Division III football has a different look in 2008. While perennial beast Souhegan of Amherst remains the favorite, and always-solid Milford and Portsmouth are still around as well, Plymouth, winner of seven of the last 10 D-III titles, moves down a division.

“From year to year, the teams change so much it’s always hard to say who is going to compete, although there are some teams that are more consistent than others,” said second-year Pembroke coach Dave Tremblay. “I’ll tell you one thing: I’m not sad to see Plymouth leave.”

That opens the door for a handful of Neighborhood teams to step into the playoff picture.

While Tremblay’s upand- coming group continues to develop a feeder program and looks to improve on a four-win 2007, John Stark petitioned to remain in D-III despite having Division-IV enrollment.

Goffstown, meanwhile, heads back to D-III after two years in Division II. And then there’s Bedford, new to the varsity gridiron, but very much a future threat in the nine-team division.

Goffstown coach Rob Cathcart said his team, like every other in the division, aspires to compete with Souhegan each year. Equally important, however, are the natural rivalries created by the new alignment. Unlike D-II, where Goffstown traveled to the seacoast for at least half its games, Bedford and John Stark are within 15 miles. Souhegan, Con-Val and Milford aren’t much farther.

Aside from Portsmouth, in fact, all schools, including Pembroke, are within a onehour drive of one another.

Winning is another story.

Cathcart said he hopes to use the lessons learned in D-II to his squad’s advantage. Last season, Goffstown fell one win short of reaching the playoffs.

“Division II was very competitive, from top to bottom, and you really had to dedicate yourself to the sport and to the weight room,” said Cathcart, who noted Bedford’s new coach, Kurt Hines, was one of the reasons for the Grizzlies success in 2007.

Hines, a strength and conditioning guru, spent seven years at Souhegan before assisting at Goffstown last season.

He said he recognized that without a senior class, his Bulldogs are going to be outsized by everyone they meet, yet he promised his players are ready to compete.

“Those teams are going to be bigger than us, but if we can be better conditioned and in shape, we can stay in a lot of games,” said Hines. “As a coaching staff, the biggest challenge is really getting these kids to realize football is a collision sport. I know it’s easy to say, but once you get out there and start getting hit in a real game, it’s a different story.”

Hines said John Stark is another program ready to break out. “They have some real tough kids up there,” he said. “That’s a team just waiting to explode.” No time like the present, said the Generals’ new head coach, Bob Clarke, who spent 14 years as an assistant at Newport and the last seven years at Bow, an annual D-V contender.

“Even though I’ve coached at Bow, I teach at John Stark, so I do know some of the students, and there’s definitely some talented athletes here,” said Clarke.

Pembroke
Reaching and possibly eclipsing the .500 mark is a reasonable goal for the Spartans in 2008, though Tremblay said he’s keeping his expectations tempered.

“Right now, our main goal is basically getting the kids back into the program and keeping them around and working in the offseason,” said Tremblay. “We just want to … build off last year and get these younger kids involved in the program.”

Three-year starting quarterback John Natalizio leads the PA offense, and he’ll be complemented by senior running back Christopher Allen and left guard Bryan Morrisette.

Fullback Danny Kroll and tight end Vincent Verrechia step into larger roles this season. The team has only eight freshmen this season, so it is likely to rely heavily on its sophomores and juniors.

Tremblay said he anticipates roughly 30 new players in 2009.

The Grizzlies, who fell one point short of the Division II postseason in 2007, head back to D-III. They made the playoffs and lost to Souhegan in 2005.

“We lost a lot in terms of seniors, but I think we should be able to keep the same goal and maybe go a little further this year,” said Cathcart of his postseason expectations. Fullback and middle linebacker Tom Foote leads the team as a workout warrior and pure physical presence on the field.

Allen Finn, an offensive tackle and nose guard, is not far behind Foote in both departments, said Cathcart.

Jamie McGarry, a former halfback, takes over as the team’s starting quarterback this year.

James Waller, Dan Seasholtz and Connor Nolan also lead on both sides of the ball.

Senior speedster Matt Leathers starts at defensive back for the first time this year and enters the game when Goffstown wants to spread the offense and stretch the opposing defense.

Cathcart added his squad has a strong crop of promising sophomores that found success at the D-II freshman level last season. He said he hopes they can contribute this season and make a big impact as juniors and seniors.

John Stark
Taking over at the John Stark helm for former athletics director Bill Raycraft, who led the Generals to the playoffs two years ago, Clarke said he knows he faces a challenge.

Because there are only 18 upperclassmen on the team, the new head coach has the opportunity to instill his philosophy into a strong group of youngsters, which sets up the next couple years.

This year, however, the running game should be solid with a strong offensive line that includes Jeff Wuebbolt, Nick Heafield, Mike Pisapia and Geoffrey Hatchett. They’ll open holes for junior running back Daniel Simeone and senior David Wilson. Simeone and Wilson lead a staunch group of linebackers as well.

Newcomer Ian Kuck, a sophomore, is also expected to contribute on both sides of the ball. “He’s going to be a player,” said Clarke. “He likes to go out and hunt and cause mayhem. You love that in a football player.”

Bedford
The Bulldogs currently have 64 players in the program, which doesn’t give them much depth. In fact, Hines said he may have as many as six starting freshmen. That’s unheard of at the varsity football level.

Still, he said he’ll use every athlete at his disposal and rotate them in and out as much as he can to keep them fresh.

Those players, he said, have a lot of raw talent and are working hard to realize their potential. “A lot of teams with four grades can say if their first line goes down, they’re in trouble. Going in, we’re already a little short of that,” said Hines. “But the kids are believing in themselves, and they know they can win some games.”

Though his original goal was a .500 season, Hines said two or three wins is a more realistic expectation for the young squad.

“I told them at practice that everything we do this year, every time we step onto the field or in the weight room, we’re just putting money in the bank.”