H.S. Football: Week 1 is a crazy one

Where do you start with the storylines from the first Friday night of the high school football season?

Let's start with the defending champion Kearsarge, who hosted Stevens in a D-V showdown.

Logan Batchelder

Both teams had reason to be confident going into this game. The Cougars, of course, own the longest winning streak in the state and are the reigning D-V champions.

Stevens, meanwhile, has a new head coach in Paul Silva, but returned two of its best players in quarterback Logan Batchelder and running back Cam Blewitt.

From the getgo, both teams showed they're bound for the playoffs once more. In the fourth quarter, the teams were knotted up at 28-all and it was anyone's game.

Then, Stevens' luck ran out.

Batchelder broke his leg on a play late in the game. The junior QB had completed eight passes for 94 yards and two touchdowns before the injury.

Sports Editor Michael Pezone described how it went down:

The team’s starting quarterback was thrown to the ground near the Cougars' sideline and hit the turf awkwardly with his right leg tangled beneath him. The result ... was a compound fracture visible to everyone nearby.

Some considered Batchelder a key player to watch in D-V this season. Now, his season is over as he is prepared to have surgery Saturday morning.

Oh, and the game? Well, Kearsarge hit a 44-yard field goal (you read that right) to take a 31-28 lead. The Cardinals drove down the field and landed on the four-yard line on fourth down. Instead of kicking a field goal, Silva's squad went for it -- and failed.

Kearsarge's streak continues. Stevens is left with a loss and no quarterback.

***

In Langdon, N.H., Fall Mountain did something in Week 1 it did just once in all of 2010.

Win.

After going 1-8 last season, the Wildcats opened up their 2011 campaign with a 19-12 victory over Bishop Brady. Despite losing their top two running backs in the last two weeks, the Wildcats used an effective ground game to beat the Giants.

Their defense was strong too, holding Bishop Brady scoreless until the fourth quarter. Fall Mountain's defensive starters grew tired late in the game, but held on to secure their first victory of 2011.

***

While our local slate of football continues Saturday morning (Newport, Windsor, Springfield and Bellows Falls are all in action), next week will be interesting for both Stevens and Fall Mountain.

Can Stevens rebound after losing their star junior quarterback? Will they still be in the playoff hunt?

Is Fall Mountain a legit contender this year, or was their victory Friday night a fluke? Can the Wildcats win games against strong opponents? (Like Kearsarge, Stevens, St. Thomas...)

We'll find out these questions in the weeks to come.

Welcome to the Eagle Times Sports Report

Welcome to the Eagle Times Sports Report, a new blog to go hand-in-hand with the daily coverage you see in the sports section of the Eagle Times based out of Claremont, N.H.

What you'll find here is a lot of odds and ends. Sports Editor Michael Pezone or I may go out and find something noteworthy and want to put it here. Maybe we'd like to get something in print, but we don't quite have the space for it. In that case, it'd be right here for you.

What you won't find here is anything that is in the daily paper. Game reports, in-depth features, etc., will still be found in your morning Eagle. Entries here may supplement those game reports or features, though, and add some extra depth.

Unlike the newspaper, the nice thing about a blog is that we are not limited in how much we can write. Typically we have four pages to fill in the sports section, with certain things going in certain places. Here we can write about whatever we like and it can be however long we like.

The main purpose of this blog, though, is to give the readers something more. We love covering every team -- from the Cardinals and the Yellow Jackets to the Chieftains and the Lakers -- so now we're devoting more time and space to doing so. This space just happens to be on the Internet.

So stick with us as we continue to cover all of the area teams. If you have a question or comment, go ahead and leave it for us. If you want e-mail us, go ahead and send us one at mpezone@eagletimes.com or rbooth@eagletimes.com.

We hope you continue to read the Eagle Times Sports Report.