MANCHESTER, N.H. – Friday night turned out to be not quite the way Manchester West hoped to kick off its 100th season as the Blue Knights were blanked by reigning NHIAA Division II Champion Pelham, 49-0.
The Pythons scored on every single one of their drives, opening up a 21-0 lead by the end of the first quarter and burning over half of the second quarter to go 67 yards on a scoring drive that provided a 28-0 lead at the half. A 79-yard kickoff return touchdown by senior Dom Herrling proved Pelham enough of a lead to activate the running clock rule and expedite an end to a contest that had long since been decided.
Despite the score, West’s offense kept things close in terms of yardage, with Pelham holding a 180-127 overall yard advantage by the end of the night. However, that was due to the Pythons’ exceptional starting drive positions, with no drive beginning further back than the long second quarter drive and three beginning within West’s red zone. Another factor in Pelham’s good field position came from a blocked punt by senior Memphis Patterson and two interceptions, with one last interception as time expired squelching what would be West’s closest chance at breaking the shutout.
That last pick was taken by sophomore Tyler Carvello, with the others coming courtesy of junior Justin Bowlan and senior Connor Travis.
In addition to a score from Bowlan, Pelham got a pair of touchdowns on the ground from senior Jake Ciulla, another pair from Herrling, a score from sophomore Kevin Hardy and one passing touchdown from junior Nick Muise to junior Junior McKinnon.
Friday’s victory was Pelham’s 32nd in a row, the fourth-longest current high school winning streak in the United States, a streak that new West Head Coach Andrew Provencher feels came in equal parts from Pelham’s strength and West’s inexperience.
“We had a lot of self-inflicted wounds and you have to capitalize on big plays when you’re facing good teams,” said Provencher. “We had a couple of drops and gave up some turnovers, but I think we can clean it up and get better.”
“Getting your entry to football through Pelham is a bit of a trial by fire, but we’re going to learn from it,” he added.
Next week, West will take on a team from Watertown Mass. Before hosting Souhegan on Sept. 15. Pelham will travel to the seacoast next Friday for a showdown against St. Thomas Aquinas before their home opener on Sept. 15 against John Stark.
