Week 10 Power Poll: 3-and-out
Posted by: MARC THALER, UnionLeader.com
The Week 10 Union Leader/WGAM/WMUR Power Poll was released at noon today (Monday, Nov. 2). The poll looks a bit different, particularly at the bottom.
That’s where you’ll find Division I teams Londonderry, Pinkerton Academy of Derry, and Manchester Central.
Bishop Guertin of Nashua is No. 1 for the ninth straight week. They’ve swept the six first-place votes for a Power Poll-record nine weeks in a row.
Here’s the comparison between the Week 10 Power Poll and my votes. Then there’s “3-and-out.”
Week 10 Power Poll
1. Bishop Guertin (9-0 overall, 7-0 Div. II / 6 first place) — No. 1
2. Salem (9-0, 7-0 Div. I) — No. 2
3. Exeter (8-0, 7-0 Div. II) — No. 3
4. Nashua North (7-1, 6-1 Div. I) — No. 4
5. Plymouth (9-0, 8-0 Div. IV) — No. 6
6. Souhegan (8-1, 7-1 Div. III) — No. 7
7. Winnacunnet (6-3, 4-3 Div. II) — No. 9
8. Londonderry (5-4, 5-3 Div. I) — No. 8
9. Pinkerton (5-4, 5-2 Div. I) — No. 5
10. Man. Central (6-3, 5-2 Div. I) — NR
My votes
1. Bishop Guertin
2. Salem
3. Exeter
4. Nashua North
5. Winnacunnet
6. Plymouth
7. Souhegan
8. Pinkerton
9. Londonderry
10. Trinity
First down: Out of order?
The biggest head-scratcher involves Pinkerton’s placement in the poll.
The Astros are No. 9, which, by itself, isn’t overly shocking. Losing to an unranked team (i.e. Souhegan’s Week 6 loss to Milford) has a consequence. But, if you take a look at the team occupying the No. 8 slot — Londonderry — things become puzzling.
Pinkerton didn’t just beat Londonderry in Week 5. Pinkerton pummeled Londonderry. Final score: 54-19.
Is it right that the Astros are looking up at the Lancers?
Second down: Moving up
Winnacunnet of Hampton jumped two spots from last week. The now-No. 7 Warriors are riding a three-game win streak, including road wins over playoff contenders Alvirne of Hudson (27-14) and Timberlane of Plaistow (40-14).
The Warriors can clinch the No. 3 seed with a victory this week against winless Spaulding of Rochester. They could pose problems in the playoffs.
Third down: Power supply
This week’s top five teams — BG, Salem, Exeter, Nashua North and Plymouth — are a combined 42-1 (.977 win percentage).
Guertin, Salem, Exeter and Plymouth are four of the five teams still unbeaten this season. Trinity of Manchester (9-0 overall, 8-0 Div. V) remains the only undefeated team that has yet to crack the top 10.
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Part of me is annoyed that Trinity continues to be overlooked in the “Power Poll” especially given their dominance in Division V. However, it certainly would have helped their case if they played a couple teams in higher Divisions. All in all, I am still glad to see them achieving success on the gridiron again. Kudos to Coach T and Coach Leonard and their staff for bring the Pride, Spirit, and Tradition back to Bridge Street!
Comment by Sal — November 3, 2009 @ 10:01 am
Glad that Trinity is doing well in D V, but I remember all too well just a couple of years ago, how they were not even competitive with any DI/DII teams. Please just be content that they will more than likely win their division championship.
Comment by David — November 3, 2009 @ 1:31 pm
David - I am pleased to see them coming back to success but having been a player during our run of 4 straight city championship wins over Central - I will never be content until they return to the glory days of success and competition.
Comment by Sal — November 5, 2009 @ 12:18 am
I love the power rankings, but do you really think teams like Trinity and Plymouth and Sougehan could gives teams like Pinkerton and Londerry a competive game?
Comment by PERCY SPIERS — November 5, 2009 @ 5:05 pm
Neve know until you play the game. 20 years ago we (THS) rolled over teams 2-3x our size in terms of roster and student population. Of course, THS as a school is smaller by half now but even in the 80s our true varsity team - those that dressed and played never numbered more than 15-16 players max. We had a lot of players playing O and D the entire game.
Comment by Sal — November 6, 2009 @ 11:42 am
Percy, if you’ve watched Souhegan AND Pinkerton play this year, then you know without a doubt that Souhegan could play them tough. Seriously, just do yourself the favor of watching them in the next couple weeks. I think their biggest kid is only 270 or so on the line, but all their linemen are extremely quick and physical, the RB is huge an can run (has a UNH offer), the QB’s got a cannon, and the receivers can just be plain special. Then, you watch that defense at work and marvel at how a school of only about 900 can put so many good ball players on the field. From what I’ve read and heard from parents at games, they’ve got at least SEVEN seniors getting recruited right now. SEVEN. And as for Plymouth, they’ve always been a power and have quite a record over Souhegan in past years, but I can’t speak to their level this year as I have yet to see them. It’s crazy, but I say that for this year (since next year at a small school could be a down year) yes, Souhegan could play with those big teams. However, they’d have to be healthy because as we saw in the Milford game, depth on the lines could be an issue, but the first string is solid.
Comment by Jack — November 6, 2009 @ 11:04 pm
37-0 revenge from a healthy Sabers squad. Time to put them back where they belong, Mark.
Comment by asdfd — November 7, 2009 @ 6:23 pm
D-I playoffs are wide open this year; any of the four could win the championship. It would be nice to see two Manchester schools bring home titles . . D-I Central and D-V Trinity.
Marc - how about interviewing Kennett head coach Ken Sciacca and getting his opinion on how Plymouth would fare in D-I and D-II over the last five years or so.
Sciacca was a D-I head coach at Trinity, Manchester Memorial, Salem, and Haverhill, MA.
Comment by Sportsfan — November 8, 2009 @ 6:23 pm