» Week 2 Area Division II Football Notes :: Inside NH Preps

Sep082009

Week 2 Area Division II Football Notes

Filed under Uncategorized by tom king at 7:29 pm

Here’s what the area’s Division II football teams are up to this week, starting with Bishop Guertin and Merrimack, who square off on Friday:

BG-MERRIMACK

Friday’s Bishop Guertin - Merrimack encounter is always a rivalry situation, especially for the Tomahawks because there’s usually a high number of Merrimack residents on the Cardinals roster.

This year, there’s no exception. “We probably have more kids from Merrimack than anyplace else except maybe Bedford,” Guertin coach Tony Johnson said, adding that there are by his estimation nine Merrimack players. That includes the combination that gained 50 yards on BG’s first play from scrimmage last week, quarterback Steve Cuipa and running back/receiver Mike Kelly.

Cuipa, a junior, shared time last week with senior Chris Kujawski, but that was more because he got nicked up in the first half and the Cards held him out. Johnson said the job right now is Cuipa’s.

“Cuipa’s the quarterback,” Johnson said. “But I have no qualms, if Cuipa’s not seeing things and everything else, about putting Kujawski in. But Cuipa is the starting quarterback…I may work this like a basketball situation where I’ll start one guy, and if he’s cold, the next guy better be ready to go. Both of those guys are making each other better.”

Merrimack coach Joe Battista feels the same way about his situation. Senior Tyler King, who was held out of the team’s season-opening loss at Nashua North because of missed time due to mononucleosis. Battista would not commit to King for Friday. Junior Zach Harris

“We’re not sure just yet,” he said. “He was rusty last week in practice and it was noticeable. At some point we’ll have Tyler be the guy, but we have a lot of confidence in Zach.”

ALVIRNE

One of the strengths that the Broncos coaching staff is seeing develop is the play of the secondary. This week, in another crossover game vs. Manchester Central, Alvirne will get injured senior defensive back Anthony Koumarianos back. He’ll likely play at strong safety, head coach Bobby Nimblett said, and what that does is help move some people around.

For example, that might give senior two-way player Vinny Frasco some more strength at running back. “Vinny’s one of our big weapons,” Nimblett said, “and we can rest him and use him primarily on offense.”

That’s because Nimblett has also liked the cover skills of defensive backs Sean Sipsey, Jesse Horne (both juniors) and Evan Anaya (senior).