half. But they could not capitalize, and the half would end with Somersworth leading 7-0. “When we showed up and it was 7-0 at halftime, I told the guys, that is a win for us guys,” said Proper. “That is a win, they didn’t think that was gonna happen.”

For the first seven minutes of the second half the score would remain the same. But a game changing play from a Somersworth Senior would turn the tide. On fourth-and-seven deep into Tiger territory, Senior quarterback Jeff DeKorne dropped back and found Dante Guillroy down the middle of the field. The catch would’ve been enough for a first down, but Guillroy had other plans. He dragged several Newport defenders downfield and into the endzone with an effort that would’ve made Marshawn Lynch proud to give his team the 14-0 advantage.

“That was incredible,” said Coach Lambert. “One of the things we talked about that we were going to have to deal with Newport is that big time players make big time plays in big time moments. We said that is what we have to be ready to do.” He continued, “Dante did the same type of thing that I was warning we were gonna have to deal with. He did the same thing; he’s a big-time player and he made a big-time play.” Newport’s Proper was equally as amazed by the big tight end’s effort. “He’s a big kid, much bigger than any of our safeties in the secondary. You gotta tackle him, or he’ll just carry us into the endzone.”

Newport’s next possession would take them into Somersworth territory but would end with a turnover on downs. The title fight would go into the fourth period with the Hilltoppers up 14-0.

From there, Somersworth appeared to wear down and demoralize Newport. A time and yard consuming drive cost the first five minutes of the quarter. Then, when the Tigers got the ball back, Ashley was stripped by Hilltopper Junior Tayshawn Sheppard (45 yards on 13 carries) and would end up losing 24 yards on the play. The strip sack was the result of Newport trying to set up a slant-and-go route to speedster Senior Kayden LaClair that took too long to develop.

Somersworth would take over on the Newport 20-yard line and drain more clock, before turning it over on downs with 2:18 remaining in the Division IV season. The Tigers were able to string together a long drive off the arm and legs of Ashley, which eventually lead to him punching it in from six yards out as time expired, giving Somersworth a 14-6 state title victory, and Newport a moral victory of sorts. As Hilltopper players stormed the field in the joy of the win, so did Tigers players, hugging each other after one last score with their teammates. “To at least get the score on the board, that at least shows that we could do it,” said Proper.

For Somersworth, the victory gives them back-to-back state titles, and for Coach Lambert, a special moment with his son. “It feels amazing, you know I’m so proud, my son is a senior,” he said. “Him getting to finish a perfect season with back-to-back, it’s kind of funny. Last year when we won, it was the first championship we had won since I played in the championship as a junior. So, he won it as a junior, and this is also the first time we have gone back-to-back since I played in back-to-back championships.” He concluded, “So it is kind of a full circle. This is also the first field that he played a varsity snap on, so the story writes itself.”

In Newport, Proper says this will be a memory to look back on fondly, with their heads held high. “I told them you walk out of here with your head hanging high. I asked them all week long, do one thing for me, give everything you got. Don’t second guess coming off the field,” he said. “And I told them, with the way they played and their actions on the field, I don’t even have to second guess if they gave everything they had. They did that, no doubt in my mind.”

Looking forward, the Tigers’ Head Coach knows this will not be the last appearance for much of this group. “We have some underclassmen, a good group, that got a lot of experience this year, that’ll be huge contributors next year.” Proper continued, “If you can make it to the finals, no matter if you win or lose, those next kids, they get that taste. And hopefully that’ll be a driving factor to compete in the offseason workouts.”

For the eleven Tiger seniors, this was their final game wearing the orange and black. The Eagle Times wishes to congratulate this group on their great football careers; LaClair, Gobin, Pollari, Darrin Janicke, Geoffrie Morie, Arthur Stanley, Tommy Spiker, Makyi Matheson, Eric Wilkinson, Jake Baltazar, and Timmy Fratzel.