PeeWees

Go Warriors...

Recaps:

Vs. Dover

That was by far our best effort thus far, not only from a scoring perspective, but from an all round execution in all three phases of the game-offense,defense and special teams...just tremendous.

Now, was dover a good team? Not really, but it is how we beat them that is impressive. It was not a struggle and we did not play down to that level. We went out and dominated from the start and never looked back.I told the kids before the game it would be nice to get a defensive TD and a special teams TD. I did not tell them the odds of that happening were small. Well, thats exactally what they did, Brian returns a kick off just when they thought they could stay with us and Baily makes a great read and intercepts a pass and returns it for the score...just great.

Cody played well and his kicking was a big boost to our defense with great field position. Kick off team picked it up as well with great coverage other than the opening kick. Oh, Cody also had the blocked punt!! Special teams...nice job.

Offensivly, we stayed true to the game plan which was to run all day. When you're ahead, it is much easier to do!! We never threw the ball...never even ran our screens. I have to say that I have to be more patient with this team when it comes to play calling and not ask our QB to win the game...he just has to manage it, and that is what he did today. Brian was great on the sweeps, and scored twice on O, and Baily and Mike Lewis were solid all day with the interior run. The line also blocked well and knew what man to block.

On defense, we went back to the two big D ends with Cody and Derek Smith and it payed off the other night in Stratham and today as well.Derek is really starting to get it!!I like to say. the light bulb has gone on-as with a lot of first year players it takes time.

As far as agressive play, it was our best day. Mike Lewis brought the lumber today, great hits, forced fumble on one. Im suprised the kid got up. Mike Burke laid a kid out on the first TD, 15 yd penalty, we can live with that!!! They played football today, that's it, plain and simple. If we play like that from here on we should salvage some of the season.

I was also proud of the effort the second D put out in the fourth quarter where we left them out there and they held on 4 plays from our own 7 to keep the score down...nice job by all those kids. We have Sanborn this week and we shall see how it goes.-Coach

Vs. Exeter North

I told the kids when they make a bad play or get beat they need to have amnesia. Well, I'm going to take my own advice on this game. It is in the past, and we will move forward and try to give these kids a winning season by running the table the last four weeks and get into the playoffs. Yes,I said playoffs...we can make it and this week's game is an absolute must win which I feel we can acheive. Coach Mac and I went to watch Exeter North play west last Sat seeing we didn't have a game and what we saw was a team that we can certainly beat if we get back to basics and run the ball. Well, if we end up 4-3 we should be the 4th seed in the playoff seedings...we have played the 3 better teams in the league thus far..the weaker teams are ahead and we need to continue to work hard and hope we can rise up and play much better than we have, which I believe we can.

I have been around this league for a long time...and I have seen alot of games and teams. I tend to have a pulse on what will happen-we are certainly not a very good football team right now, but I don't think we are 0-3 bad either. I see us doing what we need to do with hard work and more game day effort.

I will say a few words about the Ports game. #1.I have seen far better Ports teams in the past. What that team did last night was play football..plain and simple...run hard and fast, block low and hard, and tackle. That's it, that is the game of football.

I also want to point out two kids who at least put their wellfare aside and gave a good effort. Luke, for at least giving it a go at QB, he was sick all day, and Liam for hustling and taking some big hits and punting well when he really had little protection The best play of the night was the fake punt, that kind of sums it up.

Have faith and hang in, we will see what happpens.

Vs. Exeter East

Well that was at least entertaining.I thought we brought more effort to the table this week than last and if not for the two conversion tries we win the game. Let's face it,it was pretty even,they made one more play then us and thats what it takes in football. The margin of winning and losing is that close.

I will say I was not thrilled with my play calling on that last possesion.To let you know because there was no clock,we had 1:50 left and all three timeouts.My mistake was trying to get everything back on one play,I felt there was not enough time to run the ball so I elected to try the pass and asked too much of Baily to win the game with his arm.He is a great kid and a good player but not a true QB and he tried his best.The effort by Mike lewis on that long pass was outstanding and if that ball had a little more air under it he was gone!! as always I thought of a few plays last night that would have been better choices there in the end but so it goes.

We were a bit weak on the edges on D and that is where you get beat in this league,but overall the Defense made some good plays to keep us close.Also we were much better with the QB- center exchange and we didnt really hurt ourselves with glaring mistakes.As always we will continue to work on tackling and blocking which at this level,and actually all levels are the keys to success.

