AMHERST, N.H. – Manchester West came into Friday giving up 35 points two weeks in a row, so it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that it happened again, this time in a 35-14 loss to Souhegan.
Souhegan junior Austin Jain went 9-for-14 with 167 yards and four touchdowns through the air. Senior Aidan Casey caught two of those scores from 74 and 15 yards out respectively, with Luke Manning getting another from five yards out and Nick Zampella getting the other from 41 yards away.
Casey earned the other Souhegan touchdown late in the second half.
“They spread us out, which doesn’t play to our strengths. Credit to them,” said West Head Coach Tom Bozoian.
Junior Xavier Burpee ended with both of West’s scores, 47-yard breakout touchdown run in the first half and a seven-yard score to cap a 14-play drive in the second half.
Burpee would finish with 170 yards on 37 carries to lead all rushers.
“I think this was one of his better nights since he began running the football for us,” said Bozoian of Burpee. “He really ran hard, they were cracking down on him since they knew he was getting the football.”
Junior Riley Lawhorn led the Sabers with 148 yards on 13 carries, including a 90-yard dash that immediately followed a thwarted 16-play drive by West.
West falls to 3-5 on the year and will finish their season next week against Pelham.
Meanwhile, Souhegan rose to 5-3 and kept their playoff hopes alive, completing their regular season next week with a difficult matchup next week against undefeated Bow.