We were also much better on special teams and we had a really good punt by Liam to get them deep in their zone early on. We capitalized on that when we recovered a fumble and Brian scored on the fake reverse.We will stress this week the importance of the conversion tries...they are crucial points and we have the plays to convert them but we need to execute better.As I mentioned, we convert on both TD's...we win.Wed night at Exeter we scored four TD's and converted 3of 4 tries...Thats equal to another TD!!! We cannot continue to fail in that asspect of the game.

I was also not pleased with my impatience in the 3rd quarter against the wind when I tried to have Brian throw down field only to have the ball sail and end in an interception....I should have kept that play in my back pocket till we had the wind in the fourth quarter...we had only put it in the night before as well.

As you might guess I am not a great excuse maker, I didnt buy into the wet weather the week before,a nd I just dont like excuses.However,perhaps...mabye....the week away for 7 of our kids,five starters,along with illness during the week,fatique,Patrick Witt unavailable for family time ect. We may have been a bit under manned and prepared....just a thought.

We have a big week ahead of us this week to prepare for an always tough Portsmouth team....They are OUR true rival at this level and it should be fun!!no one has beaten them more than us over the years and they are always on gaurd when we show up.

On a personal note I appologize for the playing time for some of the kids this week..I know they want to play...But I will stick to my philosophy of putting kids in a situation to succeed and not to fail or be exposed. I do the best I can but in such a tight game I went with my starters.

Also thank you to all the volunteers who made our home game possible....Special thanks to Joel Clough for helping with the field setup so early Sat am-Thanks, Coach Hornberger

Vs. Timberlane

I would like to appoligze for the outcome of the game saturday. I take these games very personal,and the effort we gave on Saturday was not close to what our standards are. I take full responsibilty for our lack of success in all aspects of the game.

It would be inapropriate for me to call out 11 and 12 year old kids for not playing or performing to their potential without looking at what what I have done to prepare them for a game situation.

I give Timberlane a lot of credit for the victory,and have emailed the coach on their win and what a great effort their team put in. I told the kids after the game that it was wet on both sides of the ball,and we will not use that as an excuse. We clearly struggled with our transition from center to QB. We also had a problem with getting the ball out to our spread players on some of our base plays....again,we won't make exuses for these breakdowns.

On the up side,I thought we played much better in the second half and shut them out and had an opportunity to get back in the game at one point in the forth quarter. That punt they made down to our 1 yard line was a killer and we could not get out of that hole and they got the saftey to seal the game.

I saw a few kids who really played well,and if we can get all of us to contribute to that level then I think we can have a succesful season. We a re going to go over to Exeter on Wed despite what I told the kids last week. We feel that with so many kids gone for camp from NH that we need a quality scrimmage and tweek things a bit.

I appreciate all of you standing out in such bad weather to support the team and hopefully next week we can give the kids a better chance to succeed.-Coach Hornberger

The Little Warriors A-Team struggled against Timberlane in their season opener losing 26-14 on a rain soaked Plaistow football field this past Saturday. Timberlane capitalized on Warrior miscues by scoring 4 times in the first half.

How they scored:

Timberlane scored first on their opening drive but did not convert the 2 point attempt, taking an early 6-0 lead. Just before the first quarter expired Warrior defensive end Jake Smith recovered a fumble on Timberlane's 18 yard line setting up the Warriors first score on an 18 yard touchdown pass from Bailey Nasser to Lucas Boccelli. The Warriors would miss the two point conversion tying the score at 6. Early in the second quarter Timberlane would return a punt for a long touchdown going on top 12-6. Turnovers and fumbled snaps would prove costly for the Warriors in the second quarter as Timberlane added two more scores taking a 24-6 lead into halftime. Defensively the Warriors prevented Timberlane from scoring any two point conversion attempts.

In the second half the Warriors defense put their nose to the gridiron shutting out Timberlane with solid play by Mike Burke ,Jake Smith, Mike Lewis,Derek Clough,Liam MacNamara, Brian Auffant and Nasser and Boccelli. The offense continued to spudder until a fourth quarter fumble recovery by lineman Charlie Baker set up the final touchdown for Warriors running back Brian Auffant who scampered into the end zone on a 13 yard run. The two point conversion was then completed on Nasser's throw to Mike Kates narrowing the score 24-14. A safety by Timberlane late in the game ended the score 26-14. Patrick Witt,Cody Pierce,Logan Keene,Max Dunham, Nate Amundsen,Tony Rocco,Jack Harriden,Joey Eichelser,Jake Branagan,Gavin Haight and Zack Provencal also participated in Saturdays game for the Warriors.

Vs. Exeter East

Also thank you to all the volunteers who made our home game possible....Special thanks to Joel Clough for helping with the field setup so early Sat am-Thanks, Coach Hornberger